p.1 #1 · US Customs duty and state used good tax on imported goods
I bought a used lens from Europe. The carrier UPS collected US customs duty from me before releasing the item to me. Now I received a letter from California Department of Tax and Fee Administration requesting me to pay the state sale tax per Sale and Use Tax Law.
Any FM members come across this type of problem?
Thanks for any inputs.
p.1 #2 · US Customs duty and state used good tax on imported goods
I used to receive an invoice from carrier some days after delivered for around the 10% of the value. Never from the state. My last purchase from Asia was more than 5 years ago, maybe something has changed since then.
p.1 #3 · US Customs duty and state used good tax on imported goods
2020June I purchased an expensive new item from EU with ups delivery. I received a phone call said ups needed an clearance fee for ~$100. I understood that it should be considered as a service fee. Then nothing else came up after that. Hope it helps.
p.1 #6 · US Customs duty and state used good tax on imported goods
As a California resident, you're liable to pay sales tax on virtually anything bought out of state, as an out-of-state purchase for which you paid no sales tax. Now that Amazon and most sellers charge tax, they've caught up with the massive amount of sales tax they were missing out on, as many never paid that tax due. So international sales that may be charged duty they're getting that data, and coming around to collect. Pay it. You don't want to mess with those people.
This is where B&H helps us out. If you get their own credit card, you'll get an instant rebate to your account of the sales tax B&H charges, so it's effectively tax free to you, even tho your tax was paid and the receipt shows that.
p.1 #7 · US Customs duty and state used good tax on imported goods
I think people are not responding to the actual question here. Correct me if I am wrong. He is asking if sales tax isn't part of the clearance fees UPS already charged him? Though, I am in Canada but AFAIR, whenever I received a package from another country, the clearance fees slip from UPS or Fedex always included Canadian sales taxes (both federal and provincial). In any case, this should be easy to verify. When you receive the package the custom/import slip is attached to the shipping box. Don't tear it away and check the details to verify is sales tax was part of the fees.
p.1 #8 · US Customs duty and state used good tax on imported goods
Yes, you're being assessed two separate fees. One for customs, and the other is a sales tax. This is very interesting to me as I've imported items fairly regularly, and never received anything like this. How long between the date of import and the letter you received?
p.1 #9 · US Customs duty and state used good tax on imported goods
s.kueh wrote:
I bought a used lens from Europe. The carrier UPS collected US customs duty from me before releasing the item to me. Now I received a letter from California Department of Tax and Fee Administration requesting me to pay the state sale tax per Sale and Use Tax Law.
Any FM members come across this type of problem?
Thanks for any inputs.
Not really seeing what the problem is here. Since the US has no Free Trade Agreement with either the UK or the EU due to Brexit, you have to pay an import duty, but you also have to pay California State Use Tax as well. That's always been the law but apparently there's a bit more sharing of information than there used to be. If you have a resale account with the Ca. Dept. of Tax and Fee Administration, then you just declare the amount that you paid, not the commercial customs invoice, and pay that on your next return. If you don't have an account with them, there's probably a one time payment form on their website, or you can simply declare that on the line item provided on your Ca. State Tax Return next year. Either way, a quick call to the CDTFA will clear it up and they'll tell you what your best options are. They are actually quite friendly and helpful when you do call them.
I just ordered a lens from the UK which was of German origin, so the German import duty of 2.45% applied, but the customs invoice listed the lens at a much lower price than what I paid and my real tariff amounted to less than one percent of the sale price. Since Ca. sales tax returns are due the end of this month, I'll be declaring the full sale price and paying the tax I owe. You don't mess with those folks. I got hit with a random audit about twenty years ago and they combed through 3-1/2 years of records. Most of their audits net them something like $400 per hour they're there but I had no change. Not something I ever want to go through again.
Just be glad you're not living in the UK or the EU and are paying that 19% VAT. We have it relatively good.
