Will I be charged Duty and Taxi

when I use an International

Courier Service?
When a parcel is sent over to another
Country, the contents are subject to :1, Any trade agreements that the
destination Country has with the
despatching Country.

For example if you are in the United

Kingdom and want to send a parcel
anywhere within the European Union, as
the whole of the E.U. is a free trade zone,
you are able to send your parcels between
member Countries and non be subject to
any local import duty or taxes. This is one
of the key benefits of having a free trade
zone as it encourages trade between
members and increases prosperity for all.

2, If the Country you are despatching your goods from

and the destination Country you are sending to do not
have a free trade agreement in place. An example
would be sending a parcel to Canada from the UK.
Then the shipment needs to be assessed by the
destination customs department to calculate if any
import duty and taxes will be charged for allowing the
goods into the Country.
Each Country has its own set of customs rules and
regulations that govern which products incur import
duty and taxes. The local customs office is the ones
who assess if an international couriershipment is to be
charged import duty and taxes for coming into the
Country.

The local customs department needs the following

specific information to be able to assess a shipment
will be charge import duty and taxes:A, The reason for shipment . There are different
classifications for shipments that are sent for personal
reasons, eg as a gift or for shipments that are sent for
commercial purposes.
B, They need to know who the shipper is and their
despatch address. If the shipper is a private individual
but the collection/ despatch address is from a
commercial location, may customs departments will
automatically classify the shipment as commercial
because of where it has come from.

C, Where the shipment is going to and who it is for.

Again a shipment to a private individual at their home
may be imported duty free. Most Countries have a
maximum value of goods that can be imported duty
free by an individual per day. So they need to keep
track of who is importing what, and when to ensure
all the rules and regulations are met.
D, What it is that is being sent. The customs
departments around the whole use a universal
system of commodity codes to classify goods. You
should look up the commodity codes of the items you
are sending with HMRC. This number should be
quoted on all customs paperwork sent with the
goods.

E, The value of each item and total value of the

shipment.
Once you have all this information about your
shipment, you can contact the destination
customs office, and they will be able to check
their regulations and confirm if your shipment
will incur import duty and taxes. They will also
conform if charges are due at what rate, so that
you have no surprises when you send your
parcel.
I hope that you have found this information of
use.

Courierpoint.com
http://www.courierpoint.com/parceltocanada

Bradley House
St. Albans Lane
London
NW11 7QE
Tel: 020

8731 8653
Fax: 020 8458 9528