taxed on books from Amazon? recently?

[Newforestcat]

Hello

I am wondering if any of you had to pay import tax on your Amazon books. I know that Amazon do let buyers from Thailand pay for import tax, calculated by their automated system, at the same time as the order is placed and paid for. Amazon also will not ask you to reimburse them if the tax amount originally quoted was too low (only applied on goods bought directly from Amazon, not Amazon private sellers). But can anyone tell me, from their experience or their friends', that I should stop worrying because Customs have left Amazon parcels well alone since they started collecting tax beforehand?

Do you know if this policy is world-wide or is it only for USA and the UK? What about amazon.co.jp? And is it 0% VAT on books? What about import tax? I did try to check but gave up! Thanks a lot in advance.

[Glen10]

The last time I bought from Amazon when I was in another country a few years back, Amazon didn't charge any tax(just as if I had bought it in the U.S) but when it entered the country i was in the customs man add ad a tax and it was collected from me when I picked it up from the post office.

[Newforestcat]

Thanks Glen10. Thai Customs are a bit of a mystery to me. I had one bad experience which has put me off dealing with them forever. But I need some books and shall share my experience on this post as and when that comes in case it is useful to any desperate readers like me. There should be a service that legally sends any books you need in electronic form. I have an old iPad, despite having both iBooks and Kindle app, I still occasionally need real books desperately. Maybe I should open an online bookstore in Thailand. LOL

[Song_Si]

Originally Posted by Glen10

The last time I bought from Amazon when I was in another country a few years back, Amazon didn't charge any tax(just as if I had bought it in the U.S) but when it entered the country i was in the customs man add ad a tax and it was collected from me when I picked it up from the post office.

Hi
When in NZ I was a big Amazon fan/user, as was a friend of mine; he got caught out by making a $600 order for dvd/cd and that's when we found this out:

Most items bought on overseas websites can be imported free of charges if they are valued at less than NZ$400 (approx US$310), including freight and insurance costs.

- result was he was charged an extra 12.5% tax.

Unsure if there is any similar 'limit' for Thailand?

[Glen10]

Originally Posted by Newforestcat

Thanks Glen10. Thai Customs are a bit of a mystery to me. I had one bad experience which has put me off dealing with them forever. But I need some books and shall share my experience on this post as and when that comes in case it is useful to any desperate readers like me. There should be a service that legally sends any books you need in electronic form. I have an old iPad, despite having both iBooks and Kindle app, I still occasionally need real books desperately. Maybe I should open an online bookstore in Thailand. LOL

I guess you know that you can get many for the Kindle, and maybe other e-readers from Amazon. There are many offered for free from google books, I think.

[Newforestcat]

Originally Posted by Song_Si

Hi
When in NZ I was a big Amazon fan/user, as was a friend of mine; he got caught out by making a $600 order for dvd/cd and that's when we found this out:



- result was he was charged an extra 12.5% tax.

Unsure if there is any similar 'limit' for Thailand?

The NZ allowance is VERY generous! I think it is £100-120 in UK. Imagine 20% UK VAT tax! It is 1000 Baht including delivery in Thailand, not so many books. I know there is an online bookstore in the UK that ships worldwide for free, so in theory you can send a book to each house in your village to avoid paying. Lots of people have been saying that Thai Customs have recorded each household's imported parcels, as I have heard. Strangely, if you come to Thailand from abroad, the limit is something strange like 20,000 Bath. I have seen this figure being used regarding this a few times but I cannot yet really confirm.

BTW, I think the store is Book Depository, they could be an Amazon company. Sadly they don't do obscure hobby books I have on my list

[Newforestcat]

Glen10

Sadly they possibly don't have much demand for the books I need for my hobbies. For everything else, I am very thankful to have been born in this electronic age. The Amazon and iBooks bills sometimes add up quickly though. I am now hiding them by paying for them myself. LOL
This kind of secrets keeps my hubby's heart from a sudden failure!

I love the American open library, too! What a wonderful service!

[Glen10]

What are your hobbies? Hope you don't mind me asking

[Newforestcat]

Ball-jointed dolls, dollhouse, sewing, antiques, baking, sugarcrafts, architectural styles, old buildings, collecting various objects. I tend to move on after I think I know about how to make and like but not love something enough. I caught the bug from emigrating to England 12 years ago as I had to learn how to cook for the first time then it went from one extreme to the other. But England is always dear to me ultimately because it has taught me that I had taken my life for granted. It is way too easy to get everything done for you pretty cheaply in Thailand!

I just love to learn new crafts and things and how to make things, trying not to be bored is very important to me. I like all forms of art, handmade stuff and colours which encaurage me to keep working to afford my own mad hobbies. I haven't found myself to be good at anything apart from sugarcrafts yet. Also baking and making cakes, etc stop me from wanting to eat them! But soft freshly baked bread or pizza whose smell should be bottled and sold in supermarkets is very tempting! LOL

[Glen10]

Yeah, I can see where you would have a hard time finding e-books for those hobbies.
I had heard of sugar craft, but didn't know or think much of it. I just watched a video on youtube called The Art of Sugar Craft and see that it could be a fun hobby.
I like to bake breads on occasion, and I agree there is nothing like a fresh, homemade pizza.
Especially if you use fresh homemade veggies and your own goat cheese.
I have several hobbies that I engage in from time to time. Such as: gardening and canning; making herbal medicines; beer, whisky, and wine making; making cheese. I use to be involved in leather craft and have thought about starting again, but the cost of leather has gotten so high that I've been a little slow. I have chickens, and have been thinking about goats, and bee keeping, but those are more of a commitment than I'm ready for at the moment. Oh well, my typing skills are so bad, guess I'll bring it to an end. Ha ha! Should make that (typing) my new hobby.