Imported goods over NT$2,000 to be levied with customs duty

Any updates on this matter? I have an iHerb order over 2000 NTD that I would rather keep as it is. Will they still tax me 300 NTD or have they given up? It is mostly supplements and probiotics, the lactose intolerant need extra stuff to forge on ice cream and yogurt over the holidays.

Customs doesn’t care about lactose or the ‘Holidays’, they will charge what’s needed to be charged.

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Yep, I was hoping for clemency as they are not vitamins. Rats.

I had and iHerb order last month for under 2k, no extra charge.

This place really is a sinking ship. Next they will tax all downloads from non Taiwan IP addresses lol

I believe they are already doing this…they are now requesting all non-Taiwanese service providers to now charge a Taiwan VAT tax!!!

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They shouldn’t be colluding with big importers and distributors. They should have a fair open system for the small guy to import directly and pay a small per cent rate of income tax or VAT on the cost.

Come on… Taiwan has never been a fair and open system… the only way they can possibly compete in today’s global economy is try and rig the system!

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Looks to me like your products fall under “Food preparations, in capsule or tablet form” in the customs database, meaning subject to 30% import duty + 5% VAT on top of invoice amount including shipping.

Big importers and distributors pay the same import duties and VAT. The difference is that they have lower unit purchasing and shipping costs.

I would argue that you can check all your import costs, since price, shipping costs, import duties and VAT are all public information. If the total ends up cheaper than the local cost, buy it online and have it shipped here. Otherwise, buy it in Taiwan.

My main expenditures are electronics and liquor. I tend to purchase the former online (abroad) and the latter locally (since TW taxes on spirits are extremely low).

Some items it seems you need a license to import. Electronic toys or gadgets from China for instance seem to be blocked.

That’s why companies ship them from HK. But if WiFi or Bluetooth is involved you have to sign a FCC document (Taiwan equivalent)

Sorry, I misunderstood @Icon’s question before. I have ordered over 2000NT worth from iHerb before and you will definately be charged duties for it. If you ship with DHL, it can be up to 40% because DHL charges a broker fee. If at all possible use Singapore Post or SH. I have better luck getting stuff through without submitting paperwork. I haven’t tried a shipment over 2k yet.

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So I finally cut the order to 1700 more or less, which gives me two bottles of stuff I need. Real waste of resources.

I was going to previous orders with iHerb for like 3000 and there were like 10 items, including medicine, soap, treats, condiments, etc. Man, miss those days where my budget was the only limit.

It will increase the total cost for shipping, but if you put the higher priced but lighter items in a separate order, and then split the order across different days, and maybe compare between iHerb and LuckyVitamin (often more expensive, sometimes cheaper shipping) and order under the name of willing friends and relatives, you can get what you need without raising the cost too much. It’s overall cheaper than buying locally anyway.

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I’ve seen more locals buying really cheap stuff, sometimes just cheap tofu and 1 veg at the supermarket. Guess the economy is on a downer.

What tariff??

I mean I order stuff from Stewmac, 10,000+NT, from Aliexpress, again way more than 2000nt. None of them are ever taxed. Even if I was taxed it’s like 7%, kinda like paying sales tax back in the states…

Officially the rule (was) anything over 3000NT was taxed, but I can’t count the number of times I ordered stuff way over 3000NT and never gotten taxed except a few times.

They’re just basically saying stuff that’s all. Tax authorities are generally very easy to talk to, if you are Taiwanese… Unlike the IRS.

And besides Chinese will mark it as gift or commercial samples anyways. They know how to do things. Americans won’t do that because they’re too by the books.

It depends on the commodity, but 5% VAT they will add.

Both the vat and import tariff are not levied always either for some reason, I also ordered stuff a number of times overseas and not once have I had to pay anything even though the parcel had all the commercial invoices, cn22s etc say the value is way over the official limit and it’s not a gift

I think a tax is only levied if they actually do inspect the package, which is not always and only if it looks suspicious.