Customs defend right to charge air passenger 20,000 baht for tax on designer bag

[greenchair]

5 hours ago, robblok said:

Why would they have to lower taxes on luxury articles usually bought by the rich... I thought you were a defender of the people ?

 

Taxes on high end luxury items are used to pay for stuff for the poor why decrease this income stream ? Don't the rich already have enough ? 

So because that lady had the means to by a 50000 baht bag. She must then pay 20000 to the poor if she wants to use it on her travels. 

 

Therefore every person travelling out of Thailand with a new 300 baht bag, must pay 30 baht for their bag when they come back. 

In your view. 

[jackdd]

7 minutes ago, greenchair said:

So because that lady had the means to by a 50000 baht bag. She must then pay 20000 to the poor if she wants to use it on her travels. 

 

Therefore every person travelling out of Thailand with a new 300 baht bag, must pay 30 baht for their bag when they come back. 

In your view. 

She had to pay money because the customs officers assumed she bought the bag in Hong Kong and brought it to Thailand.

This is really something that would have been handled exactly the same way in most other countries, including Europe.

[PAIBKK]

A year and a half ago, a friend from Danmark got fleeced over a 5 year old designer's suitcase. He had to pay 25,000 THB and would have gotten his tax money back when leaving the country 2 weeks later with the designer's suitcase. That's what Thai customs promised. He's still waiting for the return of his money as he didn't get it in cash but with a cheque that was not covered outside Thailand and now has expired.

[CGW]

23 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Every country does this, this is not exclusive to Thailand.

Does that make it correct or are we just indoctrinated to believe it is there right?

Just asking!

[farcanell]

17 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Every country does this, this is not exclusive to Thailand.

If i buy whatever item (it it's above a certain price) in for example Thailand and bring it to for example Germany i have to pay tax on it in Germany.

 

The problem is rich people don't pay tax (or way less than they should), so an extra tax on luxury items is ok, this way they have to pay.

Rubbish.

 

if I go to Australia and my brother gives me a watch for my birthday, what right does another jurisdiction ( thailand on returning home) have to levy a tax on it?... none

 

now... im assuming that you are referencing tax on duty free items, for which there is a limit that can be imported, in some countries... this is a different story.

 

and... luxury taxes should be at point of sale, not at the discretion of a cretin, sometime after sale... or maybe not, depending on the day and cretin involved. That’s an invitation to corruption

 

and.... the problem has nothing to do with what tax is paid by rich people.... you can’t apply a hidden tax to punish a wealthy person who employs a better accountant than you... or punish a wealthy person who does pay tax correctly, because others pay for better accountants

 

now... wealthy people.... why should bill gates have to pay a luxury tax on a lambo, when he gives away a huge percentage of his wealth to charities.... your looking at justifying this as fairness for some twisted reason... it’s not... 

 

fair is to look at a price tag and pay that, or not, inclusive of whatever retail tax is required... same price for all

 

no receipt? Why not claim its stolen, vs untaxed? Same same... as in no proof.

 

[Thian]

30 minutes ago, jackdd said:

If i buy whatever item (it it's above a certain price) in for example Thailand and bring it to for example Germany i have to pay tax on it in Germany.

 

It depends if you bring it in the original box with pricetag and totally undamaged...so it still can be sold as a new product.

 

A purse which is brought into thailand without the protectionbag, (well most girls will keep that forever as well) and just used as a handbag during the flight is not new anymore, no lady would pay the full price for a Chanel purse like that...

 

It's the same with laptops, do we need to bring the receipt every time we bring it into a plane? Or for the latest cellphone model?

 

But this whole story is very double since we have a minister with loads of very expensive watches and he also won't show the receipts..and still got away with it...

[Thian]

Actually thailand is very dumb to have that high importtax, loads of bahts leave the country because of it.

 

Better be the country where those items are the cheapest of Asia so they all come to the hub of shopping, book a hotelroom, do some excursions and dining before flying home.....like we do in Tokyo and Singapore now.

 

My wife goes shopping in the King Power shop and let a friend who fly's abroad pick it up at Swampy airport when they return, where it's ready and waiting for them, taxfree.

If they were smart they also sold all thise designerpurses there....so the money stayed in thailand.

 

At Amsterdam airport i had a look at the huge queue for VAT-refund and there were loads of chinese waiting there with LV-shoppingbags....

I even saw an arab men there who carried 4 huge bags from Chanel...(FYI those chanel/hermes purses cost around 3-6000 us$ a piece).

 

Chinese grouptours in Holland all go to the outlets for designerclothings/purses....and that's the highlight of their holiday in europe. They buy for thousands of euro's within an hour or so.

 

 

[Darcula]

The rip-off artists who control the domestic retail of brandname handbags and watches must be behind this. They been steadily losing custom since more and more Thais have enough money with easy visa rules to travel around. Rather than lowering their own prices to fall in line with other markets, they resort to their usual strongarm tactics.

[RobFord]

The gf had me pick up a Coach bag while in Hong Kong because she knew it wouldn’t be fake.

She has a friend in BKK with three retail shops selling cheap knock off brand clothing.

He says even the outlet stores there sell fakes, only they’re good fakes.

 

 

[observer90210]

Should have bought the bag at MBK or from a Beach Road shop, would have cost them less for almost similar quality !!

 

On a more serious note, sometime back, the customs suggested to declare such items of value if leaving Thailand with the intention to return. Seems to make sense to avoid any "misunderstandings" on return.

[stephen tracy]

Well, another 20,000 baht to the public coffers that Prayuth can now use to buy 20 more votes.

[Kieran00001]

7 minutes ago, RobFord said:

The gf had me pick up a Coach bag while in Hong Kong because she knew it wouldn’t be fake.

She has a friend in BKK with three retail shops selling cheap knock off brand clothing.

He says even the outlet stores there sell fakes, only they’re good fakes.

 

 

 

It raises the question, what is a fake?  In the outlet stores of Bandung there are three known types of fake; complete fakes that have no association with the brand, half fakes that are made from stolen genuine parts but assembled outside the factory and so at least of substandard construction but also possibly containing some fake parts, and 100% genuine articles that were supposed to be destroyed due to having defects, end of lines or discontinued stock, but instead have found their way to the shops.  Not all fakes are alike, some are actually the real deal.

[mercman24]

best one liner. tax the rich to pay for the poor you have been watching the huge scandal i hope about the poor not getting any handouts and those in authority have been pocketing the money

[jackdd]

1 hour ago, farcanell said:

if I go to Australia and my brother gives me a watch for my birthday, what right does another jurisdiction ( thailand on returning home) have to levy a tax on it?... none

Every country (might be that there are a hand full that don't) does this!?

You think if you stay in Australia, travel to Thailand where your brother buys a watch for you and you take it back to Australia this is free? (Probably under a certain sum it is free, but not if we are talking about several thousand Dollars). I don't know about the specific laws in Australia, but i'm sure that it isn't free.

If you did the same in any country in the European Union it wouldn't be free (again, if above a certain sum)

 

1 hour ago, farcanell said:

and.... the problem has nothing to do with what tax is paid by rich people.... you can’t apply a hidden tax to punish a wealthy person who employs a better accountant than you... or punish a wealthy person who does pay tax correctly, because others pay for better accountant.

It's not a hidden tax, that Thailand has luxury tax on certain things is really no secret. And if you import an item from another country then you pay the tax at the customs in the country to which you are importing it (like in this case at the airport), this is really common practice.

 

1 hour ago, farcanell said:

now... wealthy people.... why should bill gates have to pay a luxury tax on a lambo, when he gives away a huge percentage of his wealth to charities.... your looking at justifying this as fairness for some twisted reason... it’s not... 

Because all wealthy people do this, right?

[Letseng]

2 hours ago, jackdd said:

Every country does this, this is not exclusive to Thailand.

If i buy whatever item (it it's above a certain price) in for example Thailand and bring it to for example Germany i have to pay tax on it in Germany.

 

The problem is rich people don't pay tax (or way less than they should), so an extra tax on luxury items is ok, this way they have to pay.

Munich airport customs is a great place to get caught.

[Letseng]

2 hours ago, Thian said:

It depends if you bring it in the original box with pricetag and totally undamaged...so it still can be sold as a new product.

 

A purse which is brought into thailand without the protectionbag, (well most girls will keep that forever as well) and just used as a handbag during the flight is not new anymore, no lady would pay the full price for a Chanel purse like that...

 

It's the same with laptops, do we need to bring the receipt every time we bring it into a plane? Or for the latest cellphone model?

 

But this whole story is very double since we have a minister with loads of very expensive watches and he also won't show the receipts..and still got away with it...

It won't work at German customs. Original box or not, they can see how long you used your bag. Same in Paris.  You get asked into the office where they check if your Chanel is fake or not. The owner would never carry a fake, the bag was bought in a legit shop... it is new...Then they got you. Then you pay fine and VAT.

[farcanell]

57 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Every country (might be that there are a hand full that don't) does this!?

You think if you stay in Australia, travel to Thailand where your brother buys a watch for you and you take it back to Australia this is free? (Probably under a certain sum it is free, but not if we are talking about several thousand Dollars). I don't know about the specific laws in Australia, but i'm sure that it isn't free.

If you did the same in any country in the European Union it wouldn't be free (again, if above a certain sum)

 

It's not a hidden tax, that Thailand has luxury tax on certain things is really no secret. And if you import an item from another country then you pay the tax at the customs in the country to which you are importing it (like in this case at the airport), this is really common practice.

 

Because all wealthy people do this, right?

Again.... duty free allowances apply..... duty free is items that are... duty free

 

if you buy a watch... or anything... from a non duty free outlet, it will not garner an extra tax, as it’s already been taxed... each country can’t just whack a tax on something coming across its borders... where would it end?

 

Now... true story.... i stupidly brought my Casio g shock at banana IT.... 5000 baht... duty free it was 3000 baht ( yep... I didn’t check... stupid... you get that)... should I now have to pay more money because I cross a border with a new watch? 

 

Again... luxury tax... any tax... is applied at point of sale... not elsewhere. Thailand can have its luxury tax on items bought in Thailand ... or duty if imported as a duty free purchase.... otherwise you will be paying the luxury tax at point of sale, and at immigrations. Double tax... not expected, so hidden (or extortion)

 

and.... you seem to dislike wealthy people for some reason... not all are dishonest... I hope that doesn’t burst your bubble

[Thian]

2 hours ago, RobFord said:

The gf had me pick up a Coach bag while in Hong Kong because she knew it wouldn’t be fake.

She has a friend in BKK with three retail shops selling cheap knock off brand clothing.

He says even the outlet stores there sell fakes, only they’re good fakes.

 

 

My wife's collegue had to bring 3 of them LV purses from italy so they were sure they got a real one...

 

Well it is what thailand deserves me thinks...i do the same with products that i want to have and not a copycopy since these days anything in BKK can be fake, i can't see it anymore....and the prices are still higher than abroad as well.

Also i believe that real brandname products sold in thailand are a lower quality than the same real products abroad...The north face for example gives 2 years warranty in thailand while it's lifetime or 10 years abroad, and that's in the real TNF shops.

[Thian]

6 minutes ago, farcanell said:

Again.... duty free allowances apply..... duty free is items that are... duty free

 

if you buy a watch... or anything... from a non duty free outlet, it will not garner an extra tax, as it’s already been taxed... each country can’t just whack a tax on something coming across its borders... where would it end?

 

Now... true story.... i stupidly brought my Casio g shock at banana IT.... 5000 baht... duty free it was 3000 baht ( yep... I didn’t check... stupid... you get that)... should I now have to pay more money because I cross a border with a new watch? 

 

Again... luxury tax... any tax... is applied at point of sale... not elsewhere. Thailand can have its luxury tax on items bought in Thailand ... or duty if imported as a duty free purchase.... otherwise you will be paying the luxury tax at point of sale, and at immigrations. Double tax... not expected, so hidden (or extortion)

 

and.... you seem to dislike wealthy people for some reason... not all are dishonest... I hope that doesn’t burst your bubble

You forgot the law that one is only allowed to bring in goods for max. 2-400 us$ value...(i forgot the real number but in Amsterdam it is 375 euro).

 

So throw away those boxes, use it a few times and it isn't new anymore.

[Thian]

32 minutes ago, Letseng said:

It won't work at German customs. Original box or not, they can see how long you used your bag. Same in Paris.  You get asked into the office where they check if your Chanel is fake or not. The owner would never carry a fake, the bag was bought in a legit shop... it is new...Then they got you. Then you pay fine and VAT.

In Holland you're even allowed to bring in fakes, maximum 3 pieces...

 

But a product without pricetags, box, receipt is not new...nobody will pay the new full price for it. And when it looks used from scratches or stains it sure isn't new.

 

I don't know for germany, i just drive over the border and there's not even a checkpoint. We bring stuff out of germany since it's cheaper there.

But even germany has to acknowledge that a used purse is not new, so how can they charge importtax and vat on that? 

[jackdd]

17 minutes ago, farcanell said:

Again.... duty free allowances apply..... duty free is items that are... duty free

 

if you buy a watch... or anything... from a non duty free outlet, it will not garner an extra tax, as it’s already been taxed... each country can’t just whack a tax on something coming across its borders... where would it end?

 

Now... true story.... i stupidly brought my Casio g shock at banana IT.... 5000 baht... duty free it was 3000 baht ( yep... I didn’t check... stupid... you get that)... should I now have to pay more money because I cross a border with a new watch? 

 

Again... luxury tax... any tax... is applied at point of sale... not elsewhere. Thailand can have its luxury tax on items bought in Thailand ... or duty if imported as a duty free purchase.... otherwise you will be paying the luxury tax at point of sale, and at immigrations. Double tax... not expected, so hidden (or extortion)

 

and.... you seem to dislike wealthy people for some reason... not all are dishonest... I hope that doesn’t burst your bubble

I don't dislike wealthy people, i just think wealthy people should be taxed higher (in any country)

But obviously you have no idea what you are talking about, you should read about custom duties in general, and it sounded like you are from Australia, so maybe start here: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/impo/clea

[farcanell]

30 minutes ago, jackdd said:

I don't dislike wealthy people, i just think wealthy people should be taxed higher (in any country)

But obviously you have no idea what you are talking about, you should read about custom duties in general, and it sounded like you are from Australia, so maybe start here: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/impo/clea

Yer... good... I like it when people provide me with facts... it especially amuses me when said people don’t read the links that they provide... and the implied insult, bothers me not

 

please open the supplied link and check regulation 126D

 

and... crikey... yes I’m australian... and... wealthy people DO  pay more tax... it’s a sliding rate dependent on personal income... zero % under 19,000 aud up to 54,000 dollars on a 180,000 dollar income.... above 180 000 dollars attracts a 47% tax on every dollar

 

Company and trusts attract different rates... if your really interested in taxation... even if you think I know anything about it

 

[farcanell]

53 minutes ago, Thian said:

But a product without pricetags, box, receipt is not new...nobody will pay the new full price for it. And when it looks used from scratches or stains it sure isn't new.

Yep... clearly defined under Australian tax law... no tax payable

[jackdd]

5 minutes ago, farcanell said:

Yer... good... I like it when people provide me with facts... it especially amuses me when said people don’t read the links that they provide... and the implied insult, bothers me not

 

please open the supplied link and check regulation 126D

When i open the link there is no mentioning of a regulation 126D, but it clearly says if the value is over 1000 AUD you pay for it, so if your brother buys a Rolex for you in Thailand and you take it to Australia you pay for it when you arrive.

 

5 minutes ago, farcanell said:

and... crikey... yes I’m australian... and... wealthy people DO  pay more tax... it’s a sliding rate dependent on personal income... zero % under 19,000 aud up to 54,000 dollars on a 180,000 dollar income.... above 180 000 dollars attracts a 47% tax on every dollar

I should maybe add that when i say "wealthy" i'm more talking about people that make several million per year and not just 200k.

The average Joe who is employed at a good paying Job that pays him 15k a month and thus ends up with 180k per year does indeed pay the tax that you mentioned.

But the guy who is running his own businesses and makings millions a year... this guy pays way less than that, effectively he pays maybe 10 or 20% on his millions.

[farcanell]

27 minutes ago, jackdd said:

When i open the link there is no mentioning of a regulation 126D, but it clearly says if the value is over 1000 AUD you pay for it, so if your brother buys a Rolex for you in Thailand and you take it to Australia you pay for it when you arrive.

 

I should maybe add that when i say "wealthy" i'm more talking about people that make several million per year and not just 200k.

The average Joe who is employed at a good paying Job that pays him 15k a month and thus ends up with 180k per year does indeed pay the tax that you mentioned.

But the guy who is running his own businesses and makings millions a year... this guy pays way less than that, effectively he pays maybe 10 or 20% on his millions.

before maligning others, try opening all the links on the title page, which just gives an over view. 

 

and... I’m not sure, but I think your complaining about tax avoiders... and or, people able to legally reduce their tax burden..... nothing wrong with leveraging your financial position within the legal boundaries, especially when these same laws apply to all (mind you, trumps manipulation of real estate tax should concern US citizens, but what do I know, right?)

 

regards the Rolex analogy... if tax’s are paid at the point of purchase, then tax’s are paid.. that’s it... it’s not complicated, and should not be confused with duty free items, which do have a limit

 

in the case of the OP, the immigration officers need to establish wether or not duty (taxes) have been paid or not.... if paid, she was double taxed, which surely even you can see is wrong.

 

sure, if duty free (no tax paid) and in excess of limits, you may need to pay those duties... but the OP doesn’t give enough detail to determine wether the correct tax was paid or not.

 

anyway... this is moving into the realm of bickering... as far as I’m concerned, I have demonstrated that the claim that all countries charge these tax’s is false, which was the guts of my first post, so unless you have something new and interesting to offer, there’s little point in continuing, esp as you think I know nothing about taxation.

[Thian]

6 minutes ago, farcanell said:

regards the Rolex analogy... if tax’s are paid at the point of purchase, then tax’s are paid.. that’s it... it’s not complicated, and should not be confused with duty free items, which do have a limit

So, if i buy a new rolex in amsterdam (21% vat included)...i don't wear it, keep it in the box with receipt and fly to Oz i will have to declare it cause it's above 1000 au$. 

 

I guess the aussie customs will charge me the VAT on it isn't it? Maybe also importtax and they calculate that VAT over the full price (included the dutch vat)

 

And what if i throw the box/receipt away and fly to OZ with the rolex on my wrist...i dont declare it and the customs stop me to have a look at that watch i'm wearing...can they still demand me to pay aussie-VAT or importtax?

 

Last year i bought some used computer online from canada to holland...i had to pay 21% vat on it, no importtax. The thing was used which was clear to see.

 

 

[farcanell]

27 minutes ago, Thian said:

So, if i buy a new rolex in amsterdam (21% vat included)...i don't wear it, keep it in the box with receipt and fly to Oz i will have to declare it cause it's above 1000 au$. 

 

I guess the aussie customs will charge me the VAT on it isn't it? Maybe also importtax and they calculate that VAT over the full price (included the dutch vat)

 

And what if i throw the box/receipt away and fly to OZ with the rolex on my wrist...i dont declare it and the customs stop me to have a look at that watch i'm wearing...can they still demand me to pay aussie-VAT or importtax?

 

Last year i bought some used computer online from canada to holland...i had to pay 21% vat on it, no importtax. The thing was used which was clear to see.

 

 

Aha... now your asking interesting curly questions.

 

the correct thing to do, when entering Oz, is to fill out a declaration form about the item, and if already taxed, apply for a refund if the ATO pursues the issue (I don’t believe they can demand money at the airport, but they can impound awaiting clearance ) proving proper payment of tax in amsterdam

 

personally, I would wear it... the onus in Australia, would be on the ATO to prove their claim... very hard if it’s on your wrist

 

regards the used gear.... any demonstrable deteriation would make duty nul and void for Australian tax purposes

 

the mistake that most people make is telling the authorities too much... don’t lie on any form... but don’t over supply information... keep it simply and let them do the work.

 

if you have a duty free shop receipt... toss it.... if from the high street, keep it.... customs has to rely, in the first instance, on your claim, and proving the location of purchase of any item, is damn near impossible for them to do ( with a few exceptions... diamonds maybe)... and usually a waste of their time (the ATO is like a business... they pursue where there is reward, with random audits to scare people into compliance by making examples)

 

import/ export tax’s etc, are really aimed at import export businesses... personal items are a gimme for the tax department... much like them relying on you not properly recording mileage on a vehicle for tax purposes etc disallowing valid claims

 

they don’t make things easy for us... repay them in kind

 

 

[robblok]

21 hours ago, Thian said:

I know loads of Thai girls who went abroad to buy one, or let another Thai bring those bags.

 

And they are not rich at all, just secretary or office employee's who save many months for them.

 

Those bags are cheaper abroad and best of all they don't have to deal with the arrogant thai staff in those shops.

Even in singapore they are cheaper plus it's much more fun for them to tell they bought that in Singapore instead of Paragon.

I know them too, but its about avoiding import tax. If your over the limit your over the limit and you have to pay. It works the same in The Netherlands. I try to avoid it too, but I don't bitch about it when I get caught. Its just one of the streams of tax income for the country.

[robblok]

18 hours ago, greenchair said:

So because that lady had the means to by a 50000 baht bag. She must then pay 20000 to the poor if she wants to use it on her travels. 

 

Therefore every person travelling out of Thailand with a new 300 baht bag, must pay 30 baht for their bag when they come back. 

In your view. 

No your muddying the topic.. i should have known that you as a lady would get rattled up by a handbag even if it benefited the poor. 

 

There are 2 seperate issues

- Paying of tax if you buy stuff abroad (over certain limits)

- Using bags, computers and the likes that you previously bought and maybe paid tax on. (if your traveling with something that looks real new.. keep the receipt to show you owned it b4)

 

So I am pro paying taxes on imports (though I like all others try to avoid them too.. I just don't complain if i get caught)

Against paying taxes on stuff that is not new.

[8OA8]

On 21/03/2018 at 6:45 PM, Father Fintan Stack said:

Except the tax is all fudged as the cars are mostly stolen from the UK and imported illegally and ain't no hi-so gonna be paying full tax on any imported vehicle. 

Well I'm thinking that you don't have a grasp on reality. I'm very confident that none of my imported vehicles were ever in the UK and quite certain that the proper Thai Customs duties were collected when imported.