Online shopping and getting stuff into India (Customs)
Well it is an important question in the world of today, more and more Indians are purchasing stuff online and importing it into India. But the question most people ask is the same. What about the customs duty?
Well to be frank with you, anything you have bought abroad and are bringing into India is chargeable as far as custom duties go except some duty free items like IT Products (Digital Camera, LCD Monitors,RAM,Processors etc., confirm the list though).
Seasoned ebay sellers and other online stores try to ensure that loyal Indian customers aren’t forced to shed customs at all. Remember you don’t need an IEC number to import stuff for personal use.
Here is what most companies do so that you don’t have to pay customs for importing stuff into India :
1. They mark the product as a gift on the customs declaration form of the package. This is illegal by the way , but there is no way to detect whether the thing is a gift or not. Unless the other person leaves an invoice inside the so called gift š
2. Even after declaring the commodity as a gift, Indian customs will still charge it if the price is above Rs.10000 , so these ebay sellers under-declare the value of goods. This is a double edged sword, as if the product is stolen it would mean that you would not get the right price from insurance, so this can lead to losses.
Now both these steps do save duty to the importer, but you should realise they are probably illegal and be ready for consequences. Also keep in mind the more expensive the courier, the more closely the customs will examine your package. They know that EMS and DHL aren’t used for low value items, hence these packages are scrutinised more than others. On the same time Airmail and Registered Airmail is more prone to theft especially in India.
Now the fact is most genuine importers don’t mind paying a little duty on the products they are importing into India, but the customs are so notorious that most try to circumvent them, because they know if their package is caught by Indian customs, there will be a lot more paying up to do! Also if you are importing in bulk and you don’t have an IEC, you are in big trouble.
Another question people have is what happens if the customs find your item chargeable, dont worry no one will send you to jail unless you are importing prohibited stuff. If your item is found chargeable, your package will be seized by customs and you will be sent a letter usually asking you for purpose of import etc. Be truthful while replying. If customs are satisfied with your reply, then they will calculate the appropriate customs duty and send the postman to your home who collects the duty and delivers your shipment. As easy as that. There is a small fine too for mis-declarations. Frequent mis-declarations will get you in trouble though. So be on the right side of the law. In case you have questions, feel free to ask via comments. Also this is not legal advice, hire a lawyer if you need legal advice.
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hi, freinds i am going to import xbox games worth 7500, i wnt to know the tax implications ,
Hi,
Can anyone tell me below what amount we don’t have to pay customs. I want to purchase some apparels online which is below $50. There will be any customs for this? and its safe to purchase..they have mentioned in the website that they will send through regular post for free…
Guys, use a US based mail forwarding company. I just shipped 8Kgs of item from USA to India by DHL Express and it cost me a total of $74 for that. Its cheaper and more secure than using the regular USPS as when USPS reaches India, the IndiaPost does a very bad job customs clearance and also delivering it to the recipient. I have been living India for the last 1 year and this is how I get my eBay and other online purchases delivered to India every month.
Hello,
I am planning to buy a watch from a website from US (Not ebay, direct from Manufacturer). The cost of the watch is around US$ 213 + shipping (I think DHL/FEDEX 20$ (Rs. 12,000 odd). Would there be any customs levied on this? If yes, how much? Any ideas? Thanks Arvind
@Arvind just use google and search for duty calculator and open the top three links, there you can calculate the amount of customs duty you need to pay. Its give a pretty accurate idea of how much tax you need to pay if and when your item gets taxed. Sometimes you maybe lucky and get your items without getting charged any customs duty too
Hey….
Im buying ALLOY WHEELS & TYRES for my CAR from USA online…..
Its gonna cost me around 2500$ (USD)……including shipping……
Will there be any problem with the customs for the same……?
Ill be using DHL/FEDEX service…..Door to Door……
And what will be the duty for the same……
Its for my own personal use……
Can anyone help me with this…….
Thank You……
hi i would like my friend to send me an phone which costs around RS:18500(indian) from us to India. what would be be the customs duty levied on it and he is sending it as a gift. Would this much amount qualify as a gift.
HI,
I have purchased a phone($447) on ebay.com/USA.seller sent throgh “Express Mail International ” to INDIA and the status showing on USPS – Customs Clearance.It’s already 7 days completed and status is same…..:)…seller Insured the item.
Please let me know whether i can get the phone from customs or shall i request a refound from seller in case the problem not resolved after 2/3 weeks also.
I have purchased an Iphone of $800 on amazon.com using my gift card balance payment method.Seller sent it via USPS.
Now the tracking status shows that the package is in KOCHI EMS CENTRE.
Could anyone please tell me that why the package is still with Kochi ems centre?
Why it is not moved from Kochi to my delivery address even after 6-7 days?
For Tracking in INDIA Please use the below link why the ITEM are in Customs clearence:
http://ipsweb.ptcmysore.gov.in/ipswebtracking/IPSWeb_submit.htm
@Partha Dude thanks for the suggestion of ComGateway mail forwarding. i ship last week one blackberry one Sony overear headset and one ssd hard disk, it was 3 packages in total and weight was 3 kg volumetric. They charge just $30 for DHL shipping to Chennai, I got it delivered to my doorstep in 4 days. Had to pay customs of just Rs 667. Amazing.
I am doing a purchase through online of Bicycle components/parts for personal use. Will they attract customs duty? What is the percentage?
Thouigh they are not high-end products, but in total of bts & pieces will amount to Rs.30,000+. I tried looking at the Indian Customs website, but in the maze of the information, I could not locate what I wanted? Please throw some light f you can.
Thanks
just order it.
if via ems then ok but will take long aprox 25 days plus
if via dhl or fedex in 5 days you will get a call from courier comopany about more details.
custom will be aprox 30 % max.
wont be higher than that.
for delivery there will be a issue as they might need a form
depending where you live.
but duty will be max 30 %.
tc
hi there, I need help.
I received iphone 4 from my friend from usa and it was marked as gift. indian customs seized the parcel and sent me a letter to call them. When I called them they asked me abt the parcel so I told them my frnd sent me as gift they asked me abt the approx value of phone so I told them Its around $200 so they told me to sent them a letter regarding this saying its approx value and I do not want show cause notice and they told me once they received the letter they will send me the parcel they didnot tell me anything abt any duties or penalties. after I send them the letter I received my phone in couple days but then the problem starts when I open the parcel there was a letter in it that says I have to pay total of 11689 rs for custom duty and penalty. and after a week I received another letter from FPO that says the they decided to confiscate the parcel or they are giving me option to pay the amount of 11689 rs. now my problem is that I dont know how to pay this fines or can I do something abt it or since I already got the parcel so iF I dont pay the fines wht the custom people do ? HOw they gonna confiscate my parcel now or how they will collet the fees me? or is there any ways of settling the amout for some reasonable amt. pls help me guys….
Hi I am ordering 2baby carriers from amazon US which approximately cost 60 dollars so will I b charge customs.
Hi Sir, My Hobby is collect Postal Stamp From Foreign Countries, and its value is approx 200000/- in Indian Rupees, Shall i need to take IEC Code. & how i avoid custom duties and other taxes. Please help us.
Hi,
I have bought a cosmetic item -cosmelan cream from ebay.in. But, the seller is in USA and hence it got shipped from there. The total cost I paid for it was 225 dollars.However, when I contacted the seller , I was told the item was marked as gift worth of 45$ .Could you please let me know how much money I need pay as a custom duty and will some one from customs ask’s me to visit their office. I put in banglore and this item got shipped on 9-feb-2013 from USA. I really worried. Please let me know your valuable thoughts.
Thanks In Advance,
Siri
Hi,
i have recently purchased 2sets of watches costing both less than 2500/- from US and the seller is despatching the same through USPS, do i need to pay the customs duty for this purchase also?
Hello sir,
recently i have ordered one google tv player electronic good worth of 49.89 dollers. now i am worried of the customs duty which i have to pay for the good or not and where i have to pay. i am getting the item through air mail. i am residing at vizag. if i have to pay the customs duty where i have to pay and what will be the amount. please clarify me in this regard.
thanking you
Prashanth Sira
Following is my experience of purchase of tablet from chinabuye online site .I had paid 83.15 USD including air parcel (with tracking) the item reached through FPO to me at mulund and I was charged 42% customs duty on the customs assesed value of the item. I have observed that items purchased for self use is charged higher duty @ 42% whereas a commercial bulk importer is charged at approx.16.4% customs duty . This is sheer discrimination . My experience is that electronic items purchased on non indian online sites though sometimes cheaperin rupee value end to be costlier because of 42% customs duty . so beware
I read the lot, & most of the comments. I ordered supplements from bodybuilding.com. total cost was $120. Total weight was 3kg. Shipping was $55 UPS. The total cost, including shipping, was less than Rs 10000. The cost of the items only, was approx Rs 6300. Yet, the customs charged Rs 5482. At least thats what UPS told me. It seems customs was charged at 90%. I was under the impression there was no charge below Rs 10000. & that too on consumable products.
@Shantanu
Bodybuilding Supplements has an import duty rate of 150% and is exempt of VAT, Landing Charges rate is 1%, Countervailing Duty rate is 5%, CESS rate is 3%, Education CESS rate is 3%, Additional Customs Duty rate is 4%.
Hi I recently bought Dr dre studio headphone from eBay usa.. I paid 18600 for it and asked the seller to ship it via DHL, the seller agreed to mark the item as $100,how much customs charge should I pay?
Hello. I have ordered about 6 t shirts around 130 USD from China. It has been sitting in customa for 2 days according to the tracking site.
Is there any chargeable duty on clothes? They are all replica brands like Nike etc
Hey I ordered a watch from
Ziiiro. I checked the tracking services and it said record item customs information. The package was sent through ems and is currently in chennai. But I have not got any information about how much duty I should pay and have not recieved any letter. Is there anyway to contact customs ? It’s been this way for more than a month now. Please help.
hi i would like to buy an zippo lighter from ebay global through usps of charge 33$.will it be received safely in tamilnadu and what will be the custom charges.please guide me
Hi, I have won 3 bids on ebay, all are cell phones. One an HTC one S, HTC one XL and HTC desire X total being Rs.38000/- the damn seller one phone first in one pack and declared its value to around 55 usd and instead of shipping the other two phones separately shipped them together. Now all three phones have arrived in India. The tracking detail for the first phones says it was released by customs without any mention of any payable duties but still the postman is asking me to pay rs 6337 as duty on the first phone HTC ONE S, while tracking for the second parcel says (Articles importation subject to restrictions import- license) Now i want to know what to do? Am in trouble, these are for personal use and the seller has sent mail stating it was declared as a gift.
Hi,
I have ordered mobile phone cases worth 126USD (~ Rs.7500) from a HingKong website. The package was sent from Singapore through EMS post.
Now the package is in Chennai customs and I have received a letter from them saying that they intimate me the arrival of the package. In the letter they did not mention me to come and get the package.
Please let me know what i have to do now.
Should I go to customs and get the package?
Will they charge customs duty for this? If Yes, how much would be the charges?
I bought the mobile phone cases to re-sell them here in my place localy.
If the package is mentioned as GIFT, then should I tell them that i bought the products from a website.
Please let me know how to handle the situation in Chennai customs.
Hi,
I want to purchase Car Remote Control system from Aliexpress.com. The cost of that device is 16$. and they are sending that material through “China Post Air Mail”.
How much Import duty needed during receiving the material and what is the method to pay the duty. I am leaving at Indore (Madhyapradesh India).
@Jitendra – You need not pay import duty charges for $16. And moreover they will ship the product to you mentioned as Gift.
Relax in home. You will get your product at your doorstep. š
Hello,
I purchased some toys(mostly action figures) from a Hong Kong based seller. The total value including the shipping is $55. The toys itself are $37.
I also informed the seller to mark the product as a “Gift” and the value as $10.
Since this is my first time importing an item, I wanted to know if any Custom Duty will be applied on it.
Thanking you.
I have ordered a pair of earphones from http://www.aliexpress.com 3 days back. The value of the item is ~Rs500 (delivered through China air mail post). Would this constitute a customs check/clearance and all the hassles involved?
I also plan to order a mobile phone cover worth Rs1000 from the same site (delivered through china air mail post). Would that get stuck in these customs/post hassles?
Would appreciate a response from anyone who would have knowledge or an idea on this. Can anyone please share their experience buying mobile accesories from AliExpress via China air mail post?
Hi ,
I want to purchase dress, for personal use worth 30USD from an online shop based in china. Will I attract customs. How much can the total cost go upto?
Hello, i need some help desperately. I order a pair of oakley juliet sunglasses from ebay for my birthday, worth $500. They were shipped via Usps. I received them yesterday and to my surprise, it was just an empty box. Someone had opened the box, pilfered my sunglasses and taped it back up again. I went to the local post office and spoke to the manager. I came to the conclusion that someone at Customs has stolen my sunglasses.
Anyway, i really want this pair. I’m looking to buy them again and i’ve found a seller from Indonesia. I suppose DHL is better since they track their packages from end to end. What are some of the things that i could do to insure that my sunglasses get to me this time?
hi…i want to purchase clothing from an online site of worth $23 and it will be imported from china to india.do i need to pay any tax to receive that?..Please let me know
I am planning to buy Canon 400 f4 Used lens. it’s a bid. say its cost new is around 5000 USD but as this is used one it comes to me at say 1500USD. if ebay seller ships to me. what I will have to do? will custom look at winning bid value ? I am ok to pay tax above 35000INR. but will it be easy.
Hello sir
Wonderful blog and information. I have a short query. I regularly buy from ebay , usually stuff like cables chargers mostly under 40 $ and it omes easy to me.
However few months back i bought a car dvr canera, cheap plastic one that ttaches to car windshield and records journey data whose price was 27$ from ebay china. The parcel was sent by airmail and marked as gift
It arrived at my place after 2 months nd postman collected 1000 rs for it as customs
So for n item if 1700 rs is 1000 rs duty normal
Can we cobtact customs for explanation
Or just pay duty
What if i refuse to pay,
Was this item charged because it was a camera because i have imported expensive cables or chargers but never been charged
I know you answer lotsof wueries, i hope you can guide me so i can make my purchases narter
i want to buy Umi X2 from china based seller. its price value is 300$ .do i have to pay custom duty? what will be the safe value to avoid or less the custom duty .please help me. as they (seller) is saying that they can put the item as a sample , gift , or as an MP4 player making its invoice value to 50$ .
what should i do and which service should i use DHL / EMS / singapore post.? what should i do?
I m buying a Djing equipment (Denon MC3000) worth rs 30000/- How Much Custom Duty will be charged on me..??
So I am in trouble! I shipped a knock off designer bag from China worth 300 dollars. An original would cost a few thousand dollars. The shipped shipped it via ems, got caught on customs and just got a letter from the FPO. Asking for details, ice code, invoice etc. I was wondering what my next step should be. Thanks.
what will happen if i did ignore their notice and not attend the reporting ?
I want to buy a dog gate online worth Rs.9500, which will be shipped from USA to India. Will their be custom duty on this and will they create a problem?
iam planning to import power bank from china, quantity 200. i got the dealer from china. but what is the procedure to get it from customs. Seller said they send through fedex. please help
My sister staying in Canada is planning to bring PS4 for me next month. Is duty will be charged on the console while custom clearance in Indian airports??
Dear sir,
I’m buying 8 pieces Cell phone of $ 1576 USD through online shopping from HONGKONG to INDIA. With DHL shipping. Seller had paid fee of shipment. So is there any custom duty or taxes in INDIA? Seller have mentioned FREE of charges reason of delivery is “SAMPLE FOR TEST.”
Best regard
Lawrence.
Lawrence, what you are doing and what the seller did is illegal, if the customs open your package, you would have to pay duty.
Hi,
I’ve bought Digitech Guitar processor worth ĆĀ£95.00 and taking with me to India. Should I declare it in the customs?
Hey need some help.
I am in urge of buying some dietary supplements / weight loss pill. And supplier is ready to ship. I have ordered 4 different packages for 60$ dollar only it includes shipping.ll there be any duty ! If so how much would it cost me ? And should i go to the office and collext the product if its seized ?
Hi, i have to buy LCD screen for my sony mobile from aliexpress. Can you tell me about ESROW payment via bank and customs and also delivery time.. It costs about $43 (USD)
hi i am going to buy a mobile cost $530, how much the custom duties will be?