Never steal. The government hates competition. The truth is, you receive (or others receive) "free" goods and services from your government. Ours is the same, although some governments provide more "free" goods and services than others. They (your government, my government) may tell you that these particular fees are for "something else", but the truth is the same for you as it is for me. All the money goes into a general fund and is administered by agencies, bureaus, commissions and or ministries as allocated by your elected "representatives". It is presumed that you/we (collectively) want these fees to exist. After all we (collectively) voted for the people who passed the laws and appointed the bureaucrats in your/our agencies, bureaus, commissions and or ministries. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Democracy: Three wolves and two lambs vote on what to have for dinner. Republic: 300 wolves and 200 lambs vote for three wolves and two lambs to develop a dinner menu. Constitutional Republic: A Republic wherein it has been decided beforehand that lamb is not on the menu. ...Then the Supreme Court decides (5 wolves to 4 lambs) that mutton is not lamb! Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers... with ballots! Regards, Bob... ------------------------------- "In the carboniferous epoch we were promised perpetual peace. They swore if we gave up our weapons that the wars of the tribes would cease. But when we disarmed they sold us, and delivered us, bound, to our foe. And the gods of the copybook headings said, 'Stick to the devil you know.' " --Rudyard Kipling From: "Chris Brogden" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > On Tue, 14 Aug 2001, Jody wrote: > > > NZ Customs is holding my new LX. They have mailed me a bill for > > NZ$213.13 (multiply by 0.4 for US) which I must pay to get the camera. > > This is supposed to be for GST (Goods & Services Tax) on the "US$699 > > value" of the camera. I paid US$651 for the camera. Then they seem to > > think they can charge the freight on top of that. I paid US$27.50 > > freight. Now, in the days when I learnt maths, that was US$658.50. > > > > What right do they have to rip me off like this? What bloody goods > > and services did I get from them? Since when was daylight robbery a > > service? > > This is the way that Canada Customs works, too, AFAIK. I believe there's > no tax charged on camera equipment imported into the US (not sure if > that's new, used or both), but they certainly charge it here in Canada... > at least, most of the time. It sucks, but the only way around it is for > the seller to declare the value as less than it really is, which of course > is illegal. I'm not sure how it works there, but in Canada you can only > get about $60 tax-free when you're receiving something marked as a gift. > You have to pay taxes on anything--even a "gift"--over $60 or so. > > Interesting story: I know a guy who bought an LX over eBay for $350 US. > When it arrived in Canada, he found that he only had to pay $12 or so. > It seems that the seller had written $350.0 for the value, which Customs > interpreted as $35.00. Mistakes do happen sometimes. - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
