"Lee K. Seitz" schrieb: > > Tomas Buteler stated: > > > >I don't ask sellers to declare lower values, unless > >they offer first). [snip] But as a seller I > >always ask which value they want me to state, because > >I believe it's the polite thing to do when trading > >older games. > > Well, I *would* draw a distinction between *trading* games and > *buying* them. I dislike the thought of being taxed for non-cash > transactions.
I tried to argue the same to a customs officer. His reasoning was that I "paid" by sending my game. Can you argue with that? Anyhow, receiving stuff here in Germany and have or not have to pay tax on it is a turn on the wheel of fortune. The stuff usually first lands in Frankfurt. Customs opens the parcel and checks if it contains narcotics, guns, the usual, and of course items of value. If the officer decides that tax has to be paid, he sends the item to the local branch of the customs bureau and a notification to the German Post, which in turns notifies me that I have to pick up the item personally from customs. There seems to be no reasoning in the officer's decisions beyond his mood at the day and his individual rule of thumb what might be of value. High value items went through like a breeze, while some low value gave me entertaining afternoons. Anyhow again, if I have to pick it up, may the Force and my social engineering skills be with me. Private sellers from the US seldom put a bill in the parcel and I have to convince customs that the item was sent to me by a personal friend and I paid nothing. If I fail I have to produce a bill and then the real fun starts: Get a bill, pay 5% import tax and 16% sales tax, while the mailing costs go into this calculation as well. But this is not all: Anything over the value of app. $40 has to be taxed, no matter if it's a gift or not. If I buy something really valuable and pay a lot, I would be an idiot to ask the seller to understate the value, as of course I want it sent to me insured. And that's why I've basically given up to argue about "gift sendings." Marco ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
