What is the import tax on ebay purchase?

Almost certainly based on what you paid for it. What is humorous to me is that if you brought it back on a trip from England, the individual customs agent makes a decision of whether or not the taxes to be collected are worth the time to fill out I paperwork. That is true in the US and in England.

I have never gone to England with less than 4 times my tobacco allowance and I never returned from England or Argentina with less the 3 times my alcohol allowance. On my last return from Argentina, I was $400 plus over total allowance and the customs officer sent me right through. On all ocassions, I was prepared to pay the duty in cash.

My hypothesis is that if you meticulously declare everything and end every sentence with "Sir" or "Mam", you will be treated with the maximum deference a customs agent can ethically give you.

You will, to U S customs. (I've paid my share on impored Wedgewood pottery bought by wife over there.)

It's of no interest to the seller what added taxes buyer must pay. ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

I assume you will, if there is one due. As executor of an estate I recently shipped some artwork to Canada. The UPS guy explained how everything works, but after I learned it was the recipient's problem I stopped listening. You might try the Customs website. Yours isn't a tax question, so there may not be anyone here who really knows how this works.

-- Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD

Generally, you will, upon entry of the item into the U.S., if mailed via the Postal Service, you will be charged duty, if applicable, when you go to pick up the package from the post office. If shipped via a service such as FedEx, FedEx will pay the duty and then bill you for it unless, under certain circumstances, the sender has agreed with FedEx that the sender will reimburse FedEx for the customs duties. If you're really interested in the item, you might email the seller to see whether he/she is willing to pay the cost, or if he/she expects that to be part of the shipping cost you're expected to pay for (if the seller expects you to pay shipping, they probably implicitly expect you to pay any import duties).

I purchase items from time to time on eBay, including some from England and other foreign sellers. To date, I have never been charged import duty, perhaps because these were not high value purchases (

It's a transaction cost, and the seller probably would have an interest in keeping transaction costs low. It should not matter who is forced to remit the payment. That is, the same _effective_ price should be paid regardless of who remits the taxes.