Undervalue

🦄 A little bit of positivity for everyone :D

There are many countries which will add extra taxes onto goods coming into their country. There are many reasons behind this, but for you this is just an additional fee that will cost you money. Depending on your country, there are ways to avoid this. Using these methods may be against the law depending on your country, it is advised that you look into your country's laws before attempting this especially when it comes to porn, as the information below may be incorrect.

Shops

If you are from a country which is strict with customs charges, then it is recommended to use one of the following shops that undervalue:

Big in Japan - After making a preorder, go to your order details and add a message to the product stating that you would like the product to be undervalued to a certain amount. Obviously put it under the threshold for paying tax.

Nippon-Yasan - After making a preorder, your package will be automatically undervalued. There is no need to do anything yourself. If you wish, you can pay the tax through opting for the Transi-logistic service that they offer.

Jungle - While ordering, there will be an option to send as a gift/devalue your package.

Anime Island - On step 5 of the checkout page, there is a "Order Instructions/Comments" section to ask for them to declare a lower value. Either specify a value you would like declared or just request to lower the value with no specific value and they will automatically declare $18.00 USD for items with an actual value under $50.00 USD and $35.00 USD for items with an actual value over $50.00 USD.

Purchasing from Amiami and the like may be tempting, but if your order is over a certain amount then there is a possibility of getting hit by customs. There are certain things you can do to try and avoid this however excluding purchasing from one of the above stores.

Read the List of shops for more information on the above shops.

Countries

Argentina

Truly a horrible place to be a collector, perhaps moving could be a good choice if you want to continue this hobby.

There is a limit of two purchases per year, per person which means that for preorders/purchases there are several options available:

• Through third parties: these are mostly Facebook shops, generally the most used choice (partly because of ignorance or lack of credit cards), but be careful since they will charge you ridiculously high prices. For instance you can expect to pay 3600AR$ (257u$s) for a 11000JPY figure.

• Using your own C.C or PayPal account: No doubt the best choice for your wallet, however there are some issues too:

• For the limit of two purchases per year and per person, you can either buy many items per order and/or if you have someone you trust i.e parents, relatives, you can ask them to use their permitted purchases (since anyone can pick an order from customs as long as you have the addressee ID and the mail notice signed by the latter).

• There are other ways to get collectibles, such as through buying & selling Facebook groups, or by Mercadolibre. Both will be overpriced, especially the latter, but sometimes there are good deals which disappear quickly.

With regards to books/artbooks, these are not subjected to the restrictions of two purchases per year, so in theory you can order as many as you want. It's highly likely that your package will end up retained in customs and once it arrives you will probably find that customs employees might try to charge you the 50% customs fee (this is not legal since books are tax customs free so be sure to bring a copy of the AFIP resolution).

To avoid problems try not to make very large orders and also avoid ordering several copies of the same item (this applies both to figures and books).

Australia

All packages over $1000 will be taxed, which gives a very high threshold for avoiding fees. This may be changing in 2017. Loli material is illegal to import however possession laws vary by state/territory. Customs is pretty lazy though so the chances of anything being intercepted is slim. You will need ID when picking up packages.

Brazil

No taxes on books/printed stuff. Taxes (60% import tax) are rare with RSAL and below. EMS has very high risk on taxes, try to avoid, use SAL Parcel instead for large shipments. Smaller risk with small packages and cheaper package value.

Canada

Watch out, loli is illegal so be smart and sneaky about it. Taxes should be on anything marked over $60 CAD, however it's possible that you may avoid customs as long as there is no individual item over 10K in the package. Using RSAL is the best option, since it seems to be very successful at missing customs, even with high value packages (+200K Yen). Strict about checking international packages (unlike the US) but drops the ball on domestic packages (rotting human body parts have made it through the mail; it takes longer and costs more to ship something within Canada than from Canada to the US). Shipping does not seem to be taken into account when determining whether or not to tax something. If your package does get caught by customs, then you just have to pay the mailman in any way you want.

A Canadian from /jp/'s Onahole threads went to court due to importing a loli hole, so be careful.

Chile

Packages above 7000 yen, excluding the shipping cost, will be taxed at approximately 30% of the total value of the package including shipping. The fee will be in USD. Therefore it is recommended to undervalue. Using EMS or SAL will make no difference to customs, so use whichever you want. EMS will take one week to arrive, SAL will take two to three. There are no problems with loli and it is rare for porn to be caught.

Finland

VAT is added to packages over 22€ in value (shipping etc. included), which is 24% for pretty much everything except notably 10% for books, including manga. If the VAT is less than 5€, it's ignored. Possible additional costs of unknown quantity for packages over 150€ in value. Finding the amount out beforehand is difficult, but it's usually less than 10% of the package's value. If your package gets caught in customs, you just fill in the info online, pay, and wait until they send it off on it's way again. EMS has a very high chance of getting caught by customs, with registered mail having a pretty good chance as well.

Loli is legal.

Germany

Germany will tax packages at the following rate:

EuST: Is calculated for every package with value+shipping above 22€. It's usually a flat 19% although EuST for printed matter is 7%.

Tax: Based on the type of stuff you are importing, usually 4.5% for figures. It's calculated if value+shipping is above 150€. If you have to pay taxes, you have to add EuST in.

Package value+shipping = 25€ --> You only pay a 19% EuST --> 25*0.19 = 4.75€. Package value = 160€, Shipping = 20€ --> You have to pay additional taxes, if you are buying figures you are at 4.5% --> 160*0.045 = 7.2€ --> EuST is calculated on top of it, so additional 19% --> (160+20+7.2) * 0,19 + 7.2 = 42,77€ tax+EuST.

If a package isn't labeled correctly (i.e. shipping cost missing, suspected for undervaluing), you'll have to go to your customs office, show a proof of purchase and pay. There is an option to send in the proof per mail and let DHL handle the rest, but since 2015, this costs 28,50€ + the taxes you have to pay.

Using SAL or Airmail will normally get through if the package is undervalued to ~2000 yen. SAL parcel most of the time gets caught, same with EMS, but this depends on your customs office. Using USAL to sneak past customs does not seem to work if the package is not undervalued. Keep in mind that RSAL is not available anymore if you're ordering from Japan.

Shipping also gets added to the value and included for taxes. So if your package costs 20€ + 30€ shipping, you'll have to pay 9,50€ taxes. EMS and DHL packages always include shipping costs on the customs declaration, SAL and Airmail usually don't.

Furthermore, you will only be taxed if the amount would be greater than 5€, which means anything lower than 27€ won't be taxed. For printed matter, this would be 70€.

German customs use their own exchange rate for calculating, which is changed at the beginning of each month. The current exchange rate can be found here.

Hungary

Packages above 22€ will be subjected to 27% VAT and an extra customs fee which varies. If marked as a gift, the threshold will increase to 45€. Shipping fees are not included. If you do not undervalue then you will need to email a specific document and then pay the postman at your door, the post office will inform you of the procedure in detail. Using EMS or SAL makes no difference in whether or not customs will charge you, so feel free to use whichever. Loli seems to be fine, even if opened at customs.

Italy

EMS is usually spotted at customs and charged 24% import tax (not if below 45€, but by using EMS you are like to be above that), there is also a 5€ fixed fee. You will pay the postman when the package is delivered. It is therefore recommended to undervalue your package. SAL may be able to help, but this is not guaranteed - it seems to be quite random as to whether or not your parcel will be hit. Porn and loli items are fine to ship.

Latvia

Latvia will charge at 21% of the value of the package as long as the value is over 23.5€. However undervaluing seems to work very well no matter what type of delivery you use, so feel free to use EMS to get your package quicker.

Mexico

There is no need to undervalue, you will not be taxed. If you send your package via EMS, then it will take a minimum of seven days to get to you. Porn and loli will get to you perfectly fine.

Netherlands

Packages under 22€ are exempt from VAT, those between 22€ and 150€ are exempt from tariff duty but VAT of 21% will have to be paid. Packages above 150€ will have an addition 4.7% tariff duty. Usually you will just be able to pay the postman with cash in order to receive your package. Undervaluing will help avoid this but if they suspect it's not the actual price, they'll send a letter saying they don't know the price. Just send them the actual invoice (paypal invoice works), with the actual price on it. You'll get taxed for that price, but you won't get into trouble for committing fraud. If you are willing to risk it, you could try to change the paypal invoice, but this is not recommended. It is better to just pay the tax once as getting caught doesn't mean your next packages are sure to get caught, so continuing to undervalue will still help. Customs rarely open parcels, so it seems porn and loli items are fine.

New Zealand

There are no taxes with any shipping service on imports under NZ$400, including shipping. Loli material (at least, figure/daki/doujin) has been imported without issue through RSAL, EMS and DHL. Undervaluing in foreign currencies before shipping here also works.

Poland

All packages valued over 22€ should be charged with 23% VAT. All packages valued over 150€ should be charged with 23% VAT and customs fees (exactly which fees they use is anyone's guess - you may be looking at fees on toys, art, scale, non-scale, RC models, etc. - there is no way to contest incorrect fees unless you want your package to be returned to sender in the meantime). There are also handling fees, but they are negligible and will usually be below 2€ in total. The VAT and customs fees will be calculated from the total value including shipping costs. VAT for books is actually only 8%, but no one cares, you're gonna pay 23% anyway. That is, if your package gets caught - this depends on the shipping method (surface mail and USAL have the lowest chance to be caught with EMS being basically 100%), the declared value (packages valued over 22€ have a higher chance to be caught), the forwarding and distribution department your package ended up in (there are five) and how lazy the customs people are that day.

Even packages valued under 22€ may be held in customs. In this case, you will receive a letter asking you to declare the contents of the package, their value (if a translated invoice is not available they seem to favor screenshots of the website and payment confirmation documents - you will need to send both), intended purpose (sale or personal use), your PESEL and delivery address. This can be done by email. VAT and fees are paid to the mailman upon delivery. In some cases you will need your ID to confirm your identity. You might not be notified that a package valued over 22€ is in customs - if the customs declaration is complete and not suspicious, or it was inspected by a customs officer, it will just get delivered to your door and you will have to pay the VAT and fees to the mailman.

On evading VAT and customs fees: The customs office can open any and all packages, but they're generally busy with large transports, so most packages are processed by Polish Post employees. They will not open packages unless they have a good reason to believe the material inside is hazardous or law-breaking (they will call for a customs officer in those cases), unless the package has been considerably damaged, or it's getting taxed and they don't know how to translate the list of goods from the customs declaration (even a collectible figure may be ambiguous to them). Use this to your advantage as you don't need to declare the specific name of the item. It is possible to send them shooped website screenshots and Paypal payment screenshots. The more stuff is written in moonspeak on them the better your chances are. The important part is to know what value was declared by the sender. A difference of ~1k yen will not be suspicious, but if you declare 10k less than the sender they might call for a customs officer to inspect the package. Remember that VAT evasion is a crime - if you get caught, blame /v/.

2D loli is illegal (more info), so better avoid getting your packages opened.

Russia

Packages above 1000€ or above 31kg will be subject to tax of 30%, this is very unlikely which means undervaluing is unnecessary. Customs do not seem to check packages, except to attach a paper if the weight of the package is listed incorrectly (happens all the time with AmiAmi orders) but it only results in slower delivery. As a result of this, porn and loli seem to be fine.

Spain

All packages over 22€ should be charged with 21% VAT, including the cost of shipping. There will also be a transaction fee of between 15-25€ as a result. If the package's value is about 22€ but below 150€ then you are able to pay the courier or go to a post office to receive your package. However, if the value is above 150€ then you will need to send an invoice to customs and wait for them to tell you how much you need to pay, which will be paid by bank transfer and should take around a week. EMS is very likely to get caught by customs which will add a 1-4 week delay, while SAL shipments which are under 2kg are very rarely caught. It is recommended to undervalue using one of the above shops. Porn and loli should be fine to ship to Spain.

Sweden

VAT (moms) is 25% on item(s), shipping and insurance cost except on food (12%) and printed matter (6%).

VAT is paid on everything over 300 SEK total and over 500 SEK total if marked as gift. Import tax (tull) is paid on over 1500 SEK total. However small packages usually get through no matter value (for example 1-2 Blu-ray(s)) and bigger packages somewhat rarely get taxed no matter the value or if it's marked as gift (for example one figure ~0,75 kg, undervalued to 240 SEK total).

EMS is free from import declaration fee (PostNord is handling EMS). Import declaration fee is 125 SEK for PostNord on anything that isn't EMS, ~80 SEK for FedEx and ~60 SEK for DHL.

Turkey

Packages above 75€ will mean that you will pay a tax of 20%. This tax is not always applied, you may be lucky and have a package avoid it. You can pay your tax either to the postman or at the post office. It is therefore recommended to undervalue, however do not value a huge box at 10€ or customs may get suspicious. Loli status is currently unknown.

United Kingdom

For items coming from outside the EU, you will pay VAT of 20% on anything that is over £15 or £36 if it is labelled as a gift. Furthermore, if you receive this charge then you will also pay an additional admin fee of £8 if the package goes through the Royal Mail or £13.50 if it goes through Parcelforce. RSAL goes through Royal Mail whereas EMS goes through Parcelforce. Only the value of the item is used to determine fees, shipping fees seem to be ignored.

In the event that you are hit by customs with either Parcelforce or Royal Mail, they will hold the package at the local depot and send you a letter. You can then either pay the fee online and have it delivered the next day, or take the letter to the depot, pay in person and immediately receive it. For Parcelforce if tracking says that it has arrived at the local depot then you can go to the depot without having received a letter. You can give your postcode and pay customs immediately, which is usually faster as Parcelforce's letter takes several days to arrive after the package arrives at the depot.

If you send your package by RSAL then there is a higher chance of it missing customs, this is also done through the Royal Mail so if you do get hit by customs then your admin charge will be £8.

Sending your package by EMS however will make it significantly more likely, if not guaranteed to be hit by customs and is delivered through Parcelforce which will mean a £13.50 admin charge. Additionally, this may potentially remain in customs for such a long time that RSAL would have been faster.

Marking packages as a gift does not guarantee that it will not be hit by customs, however goods like Books have 0% VAT so they will never be hit by customs no matter what value they are. Undervaluing parcels will decrease the chance of being hit by customs but unless you undervalue it to around 1000-2000 yen it still has a chance of being hit by customs.

United States

There are no taxes unless a single package contains 200,000 yen ($2000) worth of stuff. Customs do a poor job of screening out illegal items.