Assalamualaikum.
This is a very long post and trust me if you are planning to buy goods from overseas, this will help.
Recently I have bought stuffs from the USA. They are in two boxes separately as they are from two separate orders. So what im trying to say is ; two boxes from two orders. But they are from the same website. I just ordered twice so that I didnt get charged, you got it?
I use DHL service as I have used this one before and their service is really good! Yeah thats what I should say. Very fast and they provide tracking number. Its a pleasure to seeing your goods fly from one place to another. I keep myself checking for the delivery countless time in a day. What a Zafirah!
Then the day they are delivering, that DHL guy called me. I was driving to USM that time and my husband picked up the phone. He only asked for the direction to my home.
Here comes the few minutes later...
My mum called me and told me I was charged RM180. Well RM180.02 to be honest. I was extremely shocked as i dont get charged on my previous order the year before and whyyyy
What frighten me MORE is, the day after 'that-very-shocking-day' is another package would be sent home. i was hoping hopelessly that i would not get charged, and yes no! I was charged for the second time! How crazy huh. This time it is RM107. Theres no way to not-to-pay-the-tax or i will never get my packages.
That weekend, i went home and analyse the invoices and i was totally confuse and mad. and yes, whyyy me? Ive asked a blogger bout the tax as i knew she used to buy goods from overseas as well. and she told me, she was never get taxed! as long as the stuffs arent reach the limit which is RM500.
My first purchase cost me RM236 whilst my second purchase cost RM283. So both dont exceed the limit right? The first purchased was taxed RM180 and the second purchased was taxed for RM107. The more i buy, the less i get taxed? seriously?
But theres one thing you ( or it is just me ) dont know bout buying things from overseas, is they have their own fixed freight charges. depending on the country of the shipment origin.
Due to my unsatisfaction, i went to Malaysia Custom Department to clear everythings up. That nice and calm officer is really good to handle customer ( or consumer ) very well i could say. He managed to calm my anger. Very passionate officer huh? I asked this and that and he answers them flawlessly so yeah.
It was the IATA thing or something i was forgotten. They have their own freight charges. Even though my package was charged RM35 for the shipping, they cancel out the RM35 and replace with RM421.59, are you crazy now? Im glad i went there that day or i would never know bout this fixed freight charge. The further the shipment origin, the higher the freight charge would be.
So the calculation for my first package is
My stuffs : RM236
Freight charge : RM421.59
and they end up RM600++
so it exceeds the RM500 limit and therefore i will get taxed.
Some of my stuff didnt get taxed while some were taxed for 15% etc. Add up with GST 6%. Add up with tax processing fee RM50. And it become RM180.
Well he told me my second purchase's tax is slightly lower because they accidentally charge only 5% instead of 15%. Oh yeah well thank you anyway. Even though it broke me lots already T_T
Well it may be my bad luck this time or whatever because they check and charge people randomly. I am a bit disappointing with this..why me? *sigh*
So lesson learnt, it is not your stuff that means should not exceed RM500. It's the CIF ( cost + insurance + freight ).
What more frustating me is when he told me the freight charges has been increased effective that week i received my package. For the USA, the freight charge is turning to RM480++ i cant remember.
I think i should buy things that would cost me under RM20 then. Like this one:
Cost : RM19
Insurance 1% : RM0.19
Freight : RM480
Total : RM499.19
so my order cost me only RM499.19 and i dont exceed RM500 and therefore i would not get taxed
i think that was the option ever, unless you buy more and ready to pay the tax, well thats okay.
I dont think I will buy things from overseas anymore. Perhaps I should get them by hands ( read : travel ) or just buy from the sellers in the net.
