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Paying duty on gifts from US
Since many boards on the nest do SS exchanges, I'm wondering if any of you have run into this before.
On the August board we did a SS through Elfster. My SS was from Utah and sent me a Christmas wreath of ornaments that I assumed was homemade. She had it shipped through FedEx, I signed for the package and all was well (other than the fact that even though the package had bubble wrap in it, that the wreath was damaged beyond fixing). I smiled, said thank you on our board. We usually post a pic but since she would know the gift was ruined, I said I didn't have my camera (I didn't want her to feel bad...it's the thought, right?)
Fastforward to yesterday. I receive a bill from FedEx asking me to pay almost $15 for this package. They break it down as: Customs duty (1.05), GST (1.10), PST (1.77), Advancement fee (10.00) and GST on ADV/Ancillary Services fee (0.50) for a grand total of $14.42.
She apparently didn't label the outside of the package as 'gift' so they are charging me on the $20 she claimed on the outside.
I called today to dispute the charges and the lady suggested e-mailing FedEx. Has anyone run into this before? I have nothing to lose by e-mailing but I really don't want to pay this out of principle since it was a gift AND why am I only receiving this invoice 2 months after the fact when I have thrown out any evidence that this was indeed a gift (such as her card to me). This is frustrating. Any advice?
Re: Paying duty on gifts from US
Sorry no help here, but I was curious - couldn't you get charged duty on it even if it is a gift?
I ask because half my ILs are American. So we do a lot of back and forth over the border (driving). Knocking onf wood, I've never had to pay duty. However, they always ask the approximate dollar value of the gift when driving across - I always assumed that it was becuase they were trying to determine if they wanted to send me in for duty on the gifts. Ok, I guess I could be out to lunch here...
Anytime I've had to pay duty, I've had to pay before they would release the package. How can they make you pay if they've already given you the package?
(and my inner 12 year old is giggling at the word package
)
I asked them why I didn't pay at the time when they had me sign for the package and they said that's just not what they do. Maybe I will argue I would have had it sent back. And I was wondering, what will happen if I just don't pay?
Giggling as well, now...