Importing wheels from the US

PH47 · 02-07-2006, 03:11 PM

Hi guys,

My sister-in-law lives in the US and said she's willing to send some wheels over for me.. eg go buy them as normal then freight them to me (for my 67 merc, nothing I like available in aus).

What's the deal with taxes and customs and all that? Anyone got a link to info about what sort've charges/fees/troubles I can expect once they hit here?

Just adding all the charges together and finding out whether it's worth doing this myself or going through a specialist importer.

**Sorted** · 02-07-2006, 03:27 PM

Purchase Price/Value over $500 then you may have to pay Customs/GST.

Prob if it came through normal mail one rim at a time then you may be able to avoid additional tax's.

BUT postage costs are the killer of course............

Sorry dont know the web site but there is one out there.

T_Terror · 02-07-2006, 03:41 PM

Whats happening with the free trade agreement?

Kryton · 02-07-2006, 04:14 PM

yep, US postage is expensive. get each rim sent individually and you shouldnt have to pay taxes. make sure they are insured too incase 1 doesnt turn up.
should just be as simple as purchase-package-send.

xbgs351 · 02-07-2006, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRHEMI

Purchase Price/Value over $500 then you may have to pay Customs/GST.

Prob if it came through normal mail one rim at a time then you may be able to avoid additional tax's.

BUT postage costs are the killer of course............

Sorry dont know the web site but there is one out there.

I believe that got raised to $1000.

ZEDAYE · 02-07-2006, 05:06 PM

G'day, I imported a set of rims from China, under $1000AUS they were held by freight company for customs. I had to use a bonded agent to clear customs paperwork, if they were over $1000AUS I could have done it myself while they were in bonded storage at freight company but the amount of hassle was not worth it. The bonded agent charged $125, paperwork took 2 days to clear and customs took 2 weeks! to do inspection/clear for release. Total customs charges (inspection fees/paperwork lodgement fees) were around $280. If you buy a oddball style of rim not seen here get 5 (1 as spare),I did luckily as 1 was slightly damaged in transit. I hope this helps! Cheers Mike.

**Sorted** · 02-07-2006, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZEDAYE

If you buy a oddball style of rim not seen here get 5 (1 as spare),I did luckily as 1 was slightly damaged in transit. I hope this helps! Cheers Mike.

Now I didnt think of that - what a great call

Bearman · 02-07-2006, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRHEMI

Purchase Price/Value over $500 then you may have to pay Customs/GST.

Prob if it came through normal mail one rim at a time then you may be able to avoid additional tax's.

BUT postage costs are the killer of course............

Sorry dont know the web site but there is one out there.

Try this:
http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=5549

BTW, GST is payable on the value of the goods, duty AND cost of the postage.

PH47 · 02-07-2006, 06:24 PM

Cheers mate never even crossed my mind to get 5 but such an obvious thing!

I don't quite get the customs thing though.. those fees are for EVERYTHING brought in or is it a random inspection type deal? or what?

Just not sure whether to send them seperately as suggested above or all together..

edit: thanks for the link bearman saw that after i posted.. reading it now

ZEDAYE · 02-07-2006, 07:53 PM

The fee charges were - Quarantee-$90, quaranteine permit-$44, import terminal-$33, airline document fee-$31.90, compliance fee-$22, eft user charge-$11 + storage fee $27.50.(GovScrewuTax inc.) Dont know if these fee's would be charged every time you sent one wheel. I called and spoke to customs before I imported the wheels and everthing I was told was wrong! so be careful.The air freight charges were $5.18US per kilo and cost me more than the wheels did! If wire spoke rims are on your list PM me with any questions, I spent hours researching them before importing mine.Cheers Mike.