Iherb Food Items - VAT charges + €10 DHL charge over orders €22+

Seanachai · 06-11-2014 4:48pm

Some of the products I ordered are subject to the 23% Vat, I know this now. But if you are just ordering vitamins, minerals or fish oils from iherb then according to the Revenue website you should not be getting charged.

http://www.revenue.ie/en/practitioner/ebrief/archive/2011/no-702011.html

davidlacey · 06-11-2014 11:41pm

On the subject of IHERB i used to purchase Now Foods, BerryDophilus, Natural Berry Flavor, 60 Chewables and I am struggling to find an alternative supply closer to home. Anyone have any ideas?

Seanachai · 07-11-2014 9:56am

davidlacey wrote: »

On the subject of IHERB i used to purchase Now Foods, BerryDophilus, Natural Berry Flavor, 60 Chewables and I am struggling to find an alternative supply closer to home. Anyone have any ideas?

I notice that some of the bodybuilding and discount supplement stores stock NOW products. They might be able to order it in for you from their order sheets maybe?.

jtthom · 07-11-2014 12:34pm

Order eventually arrived after placing it four weeks ago. Total value of order was $42.68 and was sent by regular post.

Seanachai · 07-11-2014 1:12pm

I emailed customs and got this response, if anybody has been charged based on the total value of the package they can request a refund by sending their invoice to Customs and Excise, Refunds Section, Cargo Terminal 1, Dublin Airport.

Cc: Revenue Cargo Dublin Airport
Subject: Vat on package

Hello, having checked your criteria for the Vat charge on supplements not all of the items I ordered recently were subject to this tax. Some of the items fall under the category of vitamins/minerals. Is the charge applied on the full value of the package irregardless even if only some of the individual items are subject to the 23% tax rate?. If you could clarify this for me I would really appreciate it for future reference.

It would seem a bit unfair to blanket charge just because the package contains supplements. Thanks.

The 23% import VAT charge should only be charged on the goods that are liable to VAT and not on the goods that are zero rated. Normally it’s up to whoever’s making the importation declaration to split up the invoice into VATable and Non-VATable values. It should not be a blanket charge.

Regards

Customs Information Office

*********************************************************************Please note that Revenue cannot guarantee that any personal and sensitive data, sent in plain text via standard email, is fully secure. Customers who choose to use this channel are deemed to have accepted any risk involved. The alternative communication methods offered by Revenue include standard post and the option to register for our (encrypted) secure email service. Please see Contact Details page on our website.*********************************************************************

ynul31f47k6b59 · 25-11-2014 2:02pm

Hi guys, I've ordered from iherb a lot over the past few years - I ordered some makeup brushes (a Real Techniques set for $30) and paid $8 for DHL so that it would be here in lots of time for Christmas. The DHL guy rang me this morning and I told him to leave the package in the local shop as I wouldn't be home, that was fine, he never mentioned charges. I picked it up a few hours ago - just got this text from DHL:

"DHL will attempt delivery of shipment no. [number] to you and Customs import taxes of Eur16.61 are due. To receive your shipment please call 018448317 to make payment by credit/debit card. This charge is assigned by the Customs Division of the Revenue Commissioners and includes a minimum €10 DHL Admin fee."

Do I still have to ring and pay if I've received the shipment already?! Admin fee for what, exactly? I paid $8 for DHL shipping, what admin was involved, sending me a text??!!

Definitely never, ever using iherb again. The total will be over €47 and I could have gotten the bloody brushes here for €35, that's what I get for trying to save money....

Seanachai · 25-11-2014 4:35pm

shanna83 wrote: »

Hi guys, I've ordered from iherb a lot over the past few years - I ordered some makeup brushes (a Real Techniques set for $30) and paid $8 for DHL so that it would be here in lots of time for Christmas. The DHL guy rang me this morning and I told him to leave the package in the local shop as I wouldn't be home, that was fine, he never mentioned charges. I picked it up a few hours ago - just got this text from DHL:

"DHL will attempt delivery of shipment no. [number] to you and Customs import taxes of Eur16.61 are due. To receive your shipment please call 018448317 to make payment by credit/debit card. This charge is assigned by the Customs Division of the Revenue Commissioners and includes a minimum €10 DHL Admin fee."

Do I still have to ring and pay if I've received the shipment already?! Admin fee for what, exactly? I paid $8 for DHL shipping, what admin was involved, sending me a text??!!

Definitely never, ever using iherb again. The total will be over €47 and I could have gotten the bloody brushes here for €35, that's what I get for trying to save money....

I'd enquire with the revenue if makeup tools are subject to Vat in the first place. It could be that they're just seeing that the package says iherb and blanket charging. If I were to order a load of vitamins and minerals but no herbs or other types of supplements from iherb then I shouldn't be charged Vat as the vits and mins aren't subject to the Vat.

Transform · 26-11-2014 9:22am

Carly Better Prizefighter wrote: »

Hi guys, I've ordered from iherb a lot over the past few years - I ordered some makeup brushes (a Real Techniques set for $30) and paid $8 for DHL so that it would be here in lots of time for Christmas. The DHL guy rang me this morning and I told him to leave the package in the local shop as I wouldn't be home, that was fine, he never mentioned charges. I picked it up a few hours ago - just got this text from DHL:

"DHL will attempt delivery of shipment no. [number] to you and Customs import taxes of Eur16.61 are due. To receive your shipment please call 018448317 to make payment by credit/debit card. This charge is assigned by the Customs Division of the Revenue Commissioners and includes a minimum €10 DHL Admin fee."

Do I still have to ring and pay if I've received the shipment already?! Admin fee for what, exactly? I paid $8 for DHL shipping, what admin was involved, sending me a text??!!

Definitely never, ever using iherb again. The total will be over €47 and I could have gotten the bloody brushes here for €35, that's what I get for trying to save money....

its not DHL's fault as they have to handle the package more as a result of the tax being charged and for customs to have a look inside the box - pay the bill.

For that sort of stuff you might actually be better off looking at aliexpress anyway

Seanachai · 27-11-2014 12:12pm

I've no doubt it's coming from Revenue, I'm going to do a test and order items that are exempt from the Vat on iherb and see if they still charge anyway. There's alternative options for shipping available anyway.

Candy_Girl · 01-12-2014 5:30pm

Seanachai wrote: »

I've no doubt it's coming from Revenue, I'm going to do a test and order items that are exempt from the Vat on iherb and see if they still charge anyway. There's alternative options for shipping available anyway.

I've just placed an order for vitamins so I'll let you know how I get on.

Candy_Girl · 04-12-2014 12:31am

Received my order today delivered by DHL. The total cost of my order was €26, I didn't get charged VAT so I'm guessing if I keep my orders small it may be avoidable.

Seanachai · 05-12-2014 11:44am

Candy_Girl wrote: »

Received my order today delivered by DHL. The total cost of my order was €26, I didn't get charged VAT so I'm guessing if I keep my orders small it may be avoidable.

Maybe so, the reason I was using iherb and ordering from the US was being able to find supplements with either none or less additives than the ones in the health stores here, or supplements that aren't even in the shops here. My order would be €100 on average, I'm using another route now so hopefully the revenue don't go after that too. It would be very petty and vindictive if they were deliberately targetting iherb packages as an easy target to boost the revenue figures.

Mofty · 05-12-2014 2:24pm

Anyone know why the delivery charges for DHL has skyrocketed? It used to be $8, now it's $21.

Candy_Girl · 05-12-2014 11:04pm

Mofty wrote: »

Anyone know why the delivery charges for DHL has skyrocketed? It used to be $8, now it's $21.

This is what they said on their Facebook page, customers are in uproar over it.

iHerb.com "With the rise in cost to ship internationally, it has become more and more difficult for iHerb to subsidize the shipping charges for these shipping methods. Our international shipping costs are now based on weight and not just a flat fee.

However, we will be offering a 50% shipping discount for orders over $20 for International Airmail, which will hopefully offset our increased shipping costs"
Like · Reply · 6 hours ago

korb · 09-12-2014 7:48pm

Seanachai wrote: »

I emailed customs and got this response, if anybody has been charged based on the total value of the package they can request a refund by sending their invoice to Customs and Excise, Refunds Section, Cargo Terminal 1, Dublin Airport.

Cc: Revenue Cargo Dublin Airport
Subject: Vat on package

Hello, having checked your criteria for the Vat charge on supplements not all of the items I ordered recently were subject to this tax. Some of the items fall under the category of vitamins/minerals. Is the charge applied on the full value of the package irregardless even if only some of the individual items are subject to the 23% tax rate?. If you could clarify this for me I would really appreciate it for future reference.

It would seem a bit unfair to blanket charge just because the package contains supplements. Thanks.

The 23% import VAT charge should only be charged on the goods that are liable to VAT and not on the goods that are zero rated. Normally it’s up to whoever’s making the importation declaration to split up the invoice into VATable and Non-VATable values. It should not be a blanket charge.

Regards

Customs Information Office

*********************************************************************Please note that Revenue cannot guarantee that any personal and sensitive data, sent in plain text via standard email, is fully secure. Customers who choose to use this channel are deemed to have accepted any risk involved. The alternative communication methods offered by Revenue include standard post and the option to register for our (encrypted) secure email service. Please see Contact Details page on our website.*********************************************************************

Hi,

Did you got anything back?

Also does anyone knows how to get copy of DHL charge invoice as the ones I had are gone.

korb · 09-12-2014 7:49pm

By the way. I placed an order 2 weeks ago with regular post and no sign of it yet!

comeoniu · 10-12-2014 9:19am

Several international courier services have offices in Jakarta, including DHL, FedEx, and UPS. They provide international-standard door-to-door services with the only additional charges being Duty and Taxes

Seanachai · 10-12-2014 2:32pm

korb wrote: »

By the way. I placed an order 2 weeks ago with regular post and no sign of it yet!

It will usually take longer with the regular post, I'm going to try an order this way soon. I don't think I'll be using DHL again.

MisterAnarchy · 31-12-2014 10:00pm

Has anyone tried Vitacost as an alternative to iherb ?

They seem cheaper than Iherb and offer DHL Global Mail at a Flat Rate of $8.99 up to 3.60lbs.

maggiepip · 08-01-2015 5:02pm

Have not been charged VAT on my last two (very large) orders for Dec and Jan. Was wondering have I just been lucky, or have customs realised the shouldnt be charging VAT on Vitamins (as per revenue site)? Anyone recieved a VAT free order recently on orders over the 20ish euro limit?

Seanachai · 09-01-2015 11:12am

maggiepip wrote: »

Have not been charged VAT on my last two (very large) orders for Dec and Jan. Was wondering have I just been lucky, or have customs realised the shouldnt be charging VAT on Vitamins (as per revenue site)? Anyone recieved a VAT free order recently on orders over the 20ish euro limit?

The products may have fallen within the guidelines for Vat exemptions on supplements. Were there any herbal products or was it literally just vitamins?.

maggiepip · 09-01-2015 3:40pm

Seanachai wrote: »

The products may have fallen within the guidelines for Vat exemptions on supplements. Were there any herbal products or was it literally just vitamins?.

The order was vitamins, no food items or herbal. Thing is though its the same items ordered as the few previous orders where they were slapping on VAT, which I now know they shouldn't have been, but I paid it. They were just charging VAT on any iherb order regardless of content it seems for those few months. Wondering though if this might be just fluke and might get charged again in the future. Id imagine the hassle with challanging customs over content might not be worth it.

drdeadlift · 09-01-2015 4:05pm

This whole thing seems like a right mess.

Seanachai · 01-04-2015 9:48am

drdeadlift wrote: »

This whole thing seems like a right mess.

Just got a legal letter from a debt collection agency in Killkenny asking for me to pay the €77 that I paid to the DHL driver on the day I got the package. Bad enough that I had to pay the charge now I have to go through the hassle of dealing with these f**kers.

maggiepip · 03-04-2015 8:48am

Seanachai wrote: »

Just got a legal letter from a debt collection agency in Killkenny asking for me to pay the €77 that I paid to the DHL driver on the day I got the package. Bad enough that I had to pay the charge now I have to go through the hassle of dealing with these f**kers.

What happened there?, is that not dhl fault for not passing the money on? Surely dhl has to sort that out. I really dont understand this cos we got charged by customs again even though according to revenue website no charge should be put on vitamins and fish oils.

Seanachai · 03-04-2015 11:06am

maggiepip wrote: »

What happened there?, is that not dhl fault for not passing the money on? Surely dhl has to sort that out. I really dont understand this cos we got charged by customs again even though according to revenue website no charge should be put on vitamins and fish oils.

I think they were just blanket charging if they charged you for vits and fish oil tbh. I've contacted DHL by phone and email and asked them to sort it out, there's no way I'm paying that ridiculous charge twice. I didn't like being reminded about it either :mad:

Danye · 03-04-2015 10:17pm

Received my Iherb the other day. No hidden charges.

olewy · 04-04-2015 6:28pm

If a family member of mine who lives in the States was to post/courier items purchased from iherb to me what would be the best method to avoid tax, duty, customs etc charges? Eg which courier or postal method to choose & what to write/document on the outside of the box?

jaymcg91 · 04-04-2015 6:46pm

olewy wrote: »

If a family member of mine who lives in the States was to post/courier items purchased from iherb to me what would be the best method to avoid tax, duty, customs etc charges? Eg which courier or postal method to choose & what to write/document on the outside of the box?

It's against the law to avoid / evade tax / duties / import charges, and I'm pretty sure Boards.ie don't allow people to offer ways to break the law. I'm not being a prick, I wish we didn't have to but :P. People used to get away with classifying things as gifts but the revenue copped on and started to clamp down.

Also, I was sent a present from my aunt in the US last Christmas in the mail, and I had to pay import fees anyway (unfortunately :P).

olewy · 04-04-2015 7:02pm

jaymcg91 wrote: »

It's against the law to avoid / evade tax / duties / import charges, and I'm pretty sure Boards.ie don't allow people to offer ways to break the law. I'm not being a prick, I wish we didn't have to but :P. People used to get away with classifying things as gifts but the revenue copped on and started to clamp down.

Also, I was sent a present from my aunt in the US last Christmas in the mail, and I had to pay import fees anyway (unfortunately :P).

Maybe "avoid" was the wrong word for me to use then, how about "legally prevent" (ie through legitimate means)?

Iherb Food Items - VAT charges + €10 DHL charge over orders €22+

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