Good morning everyone,

I have been selling some watches recently and have been confronted with the value declaration problem. Why is that such an issue? What can happen if I declare a very low value for a watch I sold? I have bought several watches, and they have always been full or near full value declaration.

Can anyone enlighten me with possible problems I could be facing if lowering the declared value of the sold watch?

Thanks

Jonatan

 

It is fraud

And may also create insurance issues if it got lost.

 

Do you mean to evade import duty when shipping? A couple of things can occur, firstly if you undervalue the item on the waybills you may find that you are under insured and secondly the customs people can apply punitive charges if they find that you were evading tax or duty up to and including seizure of the item depending on the jurisdiction. Plenty do it without issue, particularly business sellers in the Far East but there are moral and practical reasons why it isn't a great idea.

In the UK at least, the authorities are tightening up on this, mainly because HMRC now allow the courier companies to charge large admin fees to collect the duty so they are incentivised to do it. One recent example I saw was a £3 set of plastic watch tools from China which was billed £15 (fees plus duty) since the courier didn't believe that the item was as cheap as it was declared and taxed it at £30 value. This will become more common and there is very little recourse once you are billed.

 

You generally will not be able to insure a package for above the declared value. And you should always insure your packages.

 

Well for one thing, lowering the value means that you can't insure the watch for it's nominated value, meaning you get less if it gets lost. Worse, if customs picks up on your package and has a look for any receipts inside, and the value there is higher than your nominated value, then you'll be in for some hefty fines. Some countries have extremely generous tax free imports, while others are extremely low.
The person who sold me my Longines recently was decently surprised when I told him that Australia was import-tax free up to $1000AU, saying that Belgium was £30.

Thats said, certain situations can call for the lowrering of values. Broken watches and parts for example - it's no fun for the repairer to be informed they have to pay VAT on your watch because you overvalued it. They forget to do it, and your watch gets sent back to you unserviced...and it was two weeks in both directions!

 

+1 on the don't do it as it's not worth it (no pun intended) =)

 

Thank you all for your answers.

I was asking following a request from a potential buyer. I didn't think that it would have such an impact. Good to know and glad I didn't do it.

 

It's your call and the risks are on the buyer

 

Most postal services do not cover/insure watche. Read the small print.

Declaring a low value is a good way to ensure that the shipment is not so interesting to steal.
Employees with the various postal and logistic services are not all "good guys" even though I am sure the vast majority is.

As for declaring incorrectly on a customs label it depends a lot what country you are in. I have understood from the US guys that it is a criminal offence ensuring you are guaranteed to get shot at dayrise, however in our "less developed" part of the world it is not taken as harsh.

 

I guess if the customer takes responsibility for the transport of the item, then you can indulge in valuing it the way he needs. If the parcel gets lost, its his baby.

The fact is that in some countries, customs officials 'go to town' with a high value watch, they will ask for bribes and give you a bit of shock with the duty calculation. I have had no problems with this whatsoever and i certainly will not be paying heavy duties on antiques.

Choose a good courier service and value it whichever you agree to, and you are good to go.

 

That was my prior reflection. If I have already received the money, a low declaration should not affect me.

I always send my watches with the Swiss post priority which requires a signature and is insured up to 150chf. I add the other insurance if needed. I have always declared the full value, and I write second-hand watch on the declaration form.

What if I write that it's a gift? I send my mother in Canada, a Seiko the other day wrote the full value but that it was a gift. I am waiting to see what will happen there.

 

Jonatan,

Sometimes declaring it as a gift works, but bear in mind that the buyer will know better about what his country's customs officials are like and ask for what they think will work best for them.

If the watch is brand new, then I understand that duties need to be paid. If it is old, then I don't see why we need to keep paying duties.

Anyway, all these things need to be agreed upon before the despatch. I doubt that any reasonable and respectable person will put the burden of their duties payable or customs delays onto you.

Do the customs in your country charge import duties on used watches?

Good luck with the 'gift' !

 

From the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)

So if you wrote on the Customs Deceleration Form that the Seiko was valued at over $60CAD, your mother would need to pay tax on the remainder of the full value. Depending on where she lives (table here) this could be anywhere between 0-15%.

I feel like I lucked out living in Australia...up to $1000 in imported goods in one transaction are tax/duty free...

 

Yes, Switzerland charges import duties. 8%. That on top of a fixed 16.00chf + 3% of the value of the item, fixed customs tax.

I recently bought a watch from the UK with declared value of 261£ = 340,74 CHF. I had to pay a total of 55.50chf.

 

Wrote that it was worth 50chf (that's what I got it for) which makes 67$. Let's see how it goes.

Its an automatic so I set the date, hour and everything in the hopes that I could see how well the packaged is handled during the expedition. If it's shaken a lot my guess is the watch will still be running after about 8-10 days. I guess it will depend on how much time it remains in the warehouse.

 

Did you check if watches is on the list of insurable merchandise? Our postal services does not offer this on international shipments.

As for a vintage watch sent from a private collector to another private collector I see no point in giving away more taxes than need be.
If I receive something from abroad with a customs declaration above about USD40 I will be hammered with 25% VAT on the full amount + about USD30 in import fees.
Needless to say I am not tempted to purchase stuff at USD45......

 

Yes and that's why it's important to understand what is at stake for both sides.

 

We can import up to about $400 ($290USD) without tax, but that includes shipping costs (and shipping things here gets very expensive, very fast) then it's 15% tax plus customs duties on the total. I bought a Ball Fireman II that was new in the USA (so taxes paid there), then sold to a Canadian (who had to pay tax on it), then to me, who had to pay more tax on it when it arrived. I think it's the most expensive Ball in the range now...

 

Jonatan
Ask the buyer if there is tax and duty on chocolate and if not sell the watch for 25CHF and the bars of chocolate for 575CHF
Ah if life was only so simple.