I wonder if this is affecting other EU countries as well. In Slovenia they changed some procedures and I need to fill in a customs form and pay a fee whenever I get mail, for instance, from the US. So far, it applied to packages but yesterday I got the notification about a letter sent from the US that needs to go through the customs procedure. The document says there is a notebook in the envelope so I had to pay 27 Euro for customs fees!!! If this goes on like this, I will need to stop exchanging mail with non-EU countries. I wrote them an email and the answe was (more or less): the envelope contains a present (notebook) that must go through the customs process, therefore requires a payment.
Itās the third time this year that I had to pay to get letters from the US (does not happen with postcards)
I apologize if there is an existing thread with the same question already. I was just surprised that they classified a thick letter as a ānotebookā and made me pay to get itā¦
This is ridiculous. According to Czech Post, presents of value up to 45 EUR, there is no fee. BUT you still must declare the goods. In our case we can do it online in advance or let the post do it for a fee. Are you expecting an international consignment - ÄeskĆ” poÅ”ta
I believe the situation should be somewhat similar in Slovenia. You may check your postās website or ask directly where the fees come from and how to minimize/avoid them. You can also choose to not accept the letterā¦
Itās the same in Germany and as far as I know is valid in all of the EU. But it happens that the ticked gift part is overseen and people needed to pay firsthand, but could get a refund later on (after filling lots of documents and contacting both customs and our local mail distributor).
Itās important that the received mail have a CN22 document attached and that gift is ticked!
How thick was this letter? When I write a letter its usually 1 or 2 pages. If it was a pad of paper in a big yellow or padded envelope then it neded a small package customs form, available at the US post office. Sender would mark gift and a value under $5. Hard to image a postal clerk letting this get through without one (they get kinda snarky to customers when presented with such packets and ask a lot of questions).
The cost to send anything, even a chocolate bar, overseas has become so crazy expensive that Iāve stopped mailing anything over 2 ounces (about the weight of 10 postcards)
One thing that hasnāt been mentioned, if it is thick envelope have the sender fill out the CN22 form and declare that it is ādocumentā and as mentioned before a check for gift. Hope that this helps in your situation.
It was around 20 pages, sent in a normal envelope. I got a reply from them and explained, and managed to reduce the price to 5,20 Euro which is better than 27 but still, I shouldnāt have to pay for that!
Thanks for the tip @mar872 ! I will definitely put it as a requirement before people send me anything.
And I agree about the costs overseas. I have a good friend in the US and we agreed to stop sending each other bday or Christmas gifts as we ended up paying more for postage than for the present itself.
In theory that should be the case. However, anytime I have sent something via a private courier such as UPS, Purolator, FedEx, etc. They have told me to indicate ādocumentā on the customs form. If it is a thick letter, it might save the receiver headaches.
However, I just realised my comment was under the assumption that it was a letter that was sent to the OP, but now I see that it was indeed a notebook. In that case, I agree that this should be clicked as āgift.ā To be clear, document notation on a CN22 form should only be used for any documents with no monetary value (you technically donāt need this, but if it is a thick envelope with many pages of document or a super long letter, then it wonāt hurt).
Wow I too understand it was a notebook. That makes the whole situation even more unbelievable. Who on Earth would tax a letter!!! I am shocked. I donāt think letters should go through the customs process at all. Does the CN22 form ensure just that? @mar872 My post hasnāt tried to charge me for incomming letters so far but itās good to know this burocracy stuffā¦
I read a thread on Linkedin with a long complaint to Posta Slovenije, a man had to pay a customs fee for a book coming from Germany and there are many replies with similar experiences (paying for letters coming from Italy and Hungary as well).
The notification from customs said it was listed as ānotebookā so this was probably the problem but still, when you touched the envelope it was so obvious there was no notebook inside, it was thin!
I too understand it was a notebook. That makes the whole situation even more unbelievable. Who on Earth would tax a letter!!! I am shocked. I donāt think letters should go through the customs process at all. Does the CN22 form ensure just that?