Carrots Posted July 10, 2019 Report Share Posted July 10, 2019 Someone, somewhere on the internet said that when you take your container over, you will have to pay some import tax on items newer than a year. That doesn't sound practical to me, so I have my doubts. Can anyone confirm or deny this? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 ChrisH Posted July 10, 2019 Report Share Posted July 10, 2019 That is correct. This is to stop people from importing goods to sell and declare it as a move. They really won't care about the TV you bought in the last 12 months or stuff like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Carrots Posted July 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2019 Interesting. I was wondering how they would determine what was too new, and needs to be taxed. It's not like I have receipts for everything I bought. I was debating whether I should buy a new PC now, or wait until I'm in Aus, and I'm going to be very unhappy if I have to pay tax on top of inflated SA prices. Do you have to declare stuff you bring in, or do they just look through your container and ask you about the stuff they see? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 ChrisH Posted July 11, 2019 Report Share Posted July 11, 2019 I wouldn't buy a PC in South Africa, I'm confident it would be cheaper here. Most appliances are cheaper here. It's up to you to declare it. There are ways to check, they could use the serial number to check the date of manufacture but I don't see them doing that unless you give them a reason to start checking things (like having 10 sealed laptops in your container or a bunch of clothes with tags still on them). Just a word of caution, don't bring in undeclared alcohol. They actually opened each box in our container and checked the contents. The import taxes on liquor is so high that it doesn't make financial sense to bring in anything (unless you really can't go without Klippies for your coke). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 LM17 Posted July 11, 2019 Report Share Posted July 11, 2019 You declare the items you bring - and if its new you should declare that as well - They do checks and if they find discrepancies - your container will be detained , and you will pay additional; inspection, storage and other related costs. A mate that came over declared that he had no , seeds plant material etc etc, they inspected a tent he had packed, they found soil and seeds (just stuff you would normally find on the ground when you camp) he had to pay for the tent to be professionally cleaned or destroyed - in short be honest and buy new white-goods here (cheaper) . A lot of people bringing over mountain bikes also have this issue, - I could see they inspected by road bike thoroughly , luckily no issues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 frosty Posted July 12, 2019 Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 We had one or two items that were brand new and we declared it as such. Had no issues with customs. As previously mentioned many of the items here may in fact be cheaper this side, so have a look online what is available. Brought a mountain bike over which I spent hours cleaning before we left, even took of the tyres and left them behind. Luckily made it through customs. As mentioned it is not unheard of that they inspect items in your container. Don’t give them a reason to detain it. We left camping equipment behind for this reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Carrots Posted July 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 4 hours ago, frosty said: We had one or two items that were brand new and we declared it as such. Had no issues with customs. As previously mentioned many of the items here may in fact be cheaper this side, so have a look online what is available. Brought a mountain bike over which I spent hours cleaning before we left, even took of the tyres and left them behind. Luckily made it through customs. As mentioned it is not unheard of that they inspect items in your container. Don’t give them a reason to detain it. We left camping equipment behind for this reason. Thanks, good to know that even if you declare it (which I will do), I probably won't have to pay import tax for it. I have checked PC component prices in Aus, and it seems about 20% cheaper. The thing is, we haven't received our invite yet (75, pro rata, 14/03/2019), and at the moment the timeline I have in my mind is that we go over around April next year if we receive our invite next month, but everything will probably take longer than I anticipate. I don't think I will be able to wait till next year this time to scratch this particular itch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
Carrots
Someone, somewhere on the internet said that when you take your container over, you will have to pay some import tax on items newer than a year. That doesn't sound practical to me, so I have my doubts.
Can anyone confirm or deny this?
Link to comment
Share on other sites
6 answers to this question
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.