International shipping question--Macbook Pro

[disconap]

Ok, so I have a relatively unique situation--my co-worker ordered a Macbook Pro from the Apple store that is arriving at our office on Monday. However, his mom just died and so he needs to fly to Australia to, well, deal with all that. He leaves Sunday.

Now: it's a new laptop, and he has work to do (he works on a tower here). So, can I ship it in such a way that he will not have to pay customs fees (or at least, ridiculous customs fees) and receive in AU? I know he won't have a problem getting it home from there, he can just have it in his bag, but it would suck if he ended up having to essentially pay for the privilege to work during his bereavement period...

 

[Aboo]

Hi,

The answer to your question really depends on Customs in Australia. If you send an unopened/factory sealed package to him, regardless of whether its a gift, purchase, etc., and if the item is above the exemption threshold, duty will be applied. At minimum, the duty is usually the local sales tax, and it can work its way upwards from there. Moreover, the shipping from Portland OR to Australia is probably going to be quite expensive (i.e. in the 100-200 dollar range, depending on the speed of the service you require).

That being said, several countries will allow for tax/duty exemption so long as the recipient is not a resident of the country, and takes the item back with him/her upon departure from their country. You would probably need to look up the specifics for the Australian government and determine the procedure that needs to completed in order for him to avoid paying the taxes.

I think my advice would be to allow him to take his berievement/mourning period and just have him use the machine when he comes back to work.

 

[mailerdaemon]

I live in Australia. As long as the item is valued at less than AU$1000 on the paperwork, then it will not attract any customs duties or taxes in Australia.

 

[Aboo]

I live in Australia. As long as the item is valued at less than AU$1000 on the paperwork, then it will not attract any customs duties or taxes in Australia.

Don't you have to have a CI stating that its valued <1000 AUD? Also, if you do that, then your declared/insured value with the carrier cannot be higher than 1000 AUD, meaning that if the carrier lost it/damaged it/someone stole it while in transit, the carrier is only liable to grant you up to 1000 AUD in compensation. For a 17" uMBP that is probably a "Desired Item", I am not sure that it would be wise to just declare it to be cheaper than 1000 AUD. Secondly, if Australian Customs opens up the package upon entry (which they are legally allowed to do), then they can re-evaluate the value of the contents and charge the duty any way.

However, I still feel that there must be some means to get a system in to a visitor who is leaving the country with the item, in a certain time frame, to be exempt from the duties.