Job Discussion Forums

jb0072009 · Joined: 26 Feb 2009 Posts: 127 Location: Saigon

I have lived in nam now for over 6 months. I have some stuff in storage in the US I want to ship here either by USPS or ocean cargo. The stuff is some speakers, a receiver and 1 printer. They either can not be found in nam or very expensive. I have researched this to death and asked many Viet officials and get conflicting statements regarding any custom duties. I have heard 1) No used personal effects are allowed other than brought on airplane with you or declared upon entry into country 2) Allowed but with 60-70% tax of the value the customs officials think it is 3) No problem no tax as long as it is used personal effects and no more then 1 set. As everything else in this country it is very hard to get a straight answer. Anyone know the regs for sure?

sg9015 · Joined: 03 Sep 2009 Posts: 69 Location: Saigon

We had about 200 kilos of used personal stuff arrive a month after we came here. We paid an inclusive fee for it to be sent door to soor from Kazakhstan. No idea what the charges would have been just for the importation part. Total was about $2500.

deessell2 · Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 132 Location: Under the sun

"As everything else in this country it is very hard to get a straight answer. Anyone know the regs for sure?"

You are going to have to pay for 'service' somewhere along the line, so why not make it easy on yourself and engage a freight forwarder.

Alternatively, you could fly home and bring the goods in yourself as personal belongings, in your luggage.

sg9015 · Joined: 03 Sep 2009 Posts: 69 Location: Saigon

I can give you the details of the company that handled the customs clearance and delivery to our apartment in Saigon if you want. They were very good and speak English.

jb0072009 · Joined: 26 Feb 2009 Posts: 127 Location: Saigon

Well I got my Onkyo 705 receiver from the USA today. I found out how much the customs taxes are. They take the value (be careful when having it shipped if possible declare low value) charge 10% VAT and 24% luxary tax for used electronics and 48% for new electronics. I was able to negotiate with the customs official on the value down to $300 from $500. Just keep insisting it is used and old and for personal use. Lesson to be learned: do not ship anything here if you can buy it locally even if it costs like 30% more (especially new luxary items). In this case it was worth it because a similar receiver here costs over $1000 (I paid $200 EMSplus the $100 tax). I had already owned the receiver