Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lion]

I have an expensive piece of digital audio gear that was made in Germany and needs to go back there for repairs under warranty. I�m worried that if I just ship it out of here I�ll have to pay import duty on it when it comes back fixed.

Now, here�s where it gets complicated, and here�s where I pre-empt the answer �just bring them the piece of paper showing that you already paid import duty on it�: I bought it new on ebay about a year ago. At the time, lady luck smiled on me, and I didn�t have to pay import duty on it. (For whatever reason, it slipped past the customs guys and showed up on my desk in lieu of the �come-to-hakdong-station-with-your-wallet-to-get-your-stuff� letter that I�m sure many of us are familiar with.)

So, how do I go about making sure I don�t pay duty on it without confessing that I didn�t pay duty on it the first time? At present the plan seems to be to go to the customs office near hakdong station with it before I send it off, telling them that I brought it with me on the plane ages ago but otherwise sticking to the facts.

Any thoughts on this one?

[in_seoul_2003]

Yea, why not? You can't be forced to pay tax on an item that's re-entering the country because it was getting repaired.

So, just tell them that it was with you the entire time (brought it in from your country) and that this particular place in Germany specializes in fixing that particular digital machinery.

Depending on the courier, you should be able to just mark on the package that it is a returning item so that on its way back from Germany it slips right through.

[dogshed]

You might have to pay duty on the value of the repairs.

[lion]

Just thought I'd bump this to let everyone know how it panned out. On some advice from the post office, I just wrote the serial number of the unit on the EMS form before sending it out. Then when it came back, I just faxed that to customs as proof, and they let it through. Piece of cake.

[daemyann]

Good idea.