Yesterday I received a silvered bronze plaquette depicting a WWII event by the Polish artist Bohdan Chmielewski (1927-2014). The medal is interesting but instead of blogging about the medal I will show the Customs Declaration.
The CN 22 form tells us that the item is a 'Podraunek' (gift), a medal, weighing 26 pounds (or 261 grams?). No value is given. The seller paid 18.30 zł (Polish Zloty, equivalent to US$4.83. ) It came in a 9"x7" padded mailer. It was delivered by the US Postal Service and I had to sign for it.
It was not a gift weighing 26 pounds. It was an eBay purchase, costing me $35 plus shipping, weighing 0.22k (about 8 oz.)
Americans usually don't have to pay customs duty for parcels worth less than $200. So I didn't skirt any payment requirement. I believe I am supposed to keep all Customs documentation for five years — so I cut the form 22 off the envelope and put it in the mylar 3.5x3.5 along with the medal.
My understanding is that Customs documents should be correct, but that if it isn't there is nothing I should do about it. I do not believe the US Customs Service expects me to inform them that I actually paid $35 plus shipping, or that the declared weight is wrong.
3 comments:
it says 26 g (grammes)
The medal weighs 220g, yet the seller wrote 26g on the Customs Declaration. I believe the seller had no ill intent. Yet the weight was off by 8x.
Paul, if you send me an address in Poland I will send you things via the postal system, with valid weights and descriptions on the Customs Declaration. We can learn together what Customs lets through.
Hi there
In Poland (European Union) all goods from outside the EU are exempted of border tax and VAT if their value don't exceed 22 Euro and they are signed as a gift. Probably the seller didn't know the US limit. No need to keep the CN22 form anymore as this is just the slip for border tax officer in IMPC (International Mail Processincg Centre) and he/she make the final decision about exempting the item or not. If you received this item without the need of paying the tax it means it was exempted. Fullstop.
Kind Regards,
Peter
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