Import duty and tax charged by Fedex for exporting goods

mansheth

I sold an item though ebay which i shipped from UK to Israel, my stock was purchased from uk manufacturer.

I shipped the order through fedex they charged me £18.00 shipping charges which i accepted. 

15 days after the order was delivered i received an additional invoice for £49.59 as import duty and tax references for the goods sent - exported to Israel and amount was charged from my fedex ac 

As Fedex consumer service phone never gets answered after long wait and asks to send inquiry by website

I sent fedex repeated emails to refund as this was export and not an import, also asked to provide the import duty departments order asking to pay such duty and tax along with the payment receipts that fedex has paid this money collected from my ac.

to all these email i get only reply that "upon our investigation we conclude the charges are correct"

please help

JJ_Egan

Israeli taxation ??

Post would be better on the more informed EBay board .

user1977

Was there an option for you to meet the import duty, and you've unwittingly ticked that (or FedEx think you have)?

yas212

It depends on the incoterms that was used and agreed between yourself and the seller. In this case it would have been DDP (delivery duty paid) which basically means the taxes, duty, and clearance costs was charged to the seller. 
What incoterms did you put on your commercial invoice?

visidigi

When you shipped it. Who did you say on the paperwork would pay the duties and taxes element?

You as shipper are ultimately responsible for the duties and taxes, but they wont be charged to you unless you a) ask them to be or b) FedEx is unable to reclaim them from your recipient...

Jumblebumble

visidigi said:

When you shipped it. Who did you say on the paperwork would pay the duties and taxes element?

You as shipper are ultimately responsible for the duties and taxes, but they wont be charged to you unless you a) ask them to be or b) FedEx is unable to reclaim them from your recipient...

Do you know for a fact that the seller is in any way responsible for Israeli import duties if the recipient does not pay?
Fedex disagree as far as the UK is concerned
http://www.fedex.com/gb/dutyandtaxnotification/

Who has to pay?

The person or business receiving the shipment is legally obliged to pay Duty unless the sender has agreed to accept these charges in the contract of sale.  

 Big Clue ( my take on this)
The seller is not importing anything
No viable business would ever export anything as they could not know what their overall costs as they would be dependant  on the actions of the recipient

sheramber

https://ask.fedex.com/help/en-il/account-payments/Received-an-Invoice

FedEx will issue an invoice to the sender, recipient or a third party based on the billing instructions provided on the FedEx international air waybill, which in the majority of cases is completed by the sender of the shipment.

...................

For more information, you may contact us on:FedEx OneCall: 1-700-700-339, FedEx OneCall Internationally  +972-772206850, or write to us: callfedex@fdx.co.il

visidigi

Jumblebumble said:

visidigi said:

When you shipped it. Who did you say on the paperwork would pay the duties and taxes element?

You as shipper are ultimately responsible for the duties and taxes, but they wont be charged to you unless you a) ask them to be or b) FedEx is unable to reclaim them from your recipient...

Do you know for a fact that the seller is in any way responsible for Israeli import duties if the recipient does not pay?
Fedex disagree as far as the UK is concerned
http://www.fedex.com/gb/dutyandtaxnotification/

Who has to pay?

The person or business receiving the shipment is legally obliged to pay Duty unless the sender has agreed to accept these charges in the contract of sale.  

 Big Clue ( my take on this)
The seller is not importing anything
No viable business would ever export anything as they could not know what their overall costs as they would be dependant  on the actions of the recipient

Yes I do know for a fact. The contract of sale is covered under the conditions of carriage. Bolding of which is mine.

https://www.fedex.com/en-gb/conditions-of-carriage.html#14n

14.6 Regardless of any payment instructions to the contrary, the Sender is ultimately responsible for payment of duties and taxes and all fees and surcharges related to FedEx’s disbursement of duties and taxes if payment is not received. If a Recipient or a third party from which reimbursement confirmation is required refuses to pay the duties and taxes upon request, FedEx may contact the Sender, for the same. If the Sender refuses to make satisfactory arrangements to reimburse FedEx, the Shipment may be returned to the Sender (in which case, Sender will be responsible both for original and return charges) or placed into a temporary storage, general order warehouse or a customs-bonded warehouse or considered undeliverable. If Transportation Charges for a Shipment are billed to a credit card, FedEx reserves the right to also settle uncollected duties and taxes charges associated with that Shipment to the credit card account. 

mattyprice4004

Sounds like you’ve sent the item DDP to me 

Sandtree

mattyprice4004 said:

Sounds like you’ve sent the item DDP to me 

Have you checked Israel's rules? For example send something into the UK for under £135 then its the merchant's responsibility to pay the tax and not the recipient... over £135 and it switches. These are traditionally uncommon arrangements but seem to becoming more prevalent - have no idea where Israel stands on the matter.

So there is the DDP option, there is the fact that there may be no option but DDP into Israel, could be the recipient failed to pay or an admin error... only one firm can absolutely clarify. 

Jumblebumble

visidigi said:

Jumblebumble said:

visidigi said:

When you shipped it. Who did you say on the paperwork would pay the duties and taxes element?

You as shipper are ultimately responsible for the duties and taxes, but they wont be charged to you unless you a) ask them to be or b) FedEx is unable to reclaim them from your recipient...

Do you know for a fact that the seller is in any way responsible for Israeli import duties if the recipient does not pay?
Fedex disagree as far as the UK is concerned
http://www.fedex.com/gb/dutyandtaxnotification/

Who has to pay?

The person or business receiving the shipment is legally obliged to pay Duty unless the sender has agreed to accept these charges in the contract of sale.  

 Big Clue ( my take on this)
The seller is not importing anything
No viable business would ever export anything as they could not know what their overall costs as they would be dependant  on the actions of the recipient

Yes I do know for a fact. The contract of sale is covered under the conditions of carriage. Bolding of which is mine.

https://www.fedex.com/en-gb/conditions-of-carriage.html#14n

14.6 Regardless of any payment instructions to the contrary, the Sender is ultimately responsible for payment of duties and taxes and all fees and surcharges related to FedEx’s disbursement of duties and taxes if payment is not received. If a Recipient or a third party from which reimbursement confirmation is required refuses to pay the duties and taxes upon request, FedEx may contact the Sender, for the same. If the Sender refuses to make satisfactory arrangements to reimburse FedEx, the Shipment may be returned to the Sender (in which case, Sender will be responsible both for original and return charges) or placed into a temporary storage, general order warehouse or a customs-bonded warehouse or considered undeliverable. If Transportation Charges for a Shipment are billed to a credit card, FedEx reserves the right to also settle uncollected duties and taxes charges associated with that Shipment to the credit card account. 

Thank you for clarifying this
Although there is quite a difference between who is legally obliged to pay  according to the customs people and what remedies there are from the courier if they do not.