Customs charges levied on letter from the UK to Spain

reallydismayed

Not sure this is the correct sub-forum, but here goes...

I lost my bank debit card while travelling in Spain. My bank sent me a new card to my address in Spain. It was sent as a tracked letter.

It was passed through the Spanish Customs and they levied an item translating as "Customs Expenses" of €5.25 (which was collected by Correos, the Spanish Post Office).

There was nothing on the envelope to indicate that it wasn't just a letter or paper document.

Is it normal now for letters to incur Customs Charges? Or is this in some way a special case? Any information gratefully received.

bagand96

If you look at this page from Royal Mail Spain sending guide | Royal Mail and open the additional information at the bottom you'll see:

Additional Charges

Additional charges will be payable by the recipient for any items that require additional customs clearance processing. Items that require additional customs clearance processing include:

• Items over €150
• Items of any value sent to a business address
• Items of any value subject to additional customs checks (due to item content, such as Medication)

If an item requires additional customs clearance processing, the recipient will be contacted to authorise the Spanish Post (Correos) to carry out the import of the item on their behalf (or nominate a customs agent). The recipient will also be required to provide additional information regarding the item. This may incur a delay to the items being delivered.

Customs processes apply to all items regardless of whether the items are sent via IOSS, DDP or DDU.

Examples of the charges are as follows:

a) Ordinary Single Administrative Document fee = €20.35
b) Fee for submission to Customs = €4.86
    Total amount (a+b) = €25.21
    VAT 21% on 25,21€  = €5.29
    Total charges = €30.50*

Items awaiting payment by the recipient will be held by customs for up to 90 days before being returned to sender.

It might be that for whatever reason your letter was selected for additional customs clearance which is why a fee has been charged.  For example was your address in Spain a business address?