Difference between revisions of "Country specific information"

Latest revision as of 15:48, 8 October 2025

There are many countries which will add extra taxes onto goods coming into their country. There are many reasons behind this, but for you this is just an additional fee that will cost you money. Depending on your country, there are ways to avoid this. Using these methods may be against the law depending on your country, it is advised that you look into your country's laws before attempting this especially when it comes to porn, as the information below may be incorrect.

Undervaluing[edit]

Undervaluing is when the declared price is lower than the actual price you paid. This can be used to avoid paying import taxes.

For stores that are willing to do this, see the ones marked with ★ in the list of shops.

Several of the stores listed that offer undervaluing and ship directly internationally more commonly experience issues such as poor packaging and misleading figure condition descriptions.

Because of this, an alternative undervaluing strategy that anons have had success with is by shopping from a more well regarded retailer through a proxy/forwarder that undervalues, as the combination of domestic shipping and their fee is still less than the import tax that you would have otherwise had to pay if buying from a more reputable store directly, thus allowing you to save money on import tax while also getting what you expected undamaged.

For proxy and forwarding services that are willing to do this, see the proxy and forwarding services page. These are also marked with ★.

The declared value should obviously be lower than the tax threshold in your country. Read the information for your country on this page to find out what this is.

European Union[edit]

This section is regarding imports from outside the EU. Imports from other EU counties are exempt from import taxes. VAT is still applicable but is almost certainly included in the item's listed price.

Starting July 1st, 2021, new VAT rules will be implemented in the European Union; the exemption for items valued less than 22€ will be removed; and marketplaces will either have to register and deal with VAT themselves, or be unregistered and have the buyers deal with it, potentially having to pay more than before. See this for more information. Stores that support IOSS (Internet-One-Stop-Shop) can collect VAT for you, saving the hassle and the abusive handling fees that couriers usually charge. However this only applies to orders under 150€ (before adding shipping costs).

On 17 May 2023, the Commission put forward proposals for the reform of the EU Customs Union. See this for more information.

Austria[edit]

In Austria, the following fees apply:

EUSt: Import tax: 10% for books, otherwise 20% of the shipments' total value, including shipping costs and customs tax if applicable. Applies to everything equal to or above a total value of 22€. Items below that go free.

Customs tax: May apply if the total value is 150€ or greater. Various rates apply depending on the nature of the content with some items being exempt altogether. Some of the rates for stuff above the 150€ threshold: Figures: 4.7% (TARIC 9503 00 35), textiles: 8% for anything with cotton or polyester (TARIC 5210*, 5407*, 5408*), 6.9% - 7.5% for anything made of high quality silk and 3% for anything made of lower quality noil silk (TARIC 5007*). 3.7% for the stuffing (TARIC 9404 90 90). Books like Manga or magazines are exempt from this (TARIC 4901*, 4902*), as are non-blank optical media like CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays (TARIC 8523 49*). As said above, the EUSt applies to the shipments' total value including the customs tax, similar to Germany!

Inspection fee: 10€ flat. Applies to each and every package that is being inspected by customs when the "Post.at" is handling logistics, unless the package is found to be exempt from both EuST and customs tax. This applies to SAL and EMS packages, but not to DHL, UPS or Fedex. If a package is misdeclared and you're asked to show a proof of purchase indicating the contents' value, the cost for this re-evaluation is included in those 10€, as long as you don't delay the process by too much - usually the limit is 3 weeks without any extra charge. You may provide the proof of purchase via eMail.

Grand total: Say you import a figure worth 300€ using SAL or EMS for shipping. 4.7% customs tax apply, so do the EUSt and the inspection fee. The total cost for customs would amount to: ((300 + 300 × 0.047) × 0.2) + 10 = 72,82€. So that figure would set you back 372,82€ in total.

Counterfeits: Will be destroyed without any reimbursement if detected.

Loli is legal (§ 207a StGB), as long as the depiction isn't "so close to reality that it might be mistaken for it". There are no known rulings based on this paragraph when related to Manga, Anime or Anime figures as of 2017.

Note that if you're not at home when receiving a registered SAL or EMS package, you will need to present your ID upon pickup at the post office, and said ID will be scanned and OCR'ed. The following extracted data will be retained on a central server for a duration of 6 months: Name, type of ID, ID number, ID issuer and date of birth. The data will be linked to the shipment. See here.

Trying to avoid customs altogether isn't likely to work with EMS packages, you might want to try SAL for that.

Belgium[edit]

Like most countries in the area. Packages valued under €22 will exempt from any taxes. Any package above €22 will be taxed 21% (Except for books: 6%). For packages over €150, import duties must also be paid. There's no set value for this duty and varies per product. Some have none, others will be above 10%. (Source)

Packages are generally delivered to their destination and the post man will ask for payment. For EMS services, this might be online instead.

Bulgaria[edit]

In Bulgaria, for any import with a value below €150 only 20% VAT is required to be paid. Parcels valued above €150 will require both VAT and import duty to be paid. SAL is not available.

If shipping with UPS, you will be contacted when your parcel is stopped at customs. You will have the option of either handling it yourself or letting UPS handle it for you. If you choose to have UPS handle it, you'll have to provide them with screenshots of your purchase and payment, a description of what you ordered, as well as pay the VAT (plus import duty if needed) along with a hefty 54 BGN fee for the service before they do anything.

If you ship with regular airmail, the parcel will be handled by Bulgarian Posts. Parcels with a value below €150 are cleared through customs automatically, and the only time you'll be contacted is when your shipment has arrived at the post office and is ready to be picked up. VAT along with a service fee of 3,90 BGN is paid when you receive the parcel.

For packages with a value over €150, but no higher than €1000, Bulgarian Posts will require you to authorize them to represent you, as well as provide them with proof of purchase, payment, and description of the item. Unlike UPS, the service fee here is only 16,80 BGN.

Denmark[edit]

If the package cost is above 1150 DKK, there is a customs duty of 4.7% on value (price + shipping). VAT is 25% on top of that (price + shipping + customs duty). The handling fee is 160 DKK. (Source)

If the package is caught in customs you receive an SMS with instructions for paying online.

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import sys

#All rates in DKK
def calculate_charges(cost, shipping):
    cost_incl_shipping = cost + shipping

    incur_customs_duty = cost > 1150
    customs_duty = cost * .047 if incur_customs_duty else 0

    vat = (cost_incl_shipping + customs_duty) * .25

    handling_fee = 160

    return customs_duty + vat + handling_fee

Finland[edit]

As of 2025 VAT is added to all commercial packages from outside EU. Shipping etc. will be included in taxable value, which is 25,5% for pretty much everything except notably 14% for books, including manga.

Possible additional customs duties and tariffs of unknown quantity (usually few percent) for packages over 150€ in value. Finding the amount out beforehand is difficult, but it's usually less than 10% of the package's value, often zero. If and when your package gets caught in customs, you just fill in the info online at customs web page, pay the resulting tax and possible customs duty via the website, then pay the fixed handling fee to Posti via their website if your package is handled by postal system (Posti), and wait until they send it off on its way again. Please note that there are two separate payments to be made (taxes/duty and handling fee) and that they must be made via two different websites (customs and Posti, respectively). Basically anything coming from outside EU is certain to be caught and taxed since there are no exemptions for low-value commercial items anymore after July 2021.

After February 2020 receiving shipment that exceeds the VAT limit (0€ for commercial items from outside EU since July 2021) costs extra in postal handling fees on top of VAT. As of 2025 the fee is 3,10€. (The previously available reduced rate option of 1,00€ that was available by making the customs declaration pre-emptively in Posti's web app has been discontinued in 2024. You now have to make the full declaration process on customs web page.) The amount (3,10€) is not a customs duty but a handling fee charged by Posti and paid via Posti's website. Debit or Credit card is required for payment, wire transfer does not work. Other carriers and couriers may have their own, notoriously expensive handling fees, so check in advance. Handling fees are always included in total amount the VAT is calculated from, so the handling fee for Posti is effectively 3,10€ + 25,5% VAT = 3,89€.

If the seller already collected VAT at the time of purchase via IOSS system and there are no additional taxes or duties applicable to your package at the customs, you are exempt from the handling fee.

France[edit]

Taxes work basically the same way as in the other EU states: 20% VAT on total value (items + shipping + assurance + customs fees) from 45€ if marked as gift or 1€ otherwise (the "gift" mention has no other utility and will not increase your chances of dodging customs.) Tariffs are applicable from 150€ up: 0.8% to 4.7% on figures and models, 12% on clothing, 3.5% on DVDs and Blurays, and 0% on books and vidya.

Only a very small percentage of parcels are inspected by the actual customs because carriers have the required authority to control the parcels themselves. Because of this, carriers will add their own fees (called "frais de dossier/dédouanement", usually between 5 and 20€) on top of your taxes for doing the paperwork.

EMS (Chronopost) and private carriers will control your parcel basically every time. On the other hand, SAL or ePacket depend heavily on the size and declared value of your parcel, so for this reason you should avoid combining orders to keep them small. Finally, Airmail will be taxed almost every time but is on average less expensive than private carriers and customs fees are lower.

Loli is technically illegal (Art. 227-23 of the Penal Code) but the viewing and distribution of artistic works, regardless of the content, isn't. Because the legislation isn't really clear, import at your own risk (fr/a/nons who got their loli doujin intercepted by customs please confirm.)

Germany[edit]

Germany will tax packages at the following rate:

EuST: Is calculated for every package with value+shipping above 22€. It's usually a flat 19% although EuST for printed matter is 7%. If the shipping cost isn't stated on the customs form (SAL, air) it is usually ignored.

Flat fee: If your package is valued above 22€ there is a flat fee of 6€ for the post, unless you get called to a customs office (see below).

Tax: Based on the type of stuff you are importing, usually 4.5% for figures. It's calculated if value+shipping is above 150€. If you have to pay taxes, you have to add EuST in.

Package value+shipping = 25€ --> You only pay a 19% EuST --> 25*0.19 = 4.75€. Package value = 160€, Shipping = 20€ --> You have to pay additional taxes, if you are buying figures you are at 4.5% --> 160*0.045 = 7.2€ --> EuST is calculated on top of it, so additional 19% --> (160+20+7.2) * 0,19 + 7.2 = 42,77€ tax+EuST.

If a package isn't labeled correctly (i.e. shipping cost missing, suspected for undervaluing), you may have to go to your customs office, show a proof of purchase and pay. There is an option to send in the proof per mail and let DHL handle the rest, but since 2015, this costs 28,50€ + the taxes you have to pay.

Using SAL or Airmail will normally get through if the package is undervalued to ~2000 yen. SAL parcel most of the time gets caught, same with EMS, but this depends on your customs office. Using USAL to sneak past customs does not seem to work if the package is not undervalued. Keep in mind that RSAL is not available anymore if you're ordering from Japan.

Packages above the threshold are opened by cutoms and can take several weeks to process. Undervalued packages aren't opened and take only a few days.

Shipping also gets added to the value and included for taxes. So if your package costs 20€ + 30€ shipping, you'll have to pay 9,50€ taxes. EMS and DHL packages always include shipping costs on the customs declaration, SAL and Airmail usually don't.

Furthermore, you will only be taxed if the amount would be greater than 5€, which means anything lower than 27€ won't be taxed. For printed matter, this would be 70€.

German customs use their own exchange rate for calculating, which is changed at the beginning of each month. The current exchange rate can be found here.

Loli is legal. (§ 184b, more info)

Hungary[edit]

After 2021/07 the 27% VAT is mandatory, exceptions being books and magazines, where the VAT rate is 5%. VAT exemption may apply when the package is marked as a gift, valued below 45€ and the exchange is between private individuals. Shipping and various service fees are not included in the calculation, only the raw value of the product indicated in the shipping documents.
When using a courier service the courier will pay the import duties to speed up delivery, then send an electronic invoice to you or *might* demand payment upon delivery. Emphasis on *might*, since I got my package delivered without having to pay any import duties and on paper owing money to the courier. Don't expect them fucking up like this often. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

?The following information might be outdated and needs verification?:
If you do not undervalue then you will need to email a specific document and then pay the postman at your door, the post office will inform you of the procedure in detail. Using EMS or SAL makes no difference in whether or not customs will charge you, so feel free to use whichever. Loli seems to be fine, even if opened at customs.

Italy[edit]

EMS is usually spotted at customs and charged 22% import tax, there is also a 7.50€ fixed fee. You will pay the postman when the package is delivered. It is therefore recommended to undervalue your package. SAL may be able to help, but this is not guaranteed - it seems to be quite random as to whether or not your parcel will be hit. Some porn and loli items are fine to ship: depiction of underage character involved in sexual act are considered CP, as stated by the Supreme Court of Cassation, in 2023/11/24. It is unknown to what extent the sentence will actually be enforced; therefore, if such items can be imported.

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Other[edit]

Australia[edit]

As of 1st July 2018 all online purchases are supposed to be taxed at 10% GST on top of both product cost and shipping cost. Currently most major stores, and the biggest proxies are incorporating the GST for all Australian orders. However, since the Australian government is rather incompetent when it comes to implementing an effective tax policy, it can be easily avoided by choosing a retailer from the list of shops that doesn't charge GST at all (Mandarake does not at the time of writing), or by choosing a better proxy.

All packages over $1000 will be taxed 10% GST as well as a processing fee AND duty rates depending on the type of item. A savvy user should be able to get most imports duty free, however the other fees will remain. Loli material is ILLEGAL to import however possession laws vary by state/territory. Customs is pretty lazy though so the chances of anything being intercepted is slim. However, if you are caught, the chances of you avoiding jail time are even slimmer. You will need ID when picking up packages.

New Zealand[edit]

15% GST (goods & services tax) has been introduced as of December 2019 on all imported goods from overseas companies which ship more than $60,000 NZD per year to New Zealand. Some stores have started charging this online such as Amiami and HLJ, this also extends to proxy services like FromJapan and Tenso. Other sites have yet to bother (highly recommend adding a list of stores that don't charge online GST here). Actual declared value does not matter if it's under $1,000 NZD total, all that matters is whether the store charges GST online or not. It's up to the store if they want to impose this.

Amazon Japan has stopped shipping to New Zealand as a result of the introduction of GST on imports, and recommends using a proxy service at your own risk. [1]

Loli material (at least, figure/daki/doujin) has been imported without issue through RSAL, EMS and DHL.

Russia[edit]

Packages above 500€ (since 2018) or above 31kg will be subject to tax of 30%, this is very unlikely which means undervaluing is unnecessary. Customs do not seem to check packages, except to attach a paper if the weight of the package is listed incorrectly (happens all the time with AmiAmi orders) but it only results in slower delivery. As a result of this, porn and loli seem to be fine.

Turkey[edit]

As of 2019, there's no longer any exemption and you'll have to pay an import tax of 20% + fixed customs check fee for everything you buy from Japan. The tax is calculated over the value of the item, shipping is not included. Only books "for personal use" which cost less than 150€ are exempt from customs duty, so mangafags can rejoice. It seems like customs inspections have gotten stricter since the exemption limit was removed, so you'd be extremely lucky to avoid paying. You can pay your tax either to the postman or at the post office. Scratched figure boxes are a common occurence because the customs guys are wild with their knives, be mentally prepared for it. Loli status is currently unknown.

United Kingdom[edit]

The following is written based on the new rules that came into force on January 1st 2021 when the UK left the Brexit transition period. While stores adjust to the new rules and start collecting VAT at checkout, it is very likely anything under £135 will slip in tax free as HMRC and Royal Mail have been very explicit that they will no longer be sending bills for anything under this amount. This has been confirmed by a few /a/nons.

For orders of up to £135, you will pay VAT (usually 20%) at the store's checkout. When it arrives in the UK there should be no additional processing and it will proceed straight to delivery.

If the order exceeds £135 you will not pay any tax at checkout and instead will get a fee to pay notice in the post. You will have to pay VAT (again usually 20%) as well as pay a customs duty. The percentage for duty this depends on what it is you are importing, but is generally less than 2.5%. This is waived if the customs duty total is fairly small. If you receive a fee to pay notice then you will also pay an additional handling fee of £8 if the package goes through Royal Mail or £12 if it goes through Parcelforce. SAL Small Packet and Air Small Packet go through Royal Mail whereas EMS and SAL Parcel go through Parcelforce.

Strictly speaking, the cost of shipping should be included in the VAT and duty but this is often ignored as it's not always printed on the shipping slip. If you are trying to work out how much you'll have to pay, err on the side of caution and include the shipping cost in the calculation.

Some items, like books, are exempt from VAT, so you will not be taxed, regardless of their value.

In the event that you get a fee to pay notice due to your order being more than £135 with either Parcelforce or Royal Mail, they will hold the package at the local depot and send you a letter. For Parcelforce, you will be sent a letter with the amount due and how to pay this. If the tracking page says that it has arrived at the local depot then you can just go to the depot without having received the letter and pay customs immediately, which is usually faster as Parcelforce's letter will take a day or two to arrive once your package has reached the depot. At this stage you can also pay via phone without the customs reference number by speaking to someone from their customer support team. For Royal Mail, if your tracking shows up as "Held with fee to pay" you can expect a fee to pay card to arrive also in a day or two, which you can either pay online or in person. You can also pay for this online immediately without waiting for the card by clicking the pay online link on your item's tracking page.

If you send your package by SAL Small Packet or Air Small Packet then there is a slightly higher chance of it missing customs.

While EMS should in theory be much faster, the customs process for items that go through Parcelforce tends to take much longer so a lot of the time picking SAL Small Parcel or Air Small Packet is both faster and cheaper.