I was not in a hurry when I placed the order and expected it to take 3 weeks normally.
BHPian hikozaru recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
I bought some stuff from FC moto a few days ago and received a nice invoice with a detailed breakdown on customs, so thought I’d share.
BCD = basic custom duty
SW Srchrg = social welfare surcharge
IGST = is your normal tax. Not sure if motorcycle gear comes under the 28% slab but I guess it is par for the course to rip us off since it is an import
After doing running some calculations with all the different numbers in the invoice I was able to arrive at the precise breakup
BCD is applied on the Assessable value which is invoice value + shipping (0.1*69980.13=6998.013)
SW Srchrg is applied on the BCD (0.1*6998.013=699.801)
Here is where the government really takes the piss. You’d think IGST applies on the value of the product. Nope. Assume our scummy government adds shipping charges to it, just because they can. Nope, still does not work. It turns out that IGST is applied as 0.28*(assesable_value + bcd + sw_surcharge). In this case, 0.28*(69980+6998+700)=21749.840. This is blatant double taxation.
Finally, there is an additional amount of 1042 from UPS. 883INR to be precise and 18% GST for what UPS claim is a processing charge. Of course.
And that is how I ended up paying 30503INR for goods that cost 636.26EUR.
The numbers make sense but I still cannot fathom how I got billed for 57775.13, but customs decided to assess it at 69980.13. It turns out that there is a freight amount of 11555.03 which I never agreed to pay. Shipping cost 28.95EUR according to FC Moto which comes out to 2546.94INR even with the unfavourable exchange rates from customs. So, Where did an extra 9008INR come from?
I did a bit of digging and I am still not fully sure but here is my (partially correct or totally incorrect) hypothesis. FC Moto ships through UPS Express saver. I paid for the order on 1st Dec and got it today. 3.5 days is blisteringly fast. I was not in a hurry when I placed the order and expected it to take 3 weeks normally, but expected this in the second week of Jan because of Christmas and New Year’s Eve. I was shocked to get a customs invoice this afternoon (which I did not check as I was working) and a phone call from the delivery guy two hours later, asking me where exactly my flat was. So far I’ve always had to pay customs in cash, imagine my horror when I realised I had to scrounge up 30k in 10min when it was pouring outside. The delivery guy told me that he would get a scanner and I can Google Pay him (or prepay by NEFT according to the email). Dude pulled up a QR code from his gallery full of personal pictures but hey, at least he wore a UPS shirt, carried the standard delivery signing papers and is better than paying the local postman in cash anyway. And that was that. Point is, fast delivery and pretty good billing manners is not coming cheap and I suspect FC Moto’s 28.95EUR covers only the part where they pack it and dump it at a UPS pickup site and maybe the return label it ships with. The rest of the payment is borne by the consignee.
Surely this is misleading to everyone
This is what 28.95EUR gets you these days
To test this hypothesis I measured the box, weighed it and pulled up the calculator for UPS Express saver. The resulting numbers are frighteningly expensive and unfortunately don’t support my theory. I checked UPS Air Freight and it was just as expensive. I don’t know if it is cheaper for FC moto as a business because they negotiate a cheaper deal with the volumes they do but that is the only thing I can think of.
How FC Moto ships it for 11555INR is beyond me.
A small aside; After the delivery guy called me the first time, I rang UPS customer service to help me understand the tax breakup and I must say it was quite unhelpful. It took me a while to get past the no reps present while the clock was ticking and when I finally did reach a person, she said all personal imports are taxed at 77.28%. When I told her that it was about 50%, she had no idea and in any case pressured me to take the goods because fighting back charges incurs some additional penalty and what not. Since this not so little excursion cost me only about 3000 more than I had estimated, I silently agreed at the time and took the package.
As if to rub salt in the wound after this ordeal, one of the things does not fit me right as I was straddling between sizes. Currently debating between storing it and trying to get fit enough to fit in it, selling it to some fit people (feel free to PM me if it rains money in your part of Bangalore, mine just rains water) or as a joke option returning it just to see what the return process through customs is like. This whole process is a little opaque from just about everyone. FC Moto for not explaining clearly enough that there is some kind of extra charge for freight, UPS for not mentioning an additional 1k in ‘processing fees’, and our government for making calculations arcane and locking customs product codes making it available only to officers. At least, if you are buying from a different website where the delivery charge is crystal clear, you now know how much customs to expect.
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