A Dublin woman who was landed with a customs and excise bill of €43 after being sent a family Christmas present from her daughter in California has succeeded in having the charge waived by the Revenue Commissioners.
Anne Jordan, from Santry in Dublin, told The Irish Times that, as in previous years, her daughter Deirdre, who lives in San Mateo, California, sent a parcel to the family home. It contained a Christmas present which Ms Jordan believes is clothing for herself, her husband Tony, and her other daughter, Gráinne.
However, when the parcel arrived, she was informed by Customs and Excise, which forms part of the Revenue Commissioners, that a total of €43.09 was due in VAT and customs duty. The parcel itself was calculated as being worth €151 in total. Ms Jordan says she has never faced a bill for previous presents.
"I think it's wrong simply because why would I pay tax to the Government on an article which is a Christmas present?" she said. "I was querying the fact that I had to pay it in the first place as it is a gift. I said to the girl from customs, it does seem daft to be charging me for a present from my own daughter."
Eventually, Ms Jordan said she was informed late last week that the charge would be waived. But while she "couldn't fault" Customs and Excise in the way it had handled her complaint, she said "there are probably others who wouldn't challenge it".
A spokesman for the Revenue Commissioners said it could not comment on individual cases.However, he said relief from payment of customs duty and VAT is allowed only on gift consignments from outside of the EU if certain conditions are met.
These include the requirement that the value of the gift does not exceed €45. When asked how Ms Jordan had succeeded in having her charge waived, given the fact that her present was estimated to cost more than €45, the spokesman said he was unable to speculate on this.
By far the largest amount of VAT and customs duty collected at Irish airports this year relates to goods coming from the US.
A total of €36,714 has so far been collected from the US this year, with the second largest amount, €988, coming from China.
Irish airports: customs duty and VAT collected in 2005
Australia €11.53
China €987.94
Hong Kong €569.88
Malaysia €467.46
South Africa €130.75
Switzerland €376.12
United Emirates €719.83
United States €36,714.41