I was baffled when I went to the post office today. You guys are amazing!!! There was this huge box with LaLD written on it and sent by Enginerrrrrrrrrrrr. Unfortunately the Brazilians customs office stamped a big amount of tax to pay. But I can reverse it with your help.
I quickly remembered the occasion when the Super Mario Hot Wheels series was announced, and you were discussing on the comments the possibility of buying them and sending to me.
Brazilian law have two different kinds of people registration: There is pessoa física, a common folk like you and me and pessoa jurídica for businesses, enterprises, shops and so on. Brazilian customs law states that it is possible to receive gifts from abroad if the sender is a pessoa física, or if it was someone who sent to you. If it was a pessoa jurídica, it means that a shop sent to you, so there are taxes. The customs document says there are 50 diecasts inside the box (you guys are really amazing, I wish I could hug/pay a beer to everyone), so I believe the customs agent thought I bought a big amount of diecasts to resell here, and asked the sender to declare it as a gift. Lots of people do that here, so when something is declared as a gift it raises a suspicion.
The total value of the import taxes is calculated by perceived value. The customs office opens the box, see what’s inside and calculate the taxes upon the value they think it have. So it’s pretty much random.
However, we can contest this calculation. In the post office we can ask for a form to request the recalculation of the value, and for doing so you need to provide evidence of what you really paid. E-mails, receipts, printscreens, anything. Since this was a true gift (I love you all), I will write a letter explaining that I collect diecasts for years, that I am a member of the Brazilian Redline Club (I will attach a copy of my member card too) and I will attach the post about the Super Mario series (with the comments where you begin the planning) and this one.
I know it is indelicate to ask this and to spoil the surprise, but it would really help if you could describe exactly what was in the box. So when the box returns to the customs office for the tax to be recalculated the agent can compare what is written here to what’s in the box. It was the best way I could find to get some kind of comprovation that it was indeed a gift.
The amount of taxes? The total declared value of the diecasts is $50 USD, with an additional $55 USD or so for shipping. The taxes sum up to R$415,91 (a bit more than $107 USD on today’s exchange rate).
So, in short (and since this post will be printed and attached to the form), this is one of my comprovation documents. Here the people who prepared this parcel to me describe what is inside the box, so it proves it wasn’t bought, but sent to me as a gift. Below there are some photos of the package (with the sender’s name protected) to corroborate this document.
Sorry for the long post. I know that’s indelicate to ask for details about a gift, but you can really help me to build a strong document to ask for a fair calculation of the taxes. I wouldn’t mind paying taxes over the shipping costs, since it surpasses the $50 USD maximum we are allowed, but I was sad to see the taxes calculated upon the total value. Guys, please help me on this.
You guys are really amazing. I’m still amazed with what you did for me!!!