Malaysian Customs

Here's how things work...

I order some toys from the States, thinking I'm getting some good discount.

The stuff is sent, and I await my loot patiently.

I get a PosLaju from PosMalaysia telling me my stuff was detained at Customs.

I had to drive 75km to KLIA, plus an RM6.80 toll each way, and try to release my stuff from the Customs.

They told me that I have to fork out 5% for import tax, and 10% for sales tax.

WTF??

Oh, that makes a total of 15.5% tax by the way... The sales tax is calculated after the import tax is added in. You have to pay a sales tax on your import tax. What sales tax?! There's no sale involved! It's for personal consumption! You're detaining my goods, and EXTORTING me for 10%?!

Wait, it gets better.

This tax is on your Cost & your Freight & the Insurance on your Freight.

Double WTF?!

I had to pay a sales tax on the import tax of the insurance for my freight! And let's not forget that this was freight for goods that was only half delivered to me, and was costing me an additional RM30 just to pick it up from the airport myself....

The shipping was USD78 for gosh's sakes!! I am getting taxed for my shipping!!

You know what this feels like? It feels like having your German Shepherd hit by an 18-wheeler truck, and seeing it smeared across 2 miles of highway. Then receiving a bill 2 weeks later for the road crew cleaning up the guts off the highway...

And this is just an innocent hobby!!

If I had been importing a shit load of Clinique eye-shadows, I would have been safe, cos that crap is tax-exempt. But if a friend overseas were to SEND ME A PRESENT, I'ld be taxed to kingdom come!


So, here's the thing now...

All these tax stuff? It's at the disgression of the customs officers. They have a big book on what's taxable, but that's just guidelines. They don't want someone to get hold of that book, and find loopholes to avoid custom duties. So they have the disgression to say what goes or not.

I'm not a charming fellow, nor having a gift of gab, nor the boobs to turn men's heads. But I am able to look pathetic. This comes from dressing comfortably & modestly, wearing hair that hasn't seen a comb in weeks, and youthful looks that make people think I'm 5yrs younger than I actually am.

Eventually, he only gave me an 8% tax on the whole thing, cos he trusts me that I'm not a rogue trader, and that I really did buy all those toys for myself. That's the kind of disgression that the customs guys have.

That still took a bite out of my savings, but it didn't completely obliterate all of what I saved from ordering overseas.

Lesson learnt: make smaller orders. Merchandise worth less than RM500 will be released through customs with no problems. Anything more, even a gift, will be taxed.


And on the way back from KLIA, I passed an over-turned poultry truck. Not a pretty sight. Dead chickens scattered all over the highway. So, those of you in Klang Valley, do stay off the discount poultry for the next few days. Just in case someone tries to sell the roadkill.