Packages from Europe (Germany) to the Philippines

Please let me not add confusion...

Informal entry refers to foreign goods entering a country’s customs border not required to have an entry or surety bond due to their small value, which is usually the case of goods sent as gifts or prouct samples by private individuals. If you are a person receiving goods sent from another country, like Germany, you are an importer. The person sending goods from abroad to you in Philippines is the exporter.

Now RP Congress passed RA 10863 or the Customs Modernization & Tariff Act on July 27, 2015 that increased the small value limit from ₱10: “Section 423. Determination of the De Minimis Value.— No duties and taxes shall be collected on goods with an FOB or FCA value of ten thousand pesos (₱10,000.00) or below...” So you should advise the sender to limit the goods such that it can be declared and evidenced with payment receipts showing purchase value equal to ₱10,000.00 or below. Over that limit, you as receiving importer will certainly be burdened not only with customs duty and taxes to pay but also with a sworn statement to execute!

Since RP, along with 181 other countries, adheres to World Customs Organization (WCO) customs administration standards that harmonize and make safe world trade, the Bureau of Customs people in RP will routinely require documentary evidence of the value of your mailed goods, in the same way that Generalzolldirektion in DE will routinely require the same for goods mailed to Germany. For private individual shipments not intended for commerce, the requirement is a Pro Forma Invoice supported with purchase payment receipts. Most logistics companies like DHL publishes its own version on its website; and yet, if the sender mails through Deutsche Post, which could be cheaper, she can also use other versions that can be found using Google Search.

To enjoy duty/tax free shipment, note that it is most important for the sender to:
1.) declare in the pro forma invoice that the purchase value of the shipped goods at ₱10,000.00 (€157.83 or US$193.37 by the shipping day’s forex rate) or below, exclusive of insurance and shipping;
2.) support the declared value with original purchase payment receipts;
3.) indicate in the pro forma invoice that the goods shipped to you are “for personal use only, not for sale nor commercial distribution.”

The above should work for most countries even though de minimis threshold differs. In Germany, the limit is €45 and so I look out for priced-down or discounted goods so that I can send as many items as I can within the €45limit.

 

Well, not sure if any shippers in Germany provide balikbayan box services but if they do, and you are willing to wait 4 months for delivery, that method seems to clear customs quickly and we have never been charged duties as this method already assumes private use, which it is. You are supposed to declare the contents as accurately as possible meaning to say you must declare the vitamins and used clothes your are shipping which normally would reach never $1K.


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Yes, BalikBayan boxes should clear through BOC quickly for now because CAO 05-2016 (issued to implement RA 10863 new law that exempts BalikBayan boxes with >₱10K - ₱150K value from customs duties/taxes) that imposed certain documents to accompany BalikBayan boxes was suspended on Oct 3 2017 until Mar 31 2018 for revision due to OFW protests. Minus controversial nitty-gritty doc requirements, an updated BalikBayan Box guideline is available at How To Send Balikbayan Box to The Philippines? 2018 Guidelines ... Yip, my German daughter in law says there's BalikBayan box services in DE. These are some of them but, sorry, contact info may need updating:

* DBC Door-to-Door Balikbayan Cargo, Herzog-Georg-Strasse 63, 89415 Lauingen (Donau), Fon: 09072/4176, Email: josephine.boeck@dbc-jb.de, Web: www.dbc-jb.de

* Femia Caminero Seebach, Lutz Seebach Happy Box, Hinter der Jungenstraße 4, 56218 Mülheim-Kärlich Germany, Fon: +49 261 – 9 222 555, Fax: +49 261 – 9 222 557, e-Mail: happyboxcebu@gmail.com, Web: Home

* Kojietranz Balikbayan Box, Roel Bartolo, Messelerstr. 8, 63303 Dreieich ,Germany, Fon: +49 6074 6974440 / +49 162 2612829, Email: kojietranz@arcor.de, Website: www.kojietranz.web.com

* Transwing® Jane Hartung, Frankfurter Landstrasse 109, 64291 Darmstadt, Fon: +49 6151/370268, Fax +49 6151/370259, Mobile +49 173/6506882, E-Mail: zentrale@transwing.de, Website: www.transwing.de

* Binger Balikbayan Service e.K. (reportedly ships every month and noted to be cheapest yet satisfactory), Emily Weydt, Mainzer Str. 555411 Bingen, Fon: +49 6721 909040 / +49 6721 7057122, Fax: +49 6721 154753,
E-Mail: BBS@BingerBalikbayanService.de, Website: www.bingerbalikbayanservice.de

* Filipino-Service (ships every 2-3 weeks), Fon: +49 6266 96 99 99 9, E-mail: info@filipino-service.de, Website: www.filipino-service.de

* Ben’s Balikbayan Box-Service, E-mail: info@bensbalikbayan.de, Website: Ben's Balikbayan Box-Service

 

I can vouch for Bestbalikbayan-Service EUROPE. Sent two shipments over the last two years, each consisting of two boxes including used electronics, computer hardware etc, and every time it worked like a charm from pickup to delivery.

I think they added a policy recently to require a passport copy of a Filipino resident (the shipper) for each shipment.

Regarding postal packages : Obviously if you declare 50k on the outside of the package you'll be subject to close examination. The way I see it, a wrong declaration of value is the fault of the sender (who isn't here to be punished), so all you'll have to do is pay the correct duties if discovered. Otherwise, if nobody bothered to open the package, you get away with it at no risk.

 

Hallo, Justice55, I am a Filipina who has a Filipino-Deutsche family in DE. Still, here is a German translation (by Free Translation Online) that I hope will not cause confusion...

Ja, BalikBayan Kästen sollten sich durch BOC schnell für jetzt weil CAO 05-2016 klären (ausgegeben, um RA 10863 neues Gesetz durchzuführen, das BalikBayan Kästen mit> 10K - 150K Wert von Zoll / Steuern befreit) das erlegte bestimmte Dokumente auf, um BalikBayan Kästen zu begleiten wurde am 3. Okt 2017 bis zum 31. Mrz 2018 für die Durchsicht aufgehoben wegen OFW-Proteste. Ohne die umstrittenen Kern-Dok.-Voraussetzungen, eine aktualisierte BalikBayan Kasten-Richtlinie ist daran verfügbar How To Send Balikbayan Box to The Philippines? 2018 Guidelines

In answer to your questions...

• Yes, I meant to say that the BalikBayan Box (BBBox) declared value, transport fee-excluded, should be not above PHP150,000.00 so that no taxes will occur.
• This BBBox tax-free value limit is intended by law to remain the same for three (3) years from June 16, 2016 until it is adjusted on June 15, 2019.
• The future adjustment on the BBBox tax-free value limit will depend on year 2019 consumer prices and will probably be higher than PHP150,000 because prices in inflation-prone RP tend to increase instead of decrease.

But...

• This BBBox tax-free value limit privilege is only -- for Filipinos temporarily residing abroad for at least 6 months to less than 5 years; for DOLE or POEA-certified Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) with valid passports; and for Filipino permanent residents abroad who retained Filipino citizenship -- who bring BBBox upon return arrival to Philippines or who send BBBox to their families in the Philippines. This means the exporter has to be a Filipino.
• This BBBox tax-free value limit can be availed up to three (3) times but not to exceed the total of PHP150,000 during a calendar year.
• This BBBox PHP150,000 value tax-free limit is better availed in three (3) installments of PHP50,000 value shipment each during a calendar year because the value limit for informal entry (no bond nor surety required; for personal enjoyment, not for commercial use) is only PHP50,000.

The new declaration document requirements, revised to be agreeable to OFWs, should be announced before March 31, 2018.

Cheers!

 

I don’t know, we sent B.B. boxes to our family for 30 years starting in 1988 and these delivery businesses were handled in the USA by local Filipinos who sometimes were partnered with Forex while others just seem to rent containers and make a nice profit on shipping your boxes in their rented containers. But never, never any mention of taxes or customs opening boxes or any special qualifications for the sender. You could send anything, really, and why not, these things are a big benefit to the country. Now are we being told that this practice is now, essentially, cratered? No more balikbayan boxes sent from Filipina Americans, who are US citizens, back to family members to help them? Mostly used clothes, soaps shampoos toothpaste pencils and other school supplies for kids, vitamins AND the occasional used small tv or laptop or tablet? No more? How disappointed, and badly impacted, many poorer Filipino families will be.


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Well, what used to be lax has either passed away or is passing away with the times, as every thing does. If, aside from increased value limits, there are notably more strict changes now, it's because RP law "modernized" in 2016 in adherence to WCO global customs administraton standards -- that is why. We are not all friends in this world, and some of the countries where skilled Filipino workers venture overseas for better income can be hostile. I suppose global "modernization" of customs administration is a concerted effort of all 182 WCO-adherent countries to reinforce customs and border protection against bio warfare, economic sabotage, human trafficking, illegal arms, illegal drugs, terrorism, etc., etc. We should know about more changes after March 31, 2018.