A question about your experience - was the duty payed by you directly at the customs office or did Amazon pay for it (either themselves or by charging ur card at a later date) ?
So as per the customs laws - even if I order 6-7 blu's at a time, I won't have to pay duty on them as long as I keep it under 5000 ? That's pretty cool. Also, please refer to the question I asked 'konfused'. Will I have to pay the duty personally by going to their office or will Amazon do it for me (even if they charge my card later) ?
I tell you how that works. Amazon does not involve in direct shipping, meaning they dont run a freight forwarding comp. They use UPS, DHL, or Fedex. If your item comes through UPS, your item will be delivered through the post office and if there is any customs duty, you will be intimated by your local post office and you pay and collect your items.
If you item is delivered through Fedex or DHL, they pay duty on behalf of you, as long as it is nominal say less than 2K, and they collect it from you and if the amount is more, they call you before clearing the item from customs.
I strongly encourage you to use UPS to avoid unnecessary handling charges and additional taxes. Since companies like DHL and FedEx handle huge number of shipments, their system automatically create tax invoices for items which is in excess of of their own taxable limit. I am sure you will avoid paying duties if are using standard shipping through UPS and if your item cost is below 5K.
According to customs statutes, only used capital goods can be imported and exempted from tax and all other items will be taxed as if they were new and even upon submitting sufficient proofs from your side, they will tax it by reducing the cost at the rate of 10% as depreciation value per year from the original cost.
Also, whether you are declaring the values high or low, and regardless of the condition of the item, unless accompanied by a bona fide letter stating it as gift, the assessing officer will google it and find the cost and tax the item as if it was new! If you are ordering items from US or UK, prefer shipping rare items like blu-ray players, etc., which are not much familiar so that it is easier for you to convince the officers.
Cheers!