Shipping -when you don't qualify for GST relief

[amylauren]

Hi,

I wanted to find out about shipping personal items from New Zealand to Singapore, however we will not qualify for GST relief as my fiancé has been in Singapore since May 2010, although he holds an employment pass, it will be over the amount of time that allows GST relief. I will be trying to get a dependents pass through his work before i try to find employment myself.

We will not be bringing furniture, just extra clothing and other personal items such as a snowboard (don't laugh, i am hoping to go to Japan -though probably next snow season). We will also consider shipping wedding presents (married next month).

I can't find anywhere that says what the duties on our stuff will be -i understand that we would have had the wedding presents less than three months, which does seem to pose a problem.

Also, how would i put values on used items? Surely the value is decreased when items are used? For wedding presents, is it ok to have a guess at the value? or will i have to do some googling to find values on all items?

Last question: What are the entry fees into Singapore, as i would like to take that into account. I saw somewhere that i might have to pay for security inspection. I am a little worried that there may be hidden costs in getting the items released.

I am waiting for a shipping company to get information to me, but i hoped someone has had a similar situation.

SORRY for the ridiculously long post!

[Mad Scientist]

Try this website

http://www.customs.gov.sg/leftNav/trad/ ... edures.htm

[sgbenben]

Hi,

I wanted to find out about shipping personal items from New Zealand to Singapore, however we will not qualify for GST relief as my fiancé has been in Singapore since May 2010, although he holds an employment pass, it will be over the amount of time that allows GST relief. I will be trying to get a dependents pass through his work before i try to find employment myself.

We will not be bringing furniture, just extra clothing and other personal items such as a snowboard (don't laugh, i am hoping to go to Japan -though probably next snow season). We will also consider shipping wedding presents (married next month).

I can't find anywhere that says what the duties on our stuff will be -i understand that we would have had the wedding presents less than three months, which does seem to pose a problem.

Also, how would i put values on used items? Surely the value is decreased when items are used? For wedding presents, is it ok to have a guess at the value? or will i have to do some googling to find values on all items?

Last question: What are the entry fees into Singapore, as i would like to take that into account. I saw somewhere that i might have to pay for security inspection. I am a little worried that there may be hidden costs in getting the items released.

I am waiting for a shipping company to get information to me, but i hoped someone has had a similar situation.

SORRY for the ridiculously long post!

if you want to ship clothes such thing, i would suggest you to use National Post parcel service. if you use logistics company, your GST can be ignored compared with delivery charge such as documentation fee etc. it is very simple if you use Post Service, you can ask Singapore Post partner in Zealand.

[Vxx]

Best bet is to take any high value, new items in your checked/carry on luggage and ship the older, lower value items. Check the cost of excess & unaccompanied baggage rates with the airline as that is sometimes cheaper if your volume is lowish.

Having just filled out the customs declaration today for my shipping company it is very simple and didn't require any massive amounts of detail and certainly no proof of length of ownership. The key thing is to not have multiple new items that look like commercial items for future sale.

If you are very cost conscious, use a freight forwarder rather than a "full service" provider as they are used to company accounts where cost isn't an issue. Also negotiate hard as they will always come down on price, especially on insurance premiums - may start at 2.75% but you can get it for 1% if you shop around.