Hong Kong Shipping Guide 2025: Customs Declaration Value for UK, US & Taiwan

Many customers send goods from Hong Kong to popular countries such as Taiwan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and they all ask Fuuffy about the problems they encounter when declaring the value of items in customs declarations.

 

For example, a high declared value will be charged higher taxes by the customs, but a low declared value may be charged punitive duties. What is the most appropriate way to fill it out? The following editor will explain to you in detail how to declare the value of items!

What is customs declaration?

Customs declaration refers to filling in the list of goods in the package, listing the information of the imported and exported goods in the list (such as item description, value, origin, etc.), and then reporting it to the customs. The final goods declared will undergo designated customs procedures.

 

To put it simply, preparing an Invoice with complete information is equivalent to performing the action of [customs declaration].

What is QingGuan?

When the goods are imported into the country of destination, the customs will conduct a customs clearance process based on the customs declaration content. If the customs has questions about the declaration or the package needs to pay taxes, respond to the customs questions and pay the taxes to achieve customs release. This action is commonly known as [customs clearance].

 

Packages can be imported or exported from that country or region only after customs clearance procedures are carried out in accordance with local laws, such as value declaration, taxation and passage procedures. Declaring goods is one of the important procedures in customs clearance procedures.

What is the declared value?

 

The customs declared value refers to the total value declared by the sender of the items during customs declaration for international shipments. This value determines how much import duties the recipient of the package has to pay. For example, if you send 10 pieces of clothing, the price of each piece is US$15.00, just fill in US$150 when declaring the total value.

 

In addition, the declared value does not need to be filled in with numbers after the decimal point. If it is a document with no commercial value, there is no need to enter the customs declaration value.

 

When you send a package abroad, you must go through the customs declaration process before the package can be released. The customs office in the recipient country will decide whether your package needs to pay customs duties. Therefore, the details of the tax amount cannot be confirmed until the package arrives in the recipient country and has been cleared for customs clearance. The tax amount will be determined based on the value, quantity, purpose and type of the item.

 

The declared value needs to be filled in when submitting the waybill. If you don’t know how to fill in the declared value and need Fuuffy to modify or recommend a suitable declared value for you, please directly Contact us!

Import duties

 

What we commonly call [tariff] in English is actually import tax and duty. Tax and Duties are actually two concepts.

 

Tax generally refers to GST (Goods and Service Tax) or VAT (value added tax). The amount of Tax is based on the value of the entire package.

 

Duties are Custom dutyes, and the amount of Duties is the tax levied based on the nature of the goods.

 

Example: If you send clothing worth 1,000 USD to the United States, the U.S. import VAT/GST tax rate is 10% and the U.S. tariff levy on the clothing is 10.3%. In this case, the import tax you have to pay is about 203USD (100+103) plus customs clearance administrative fees.

 

Import tariffs refer to taxes levied by the local government on imported goods in accordance with regulations when goods are imported into a country or region. Different categories of goods will be levied with different levels of taxes.

 

To put it simply, if you have a package sent overseas, whether by air or sea, your package must go through the import process, and after the local customs inspects the package and releases it, import duties will be levied.

 

Since the customs duties for all goods are determined by the customs at the destination, the details of the tax amount will not be confirmed until the package arrives at the destination.

Import and export restrictions

Different countries or couriers will have import and export restrictions, and not all goods can be sent to all countries or regions. If you want to check whether your goods can be sent to the destination, you can check Import and export restriction list. Before sending a shipment, you should check the local customs' import and export restrictions and comply with local customs regulations and customs clearance procedures. For information about taxes in various countries, you can visit the local customs website or use Import and export tax calculatorView, the latest tax is subject to local customs.

 

We have customers who have successfully tried to send valuables from Hong Kong to Guernsey. When the customer sent valuable items to Guernsey again, we asked the courier whether the valuable items could be sent to Guernsey, but we received a negative reply. In this case, it is possible that the local restrictions on imported goods have been revised, or the victim was lucky enough to successfully send the shipment.

 

Sometimes it is necessary to submit an application form for the export of goods, such as an Electronic Export Information (EEI) form. Therefore, it is best for you to contact us before sending the item to avoid delays in customs clearance due to problems after shipment.

 

Electronic Export Information Form (EEI)

Goods exported from the United States need to fill in the Electronic Export Information (EEI) form. If you have a package sent back to Hong Kong, you will need to fill in the EEI form when the value of the goods exceeds US$2,500. The form should be filled out and signed by the sender (exporter) or his agent and include item description, weight, value, destination and other basic information about the shipment.

 

Regardless of the value of the item, you need to submit an EEI form:

-    Any shipment from the United States and Puerto Rico requires a license;

-    Any shipment licensed by a U.S. government agency

 

If you have goods sent back to Hong Kong from the United States and are not sure whether you need to submit an EEI form, you can Contact Ourprofessional logistics specialists.

Purchase additional insurance

. Still using the example of the 10 pieces of clothing above, if you fill in the total declared value of the clothes as $150 and purchase an additional $150 of insurance, if the package is lost or damaged in any way, the insured $150 will be compensated to you.

 

Fuuffy reminds you, Don’t misunderstand that buying more insurance will result in more compensation! Even if you buy $1,000 insurance, if something happens, it will only compensate you $150 of the declared value. You will not be compensated based on how much insurance you purchase, and the maximum compensation amount will not be higher than the declared value of the item.

High declared item value

Since the tax will depend on the value, quantity, purpose and type of the item, if you declare a high value of the item, you will be charged a relatively high tariff.

Low declared item value

Some senders will under-declare the value of items in order to reduce taxes or be exempt from tax. If the declared value is found to be unreasonable by the customs, punitive duties may be charged by the customs! When a package is sent overseas for customs clearance, customs will inspect the package. If the customs determines that there is an error between the true value of the goods and the value you declared, and the true value of the goods is higher than the declared value, the customs will re-modify the value of the goods and then charge you punitive duties.

 

Furthermore,declared value that is too low will lead to delays in customs clearance. The sender may have to provide more item information, supporting documents or receipts for customs to re-judge the value of the item. If supporting documents cannot be provided, taxes will need to be paid based on the re-determined value by customs.

 

Of course, you can also appeal to the local customs after paying the customs duty, but you must provide supporting documents that can prove the value of the item, such as receipts and invoices, provided that you fill in the value of the item truthfully.

 

In addition, if the value of the item is too low and you buy additional insurance, if the package is lost or damaged in any way, the low value amount you declared will be compensated. For example, your total declared value and insured amount are US$200, but the actual total value of the items is US$500, and the final compensation amount will only be US$200.

Summary

When declaring the value of items, reasonable declaration will speed up customs clearance. On the contrary, it will not only delay customs clearance, but also result in punitive tariffs being charged by the customs! How to reasonably declare the value of items? Inquire with Fuuffy now!

 

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