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**PLEASE NOTE : Once a package has been shipped, ownership rights transfer from Koto Tea to the purchaser. It is the purchaser’s responsibility to track their packages and take delivery. We supply a tracking number and link to tracking page in a confirmation email when an order is shipped.
Products shipped from Japan to certain countries and jurisdictions might be subject to local customs duties or consumption tax in the country of delivery. Such duties and taxes are purchaser’s (or receiver’s) responsibility. Koto Tea does not collect any taxes or duties at the point of sale. This applies in particular to European countries (especially European Union) which apply VAT (or similar) and approximately 6% duty.
What is payable (if anything) is unique to each jurisdiction, and depends on where the goods are sent from, the type of goods, their transactional value and the weight of the package
None of these charges are paid to us the seller (Koto Tea), but to the local authorities in the destination country.
**IMPORTANT : If duties and taxes apply to a customer’s package, they will need to be collected by DHL Express couriers before delivery. As a service to speed up express delivery, DHL Express pays the customers duties and taxes in advance to bypass the usual delays in customs processing.
For this service DHL Express also applies a handling fee (a certain percentage of taxes/duties payable). This fee varies depending on country and package weight, contents, value etc. and is payable by the customer before delivery.
Please be aware this is a condition of shipping and unfortunately can’t be avoided. (This only applies IF duties and taxes are payable)
The following are guidelines for particular regions. Please note this information is offered as a guide and is subject to change. Please contact your local authorities for the latest and most accurate information:
U.S.A. :
- Generally the U.S.A. does NOT charge customs fees or duties. Officially, packages with a declared value under $2000 USD will be cleared without any fee. Packages with a value over $800 might require signed declaration that they are not for commercial use. We’ve shipped thousands of packages to the U.S.A. and have rarely encountered any issues with customs.
CANADA :
- Most packages usually clear customs without issue. Orders above $20CAD may require that you pay GST and duties if applicable. For more information please visit the Canadian customs website. They have a duty and taxes estimation calculator on their site.
AUSTRALIA :
- Orders below $1000 AUD are regarded as ‘low value imports’ by Australian customs. Generally orders are delivered smoothly and without customs fees applied. However according to the Australian customs website: as of 01 July 2018, customs duties MIGHT apply to any goods imported from overseas by consumers in Australia. For more information please visit the Australian customs website.
U.K. :
- To our knowledge the UK now has a minimum threshold of £135 before either VAT or duties are applied. The changes were introduced from 1st January 2021. Over this threshold VAT and/or duties are likely to apply. Please note this is just a guide, more information can be found at the UK customs website.
EUROPE (EU) :
- Duties and taxes are applied according to a “Total Value” which is a combination of product price(s) AND shipping fees.
- For orders with a Total Value between zero to 150 Euros – The buyer is responsible for paying the consumption tax (VAT or equivalent) of the total value.
- For orders with a Total Value over 150 Euros, The buyer is responsible for paying both consumption tax and import duty of the total value.
**UPDATE: Some European countries we can now ship to by postal mail. If preferred, please contact us through our CONTACT form to see if we can arrange alternative shipping method.