i'm thinking of buying a harp online, and i how do i pay the customs tax? will the courrier services generally pay this tax so that it can clear customs and claim the amount from you later? (how exactly does this work though, since i pay the seller the shipping not the courrier directly)

or will they issue a letter and tell you to collect it at the customs to pay the tax?

i've bought stuff online before, and never had problems with getting things blocked at the customs, so far, i've used the uk and irish national post, for stuff bought from there

if i'm not mistaken, it depends on what yr seller "declare" the item as when they send the parcel.
sometimes seller declare it as others to avoid tax

When the parcel arrive at custom, custom officer will chk yr consigment note. even if it is item of non-taxable, the custom reserved the right to detain it if found to be suspicious.

Custom will later send you a notification letter to pay tax or to open the parcel in front of them to proof its content.

Hi chansherly,

I've posted a thread on customs and tax and administrators closed the thread because they said there were already another thread on it. Check out my post as per the link below and see if it answers some of your questions.

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=1103402&hl=

to your query about who pays the taxes, it usually depends on your courrier.
for the big names such as DHL / UPS / etc, they will clear it as soon as possible so that they can get the package to you on time.
these big companies will not undervalue your package or shipment because the insurance will cover the package in case it gets damaged or lost.

the normal scenario is, if its over rm500 in total CIF = (consignment + insurance + freight/shipping), they will send it directly to customs to be taxed.
they will pay for you first, then u have to pay them back later when u recieve a package. usually there is a small service charge.
i kena once last month, my total value was over rm1200. UPS paid the tax and i had to pay them back when they sent it to me.
service charge was rm25

so this is a lesson to be learned, try to keep your shipments under rm500. this includes shipping charges also.
if its under rm500, you shouldnt have a problem with being taxed by the customs.