Hi Guys,

I was thinking of buying 1 or 2 units of unlocked 8gb iphones from the US and get it shipped to KL but I'm curious about whether our "beloved" customs would impose any tax on them? Can anyone tell me if there'll be any tax? IF so, how much? Would choosing a premium courrier service helps in bypassing custom tax?

IMHO, you are better off buying from here. at least you get to inspect the goods before buying and they will usually unlock and jailbreak for you at a nominal fee

Not really as I'm getting them both for less than MYR3.8K + Free Shipping. That's way cheaper than what most people are selling over here, unlocked.

here the price from the forumers is already around 1900 a piece plus u can see it first and further inspect it before making a purchase. plus no need to deal with custom tax duty or any issues that will arise from the purchase.

mmm...btw if u got someone from US (a friend or anyone) that can get u the iPhone straight from the Apple Store and courier it to u, the total cost u'll bear as u receive it on your hand can easily reach 1.7k. plus the risk it got damaged before or upon shipment.

This post has been edited by LaskarCinta: Feb 20 2008, 06:18 PM

yea still wouldn't be much of a different in price. + my friend already tested it in US. I just need to know if there's any tax imposed by custom if i want it shipped here. else I'd just wait till my friend come back but that'll be another 6 months liaw

if u can check it first through your friend then it's good. Only got the risk on the delivery. Dunno the exact cost of the tax, but it will be rather high. Just standby the approximate of 1.7k (includes the phone price itself). Plus if u don't declare first the tax before shipment, u need to go to KLIA to proceed for the tax. Yup one thing to remember, the tax is quite high. U can read such encounter with taxing around trade zone resource forum.

trust me as i dealt a lot with fedex and dhl. if you check the online tracking really closely, the mails usually arrive sepang at about 5-7am and it takes like 6hours for the malaysian custom to clear it. i mean they really check and in many cases scan them. you can see the stamps of approval by various departments on the item's packaging.


as a general thumbrule (from my own observation), the bigger the box, the more stamps i reckon.

This post has been edited by nokia2003: Feb 20 2008, 07:03 PM

yeah I noticed that. and I also noticed it's really up to the custom officials currently on duty at that time of the day because I used to bring in razor mice by boxes and out of 10 box, only one box kena tax one. zzz :|

The tax usualy RM 60 + sirim 250. Tax depends on how much u declare I think..

o.O custom tax is quite low but SIRIM is quite high :shrugs:

That what I have been told by one of my friends who ask me to unlock for him. But I dunno how much he put for declare value. But most important, do not declare as cellphone. For sure will be held by customs.

Ooo in that case gotta ask my friend to declare it as promotional items then

Thanks for the heads up aneip

Oh btw, the SIRIM AP, is it valid per phone or per import ?

This post has been edited by aphesz: Feb 20 2008, 11:50 PM

per phone

when u declare it as ipod you will be like inviting them to open up your package
ipods AV stuffs...30% tax..and when they find out about your iphones...it will be changed to the shit sirim thing

AP per phone? ah Ok.. So will it be a good thing to do if I'd just go SIRIM now and apply for AP or should I just wait and try my luck if custom suddenly missed my package and let it slide

hahaha..i bring in 2 iphones from US and the airport custom detected it. ask me to go into the room. wanted to charge me RM200 per iphone saying "wah ini barang xboleh bawa masok lo" then after nego RM100 per iphone. When i was about to go off.. he pass me his name card and ask me "encik, next time balik malaysia tolong bawa 1x for me. Ini card i." hahahaa

i bought USD399 + 7%Gov tax + RM100 = RM1486

hahaha funny man
maybe u can bring along one for me too
anyway my friend currently studying in states
i asked him to help me buying me the iphone and he said no problem
but only that the shipping to msia might cost a bomb
is it true?
coz maybe he won't come back to msia for summer

My friend would be coming back from the States too mid March so i'm asking him to get one for me. Would he be taxed for a single phone? If he is, i may ask him to just open up the box and 'use' it like a personal item. I believe with that he could avoid getting taxed?

@Soundstream:

Is 7% govt tax the same across the States?

This post has been edited by zc_squash: Feb 21 2008, 05:55 PM

There will be SIRIM issue if the items were found. They will then hold the item then force you to apply for license (Almost impossible to get one) in order to retrieve the items.

Tax rates are different in different states in the U.S.

California impose 8.25% while smaller states can go for much lower rate.

This post has been edited by ken_wickedboy: Feb 21 2008, 06:03 PM

Wah.. you're lucky he didn't ask you to go SIRIM and pay for phone APs


Friends applied for AP from SIRIM with ez dude. And Im sure most of the sellers in LYN forum also would say the same. It just costs alot for each AP

I guess i'd need to advise my friend to just open the box up then.