Camera repair in Europe and VAT (Pathe camera repair in Italy)

[Mark Eastman]

I have a late 1970s Pathe AT/BTL in working condition (photo attached) but the pellicule glass had cracked and a piece then broke off making the right quarter of the viewfinder black.

I sent this to Valcarenghi Damores in Italy and he repaired the viewfinder and collimated the SOM Berthiot Lytar 25mm lens I sent him with the camera. In his charges, he mentioned that he was charged 60 Euros VAT to receive the camera when I sent this to him. He said it was the same for Switzerland. He is now charging this back to me with his repair charge. I had marked on the documentation when I sent "Camara for Repair" so disappointed to get hit with this.

These are really obscure cameras that I could not find anyone to work on here in the US so appreciate that Damores still does this work.

But has anyone else experienced VAT back charges sending repairs to Europe from the US?

Thanks,

Mark Eastman
Palo Alto, CA USA

 

[Simon Wyss]

What value did you note on the customs slip?

[Uli Meyer]

4 hours ago, Mark Eastman said:

But has anyone else experienced VAT back charges sending repairs to Europe from the US?

I recently sent an old Kino Flo light to Germany from the UK which was cheaper than paying for additional luggage. I marked the shipment as "used lamp" with the value of £100 to be returned to the UK. I was still charged with Euro 45 import fees even though I took it back to the UK. More of those mysterious Brexit opportunities!

Edited January 8, 2023 by Uli Meyer

[David Sekanina]

When sending expensive equipment for repair, you should fill out the forms for outward processing traffic (passiver Veredelungsverkehr). This usually costs 150-200$ depending on the country. This makes sense when sending a 25000$ camera for repair,  and avoiding the 8-10% "re-import" tax. You still have to pay VAT on the repair cost, but not on the whole camera, plus the customs processing, which is separate from VAT.

For less expensive goods, you can try and state in the shipping documents: "temporary export for repair" and "return from repair" and just add the value for the repair, which will be taxed. But it does not always work.

I agree, it's a pain.

Edited January 8, 2023 by David Sekanina

[Mark Eastman]

Thank you!

Mark

Mark Eastman

Design & Photography
Palo Alto, CA USA
http://www.medesignphoto.com

[Al Debruin]

I've experienced a similar thing getting charged import duties to receive a warranty replacement.
The problem is customs of all countries are so used to people trying every trick in the book to avoid duties that even a legitimate claim of repairs or a warranty replacement falls on deaf ears. To facilitate this correctly you really need a clearance agent that can knows how to submit the correct and pretty arcane documentation to support the claim, which is quite an expensive exercise and not worth the time and money unless its a very pricey piece of gear.