KOREA CUSTOMS INFO

I might be way off but I always thought that if the product isn't new then there are no customs issues.

KcJohn-7 Oh i see. I do get stuff shipped to my school always, but only because I'm not home during the day to receive it. And actually, yes so far I've paid no taxes, but for smaller item things. Hmm, I could consider the repair idea if I go the Apple Store US route, thanks.

I'm from the states, and my boyfriend sent me a laptop and I didn't pay any customs fees, taxes, nothing.

My folks sent me my macmini and I did not have to pay any tax. i was told this is because i work for a public school and not a hagwon.

thanks Release the dogs, that makes more sense now. so far, some paid taxes and some didn't, but couldn't figure out why. i teach at a private school (not a hagwon) but they get some government funding, so not sure which bracket i am in. but so far have never paid tax on any packages, altho they're under $300 in value.

I know I'm a little late to this convo, but I just had to deal with the problem last month.

My Mac died and I needed it to be repaired. I brought it in to the coex "Apple store" and they attempted to fix it. They failed. I contacted Apple and because I was to go home to visit my family for two weeks, they suggested I bring it home and have it repaired in the states. Well Apple didn't get it back to me before I had to return to Korea, so I had my Mother mail it to me, making sure she wrote repaired computer on the customs form. Well it turned out Apple replaced my computer completely so it was brand new. Any brand new computer has to be taxed, even if it is a replacement computer that cost no money.

It seemed wrong for me to pay 300k for a replacement computer that I could have carried on the airplane for free.

So here is what I found out. There is a article in the Korean Customs law that says if you are going to be importing something temporarily (less than a year) you can get a refund of your taxes. So I ended up having to pay the tax, but will get it back when I leave Korea by filling out a customs departure form. The whole process took two week. I have no idea why it took so long, but there you go.

wow, thanks cspauld!
i will be buying a refurbished Mac, so not sure if that qualifies for "new" or not. but thanks for the advice, if anything goes wrong i will definitely remember that! so it was the Korean customs that paid you back? any links that give instructions on that?
thanks a bunch!

I would contact the customs office before you ship the computer over. They should tell you all the necessary documents you will need. Hopefully you talk to someone who speaks English well. The man I dealt with did not, though he was very kind.

You can find the contact number for your area on their website, though some of the number didn't work for me when I tried.

Good luck.

 My mom has sent stuff to me from the States with no problems. I just have everything sent to my school and the phone number of the school on the custom forms just in case.

I'm a little hesitant to ship stuff to Korea, because the shipping labels will be in English, and I don't want stuff getting lost in transit.

Anyone have issues shipping stuff to Korea?

Yes, I've had several packages and mail just never arrive.  My mom used the same address on those shipments as she did for shipments that did arrive.  I'm afraid to send anything very important.  Maybe it's just me. 

I have received two boxes from the states since arriving in Korea in August. One came through no problem and one was stuck in Customs for over a month. Why such a vast difference? FOOD

If you want your family to send you food (even canned and dried) Korea will not let it go through without a thourough inspection, or two, or three. If its non-food and not taxed in Korea you shouldn't have any problems with the package arriving, even if its post marked in English.

Come on people aren't THAT stupid here.  I've had things and important things
shipped here and it's always arrived here safely and really fast. 

Just because the address is in English doesn't mean that someone doesn't know
how to read it.  The only reason why it wouldn't get to you is if you put the wrong
address on it.  But people here are pretty glued on when it comes to this subject.

If you're cool with the administration at your school it may be best to have them send it to your school address as someone mentioned before. When you have to give a number, just give the school's main number.

I've had packages sent to me with no issue. I think the post offices have an easier time finding schools.

My family goes to this one Korean shipper back home and I just recently got a new laptop sent to me. It's best when sending any expensive electronics to say that they are "used" even if they are not. I believe if you send a package here with purchased goods that are over a certain amount of money then you will have to pay some taxes. My friend had a package sent to him via I believe FedEX and he was told he had to pay $100 USD in taxes.

My mother sent my wife and I two laptops as a belated wedding gift.  I have all of my packages sent to my school.  This time they sent some customs forms in Hangul.  I have no idea where my laptops are or how to get them.  I assume they want me to pay taxes.  My co-teacher is running around trying to figure it out and I feel bad because I can't personally talk to them.  To be clear... this is a legitimate gift.  Has anyone run into this problem?

My mother sent my wife and I two laptops as a belated wedding gift.  I have all of my packages sent to my school.  This time they sent some customs forms in Hangul.  I have no idea where my laptops are or how to get them.  I assume they want me to pay taxes.  My co-teacher is running around trying to figure it out and I feel bad because I can't personally talk to them.  To be clear... this is a legitimate gift.  Has anyone run into this problem?

you are going to have to pay 10% of the value, above 150,000 won, after they convert it from dollars/pounds/etc. to won. they will likely request a receipt of the item to verify it's price, a copy of your ARC, passport, and will ask you whether you will use it for business or personal reasons. then they will add on a fee (for my tablet it was around 33,000 won). i wouldn't worry too much about it. it's a hassle, but it's their customs law.

Damn.  So 10% of roughly $1000 is $100.  Plus some random fee?  so like 150ish maybe 200... What an awesome gift!

Yep. Any single package (or group of packages if they're grouped close together) over 150,000won in value will get tagged and slugged with customs fees, even if they're marked as a gift. Keep that in mind next time. They generally don't care if you're bringing them with luggage though.

This happened to me when my mother was sending me my Christmas present from Canada.

I had to fax them a copy of my passport picture page, visa, and ARC, along with a signed letter stating where I live, why I came to Korea, what my job is Korea, who was sending me the package and why. The package was worth over 150 000won and after I did all that I didn't have to pay the 10% tax. Pain in the ass but I haven't had any troubles with customs since and haven't had to pay any taxes!

It's 20% tax on electronics...but teacher's get some % off, (either 5 or 10%, i forget), but you need to fax a letter from your school.

Most informative thread ive read so far. Does anyone think they would hold brand new xbox360/ps3 games if there were over 6 games in the one package?