Import / Export Guidelines.

Laurell Trade Guidelines

Click here for a chart outlining recommended Laurell trade guidelines.

Another Simple Shipping Terms Guide

Click here for another chart with list of responsibilities explained.

Understanding VAT Tax — Europe & United Kingdom

Goods which are manufactured within the EU or the USA are free of customs duty, however, they may be subject to other EU State taxes such as excise and VAT.

VAT rates vary anywhere from ~7.5% to 25%.

Note: when returning items to the US for repair or upgrade make sure the words to describe your equipment are"Goods are of US origin, being returned for service". Customs in your country will always try to collect the VAT again, so always be prepared to prove that the tax was paid previously, or that you are exempt.

Custom Duties — None in the EU

There are NO import duties on Laurell Technologies Equipment. The duties were suspended in 1994 — Our Tariff (HS Code) is: 8486 2000 00

Further Custom Duties info... http://www.export.gov/logistics/eg_main_018130.asp

Incidents reported to us:

Greece: DHL assigned a 3rd party carrier to deliver one of our systems to an outlying area — they attempted to collect a "Custom Duty" from one of our customers...DHL investigated, then discontinued their relationship for unscrupulous behavior. The customer refused to pay the false charges and received their equipment with only a sight delay.

Italy: An EU-based competitor, after losing an order to Laurell, complained that their system was free from all tax including VAT...the purchaser was informed by Laurell beforehand that this might happen and dismissed this notion immediately.

France: FedEx attempted to deliver a Laurell system which was consigned to a local carrier for final delivery — there was an attempt to collect a "Custom Duty" from our customer... but when it was refused, delivered the equipment and apologized for the misunderstanding which they had confused with the VAT which had been pre-paid. No further action was required and it was judged a misunderstanding by FedEx.

Disclaimer: While these stories are known by the writer to be generally factual (customer did NOT pay customs duties), some speculation was used to fill in missing detail (specifically DHL and FedEx agents indicated "off the record" that action was taken against offenders), but because nothing was ever documented, we still have doubts. It is still a case of buyer beware!