incident with amsterdam customs regarding rolex

[KuchingKu]

Three cheers for you!

Hey bro redneckk, i feel for you and know what you've gone thru'

If it makes you any better, swing by my place when you're back and i'll pass you this watch pouch. I know it doesn't replace the money you've 'lost' but a consolation from me. It's on me lah.



This pouch holds one watch, a watch tool and a spare strap. Hope this helps you next time you travel. Watch + tool + strap not included.

Don't let this incident dampen your holiday. Put this behind you and enjoy your time there.

cheers!

[Ender]

hi all. as some of you know i am currently in europe. i had an experience at the amsterdam airport customs. a nightmare to be precise.

i was wearing 2 watches (on different hands) as i had no pouch or boxes for travel. one is a PAM sub that i wear daily and a datejust (A series) that i will be wearing for my girlfriend's graduation ceremony (cant wear a PAM sub with a suit).

everything was smooth until i reached amsterdam customs. i already cleared the scanners and have arrived at the declaration points. an officer approached me to ask if i had anything to declare. being a 22 year-old student, i was cautious and preferred to ask before replying. so i asked "like what do i have to declare?". He said cigarettes and alcohol. i said i had none of those and was asked to have a physical bag check. He noticed my watch and asked if that was a rolex. i said yes, and let the extortion begin.

i was told there and then that i had to pay tax for the rolex. and was quoted 19% tax on value of my watch. i felt that was ridiculous. i was told to wait until their superior arrived. they only came back to me FIVE MINUTES before my flight to helsinki. and gave me 2 options. pay 400€ in taxes now, or fill up a formal report and leave the watch here until i leave EU. i said i choose the latter, as i dont think paying $800 taxes for a datejust was very clever. but i did ask what will happen if i report it and leave it in their vault. they assured me i didn't have to pay anything.

back in the office, they filled up a report, entirely in dutch. and asked me to sign it. after signing it, they told me that even if i leave it in their vault, i still have to pay taxes when collecting it when i leave the EU. i then decided to call the singapore embassy in rotterdam. they adviced me not to do anything before they call me back. the custom officers, however, forced me to procced with the hearing without giving me the option of waiting for a response from my embassy first. i was then told that i would receive a fine, ON TOP OF THE TAX. all of which i was not told beforehand. they also threatened me and pressured me to sign those documents which i had no idea contained what. eg. "if you dont sign this now, we will go to the rolex boutique in this airport and charge you tax based on brand new price.", "sign it now or we will even use full gold price to tax you!", "we can keep you here longer and make you miss all flights out". stuff like that.

finally the singapore embassy called back and told me to lawyer up. i called my mom and she begged me to just pay what they want first and get the hell out of there. to her my safety was most important. i agreed to pay them what they demanded (a final sum of approximately 1k sgd) and made it out of that office after being detained for 5 hours. the officer took me to the airline desk to get a new ticket, WHISPERED SOMETHING IN DUTCH TO THE AIRLINE CLERK, and i was on the next flight out to helsinki. BUT my luggage was on the LAST MIDNIGHT FLIGHT OUT. i reached helsinki at 5 on thursday. i only got my luggage at 12pm on monday.

advice i need from fellow bros are:
1. is my A series DJ taxable? isn't it a personal item and not considered an import?
2. what should i have done instead?
3. what would u bros have done if u were me?
4. what actions should i take now?

lastly, im very grateful to bros wees and triton for giving me advice when i was in distress. might not have helped much but i very much appreciated the support thru this ordeal.

sorry to hear about your incident, really krap!
sorry if i missed it, but I understand you were flying out of Amsterdam? the DJ was purchased in?

[redneckk]

Hey bro redneckk, i feel for you and know what you've gone thru'

If it makes you any better, swing by my place when you're back and i'll pass you this watch pouch. I know it doesn't replace the money you've 'lost' but a consolation from me. It's on me lah.



This pouch holds one watch, a watch tool and a spare strap. Hope this helps you next time you travel. Watch + tool + strap not included.

Don't let this incident dampen your holiday. Put this behind you and enjoy your time there.

cheers!

bro that's really nice of you. i think i need this pouch but i cannot accept it f.o.c. bro. let's meet up after i return. i'll call u. thanks so much bro.

[redneckk]

sorry to hear about your incident, really krap!
sorry if i missed it, but I understand you were flying out of Amsterdam? the DJ was purchased in?

i was flying into EU via amsterdam bro. next flight was to helsinki. DJ was purchased in singapore. from pre owned shop.

[redneckk]

Did they issue you with a receipt for the tax paid? Check with a lawyer to see if they have any right to tax you. If not, make a complaint with the photocopy of the receipt and names of custom officers dealing with you. On the other hand, in many countries, custom do have the right to charge taxes on ANY goods (esp. luxury goods) if no invoice can be shown (to show tax is being paid)... so good luck...

yes. i did receive a receipt. ok bro i will check with a lawyer asap. thanks so much.

[newbie09]

yes. i did receive a receipt. ok bro i will check with a lawyer asap. thanks so much.

When u r back in sg, go to ur MP and ask them to write the letter for u to loical MFA n Holland embassy... We just voted them in parliment, so think election is just over so they will be more eager to help ba...

[redneckk]

When u r back in sg, go to ur MP and ask them to write the letter for u to loical MFA n Holland embassy... We just voted them in parliment, so think election is just over so they will be more eager to help ba...

good idea bro. haha. hopefully they dont check who i voted for. hahah!

[Ender]

i was flying into EU via amsterdam bro. next flight was to helsinki. DJ was purchased in singapore. from pre owned shop.

thanks for the clarification.
wow! that's really ridiculous then, first time i heard of a tax imposed on personal luxury item !

[116520]

Bro this is not ridiculous, esp in this case the TS were carrying 2 watches. If you bring in luxury items like Rolex into Singapore, our customs have every right to tax you GST if you can't provide any local invoice that the watch is purchased in Singapore and GST has been paid. If you proved that the watch is purchased overseas, straightaway they would charge you GST.

This is taken out from their website:
In general, all goods imported into Singapore are subject to Goods and Services Tax (GST).

You are required to pay the duty and GST in order to bring in dutiable and taxable goods exceeding your duty-free concession or GST relief into Singapore, regardless whether the goods were purchased overseas or in Singapore.

This is very grey if you are bring in 2 or more watches into Singapore as they can claim that your watches/luxury items are bought into Singapore are meant for sale. Even if only one item, they can also use the $300 limit to charge you GST.

thanks for the clarification.
wow! that's really ridiculous then, first time i heard of a tax imposed on personal luxury item !

[KuchingKu]

Bro this is not ridiculous, esp in this case the TS were carrying 2 watches. If you bring in luxury items like Rolex into Singapore, our customs have every right to tax you GST if you can't provide any local invoice that the watch is purchased in Singapore and GST has been paid. If you proved that the watch is purchased overseas, straightaway they would charge you GST.

This is taken out from their website:
In general, all goods imported into Singapore are subject to Goods and Services Tax (GST).

You are required to pay the duty and GST in order to bring in dutiable and taxable goods exceeding your duty-free concession or GST relief into Singapore, regardless whether the goods were purchased overseas or in Singapore.

This is very grey if you are bring in 2 or more watches into Singapore as they can claim that your watches/luxury items are bought into Singapore are meant for sale. Even if only one item, they can also use the $300 limit to charge you GST.

They normally won't unless they have a tip off or you look very suspicious (wearing 2 watches is very suspicious I must say). So is carrying 5 LV bags...haha

[pegasi]

Bro redneckk, sorry to read about your misery. The lesson is a bit expensive but it is more important that you don't let it spoil the rest of your holidays. My advice is that you focus your energy on enjoying rest of the trip and not worry too much on what had already happened. Take good care while you are still overseas.

[zidaneong]

That's a very bad image for the service rendered by the custom officers from Amdsterdam and is definitely bad for their tourist industry.

[seiko.citizen]

amsterdam doesnt need to advertise for tourism. we go there naturally (get stoned, and look at endless whores on the street).

i have no experience in any of the above. all based on hearsay

[pegasi]

amsterdam doesnt need to advertise for tourism. we go there naturally (get stoned, and look at endless whores on the street).

i have no experience in any of the above. all based on hearsay

That's true...it's just that you got the sequence wrong - look at endless whores on the street, and get stoned.

[redneckk]

thx to all bros for the kind words and concern. my mom just emailed me. she is also in favour of moving on and taking it as a lesson learnt. no reply from embassy yet though. well. i just hope my misfortune can help alert some of the bros here about potential problems when travelling overseas with watches.