Kastam affair

I bought some dresses for myself on ebay & seperti biasa I ordered not more than RM500, having a lot of babywearing mommies with online ordering, so I know. Sekali today the custom called me(using handphone) & said my barang kena tax " Barang kamu kena tax ya, tapi sikiiiiit sajalah". Then I said "Saya tidak order sampai RM500 pun" so the officer suruh bawah invoice. So I did brought the invoice, and told me that I still need to pay 10% tax.

ME:"kenapa? yang saya tau dalam rules kastam harga barang + postage tidak melebihi RM500 tidak kena tax".

Kastam:"mana u tau?".

Me:"Saya baca di internet lah…."

Kastam:"Tapi kami memang ada tu peraturan kastam CIF, yang kamu kena tax"

ME:"Apatu CIF?"

Kastam:" CIF = custom value+insurance+freight."

Me:" tapi barang saya manada kena insurance, yang saya tahu saya guna priority mail tanpa insurance”

Kastam : “ ya saya tahu, kau mesti tambah sendiri…”

Me:”kenapa mau tambah? Bukan sudah sampai ka?"

Kastam : “ ini memang termasuk dalam CIF yang kamu mesti kena tambah insurance ”

Me:"kenapa sebelum ni barang macam begini juga saya order tidak kena tax, ni kali kena?"

Kastam:"Kami mengenakan cukai bergantung samada keperluan sendiri atau bukan..."

Me:"Tapi ini memang kegunaan sendiri..."

Kastam:"Kegunaan sendiri maksud 3 pasang baju, 3 pasang seluar & 1 pasang kasut" lebih dari tu kami akan kasih cukai lah...

me: (macam cukai di airport ja ni?) kalau begitu saya mau tengok kertas atau buku kamurang yang barang saya ni kena cukai...

(I wanted to argue further, but I guess he got tired with me and ask me to see his higher officer to get more answer. He asked me to take my invoice & take my box to the officer.)

Me: "Hi, saya mau tau kenapa barang saya kena cukai.."

Pegawai Kastam:"Sebab barang kamu bercukai lah..."

(DUH!!! that is the most silliest answer I get from a Pegawai, he even put a silliest grin to come with that answer. yang macam dia paling tahu semua.)

Me:"Tapi yang saya tau, kalau tidak melebihi rm500...tidak kena cukai"

Pegawai Kastam:"oh itu di airport saja...sikit saja tu 10%"

(WHAT!!??? We are talking money here...!!)

Me:"Tapi ada juga saya order barang yang sama last week sampai, tapi tidak kena cukai..."

(.....he ignored me, there was silence in that room, he was reading something on his table like a report or a memo, i thought maybe he malas mau layan saya juga. After a loooong silence he called the officer who dealt with me earlier to come into the room.

The officer came in and offered me a seat, yes I've been standing all this while with my big box. Itu Pegawai tidak pun offer sia duduk awal-awal..i guess maybe dia nervous juga?or being plain arrogant.

... they discussed something about my situation but i could not concentrate because Gaga was pestering about a santa clause game on my phone.

Oh rupa-rupanya he was actually reading on the about the custom duties order. Odoi...baru mau cari & baca...I guessed he found the statement about the custom duties, then he passed it to the officer to read it, saya pun kasih panjang leher mau baca lah... there it is, written there with bold font "...CIF tidak melebihi RM500.00 akan dilepaskan..." the officer took the calculator and did "494 + 1% = 498.94"... still under RM500. At that particular moment, I feel ... I dunno how to explain...angry+joy, but I know I am ready to fire back if they still want to tax me.

Kastam:"OK ni kali barang kamu kami kasih lepas..sebab kami mau cari lagi pasal tu butiran 127 & 109"

Me:"Bah lain kali sia order online lagi, saya baca juga pasal tu butiran...butiran apa sudah tu? 127 & 109?"

Kastam:"Tidak apa, nanti kami yang cari..."

budu punya kastam...ketara tu duit masuk poket.

more about barang tahan kastam on http://bicarahati.com/taha​nan-kastam-pejabat-pos/

Did you know > Tatacara penilaian harga bagi barangan Import adalah berasaskan Sistem Penilaian Kastam Pertubuhan Perdagangan Dunia (WTO) bagi mencapai nilai CIF (Cost, Insurance & Freight).

CIF < RM500, means Harga Belian (Cost)+ Insurance (1% keatas harga belian) + tambang (Freight) tidak melebihi RM500 akan dilepaskan. Jika CIF melebihi RM500, 10% tax akan dikenakan.