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Help! Customs Demands Payment of Duties on Household Goods imported from US!

5 years ago
The agent (Stefania) selected by our shipping company in the US to deal with Italian Customs has said we must pay duty on our household goods being imported.

She says this is because we cannot furnish a copy of our “residence application for the comune” where we are living.

I explained that we had been to the locale comune office to try and make the application for residence, but were told we could not do so until we had our Italian ID cards in hand.

However, because the local office of the Questura is so backed up, that is not going to take place for some months.

Stefania says that Italian Customs has told her if we can’t provide them a copy of the application, we must pay approximately 30% of the value of the goods Customs decides.

From what I can learn, it seems that many, if not all, new immigrants to Italy are now face long delays like us in getting ID cards, apparently at least because of large influx of asylum seekers from North Africa.

I find it really hard to believe that Customs here is making every immigrant pay duties on their household goods imported, yet I am pretty much talking to a stone wall with Stefania and with the shipping company in the USA.

Am I simply going to have to pay thousands of Euros or is there a solution to this p

Italian For A While
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