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According to FedEx, Hungarian Customs may require VAT on all "shipments" (so don't think wrapping them separate will necessarily work) valued above 22 Euro:



This is how I got this information for a shipper, as self research is pretty easy:



On critical issues like this I recommend contacting a shipper directly, rather than asking the crowd; because what people tell you, even if they have direct experience, might lead you astray as there are far too many possible variables unique to them that may not count for you.

etinger wrote:

I have several relatives in Hungary that I want to ship presents to and am concerned about the high VAT tax.  Some presents are going to family members in the same town, so I was considering sending them in a box together to save on shipping costs, other family members will have to receive their own shipment.  Each individual present isn't super high cost, generally less than 100 USD, but if I ship multiple together, it may be worth several hundred dollars.  I heard that the VAT has to be paid if it is above a certain value (anyone know what that value is?), I also read in a different forum that if I wrap and individually label presents for each person, then I can get away with having individual values, rather than the value of the entire box.
Sorry if this is confusing... I have a bunch of things that my family wanted, but there is no point if they have to pay an extra 30 percent on top of what I have already spent and the cost of shipping.

If you use Fedex, DHL or UPS, you will be absolutely punished for fees on imported goods.  Their fees are ridiculous.  The EUR 22 is the postal import limit.  You will pay at least that in fees and be hit for taxes etc as well.

It could be cheaper to simply send them the money and they buy their own presents or you physically deliver them yourself in person as you have a higher rate on personal imports and you also get a holiday in Hungary.   If you happen to go to another EU country, or someone you know does, you or they can simply post them here from there without duties/VAT. 

Things can be inconsistent. I have found weirdness occurs if you send things to different EU countries.  Artwork for example does not have VAT on it in the UK but it does in Hungary.  Hence I sent some paintings from Africa first to the UK, paid 5% import duty and no VAT.  Then I sent them from there to Hungary (i.e. within the EU) without further paperwork.  If I didn't do that, I would have been hit for the 30% and about 15% duty (or similar).   On those higher value goods, it was worth it - wasn't particular cheap artwork.  Additionally I've imported stuff over the limit into the UK and never been charged a thing.  In Austria, I've been hit for environmental tax on my postal deliveries.  Very inconsistent.

Anyway, the personal import limit (by a person physically crossing the border) is 430 EUR if you arrive by air ().  That's per person so each person has that limit.

Most of my experience has only been with shipping my own items to myself from the US to HU.
Haven't done it for several years so prices and rules have changed since then.
I did send my little niece a small package with a hand puppet, a key chain some candy and a bag of paprika for her mom, along with a photo of myself, wallet sized and really a bad faxcismille. Just a joke photo really...
I may of spent more on postage then the items actually cost.
Many years ago we sent our son a package of clothing made in HU.
Cost over $90. to send over about $400 worth of stuff.
Had my cousin bring me over a new notebook 4 years ago. sort of thinking of asking my other cuz to bring me another one this summer.
Shipping is high now even without VAT on top of it.
Not to be negative but the last time I sent myself a box of personal items from the US it sat in the Netherlands for nearly 5 months, had to run all over Budapest to find out what happened. Only was delivered once I demanded my insurance money on the box. Seems they use a middle man and that's where the problem happened.
Many years back they used to ship by boat and although it took up to 2 months to arrive, it always had arrived within the 2 months with no problems, now they have discontinued that way of shipping to HU.
Other people have had good luck shipping over here, not me.
There used to be a good deal from the US to HU at the post office, if it was less then 2lbs. you could send it airmail in a strong envelope.
Had the same sort of deal from HU to the US but the stopped doing that awhile ago.
We sent over a small insured box of silver jewelry to our neighbors from the US to HU about 8 years back, no problems and no VAT on it.
Can't be sure about anything really.
Good advice to just send them funds to buy something here instead.
I know I will never ship again , even afraid of using a import/export to ship household items back to the US.
Was quoted one price in the US, sent our things and once it arrived in HU the nightmare started. They charged fees that were not discussed beforehand, trucking fees, storage fees and God knows what else, more then doubled our costs in the end.
Thinking next time if and when I return for good to the US, I may just pay at the airport for cargo with 10 or more suitcases extra fees are cheaper then using a actual shipper plus they will arrive on the same or next few flights. Worth the extra $100. or whatever they now charge per extra bag just to save on the worry of where my things are.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Most of my experience has only been with shipping my own items to myself from the US to HU.
Haven't done it for several years so prices and rules have changed since then.
.....
Shipping is high now even without VAT on top of it.
Not to be negative but the last time I sent myself a box of personal items from the US it sat in the Netherlands for nearly 5 months, had to run all over Budapest to find out what happened. Only was delivered once I demanded my insurance money on the box. Seems they use a middle man and that's where the problem happened.
....
Thinking next time if and when I return for good to the US, I may just pay at the airport for cargo with 10 or more suitcases extra fees are cheaper then using a actual shipper plus they will arrive on the same or next few flights. Worth the extra $100. or whatever they now charge per extra bag just to save on the worry of where my things are.

I hear you Marilyn!

Rant mode on.....

One thing about import duties etc is that there's base price of the goods, then the import duties, any transport costs and then the VAT (on the whole lot).   So this gets really annoying. And from North America, it's really criminal. 

I get car parts shipped sometimes.  If I remember correctly,  can say buy a part for $100, pay transport of $50 (if I'm lucky), then EU import duty at say 10%, then kicked more with 27% VAT ($100 item + $50 transport  = $150 +  10% duty = $165, $165 * 27% = $44.55, grand total = $209.55).   

It's truly horrendous as now I'm north of double the retail cost back across the pond.  And I was being very generous on transport. It's usually a LOT more as car parts are heavy.  It would be almost cheaper for me to fly to the USA, buy an appropriate second hand car, put a load of second hand car parts in it (as then it's one unit), then ship it as a second hand vehicle, second hand spare parts or scrap to Europe.  It's surprisingly economical to ship a car to Europe - $1000-$1500  USD (ship to Amsterdam, then drive it here) and doesn't take that long.

I spent a small fortune some years ago on keeping a pile of junk in storage but in the end, I just shipping it to an empty place Mrs Fluffy's family owns and we just piled it up in a room. Now I think I'll have to get a "kontener" (UK: skip) in order to get rid of it all.  At least 50% of it is worthless stuff that I couldn't even give away.   Keeping in storage is a lot more expensive than just clearing out the garbage and keeping the rest (store at a relative's place the cheapest!), shipping it by carrier or driven yourself (at least within Europe) or taking it as baggage.

It's often cheaper to send stuff to HU by a parcel company rather than the usual suspects of DHL, Fedex etc.  I can send ~20 kg from the UK to here for about 30 EUR. It's much cheaper to do that than pay for excess luggage.  The price of airline luggage is about 1% per kg of the non-discounted adult ticket (sometimes cheaper and more comfy to upgrade to a discounted Business Class ticket than pay for excess bags, especially on Lufthansa or BA).   

Anyways, apart from my major waffling in rant mode, there are alternatives to the "evil" trio of DHL, Fedex or UPS etc, e.g  - $85 for 20kg to HU plus insurance (usually a con as well).

Rant mode off!!

I always used the US post office to mail items to HU.
Checked out the prices at UPS and DHL, insanely high.
Well over 2x as much as the post office was.
I have had items from HU to the US take a month or more to arrive, even with once paying extra for fast delivery.
I never count on the mail coming in a hurry.
When I shipped from the uS to Erd the boxs always arrived sooner then I expected, inside Budapest was a mess and took longer then expected.
Like I mentioned the 5 month wait once.
These days people can find almost the same items as gifts in the EU as in the US. Maybe not a one lb. Hershey bar.