Because some countries assess a Value Added Tax or VAT on imported goods, a buyer located in these countries will occasionally request a seller falsify key fields of information on customs documentation so that their tax liability will be lessened. This is comparable to a U.S. citizen casually asking that his or her accountant monkey with individual amounts on Schedule A of their income tax form in order to illegally reduce the total amount they will owe.
A buyer might request an item be declared a ‘Gift’ rather than Merchandise, they may ask that a jewelry piece be described as 'costume' rather than declaring it to be made of precious stones or metals. Sometimes buyers may request that a seller enter a much lower price instead of actual item value (the price they paid). These actions can either drastically lower the VAT cost of the imported goods to the buyer, or completely eliminate any additional cost to them.
On occasion, too, buyers might ask that their purchase be declared to be something it is not. They may request that on a customs form a seller state their package contains another type of item entirely. When this occurs it is generally requested because an item they are purchasing abroad is something that is prohibited entry into their country, and they know it.
While sellers may view acceding to these not uncommon requests as a courtesy to the buyer, or maybe as just a way to help themselves secure the sale, in falsifying a customs declaration for a buyer you will be effectively skirting the laws of another country. In doing this a seller can set themselves up for several awkward possibilities, none of which are good. Consider these potential scenarios:
1.The package is examined and a customs official decides the value claimed for its contents is inaccurate. If this happens, if goods that were deemed incorrectly declared are subsequently re-valued by a customs official, that person can assign any value they wish. This evaluation may well be very much more than the actual purchase price, resulting in a much higher customs charge. The buyer is then expected to pay that fee. If they decide they’d rather not, they may refuse to accept delivery. The returned item and all associated return delivery fees will then come back home to the sender.
2.A customs official decides upon examination that an item is prohibited from importation. The shipment is seized and impounded and disappears into a warehouse full of such disallowed articles, never to be seen again. The buyer eventually expects reimbursement from the seller for the full amount originally paid. In this scenario, it is also possible the manner in which the seller completed the customs form can mean a buyer suddenly finds himself or herself in hot water. The following information was posted on an official British customs (HMRC) web page:
Some unscrupulous overseas suppliers openly advertise on the Internet, or on their web-sites that they will deliberately either misdescribe items or under-declare their value in order to evade customs charges that are legally due on importation. You should be aware that although the foreign sender may have completed the customs declaration form on the parcel you are regarded (in law) as the importer of the goods and responsible for the information on the declaration, and any customs charges that may be due. This means that if you purchase goods from these suppliers and the declaration is found to be false or misleading you may be liable to financial penalties or criminal prosecution. Furthermore the goods themselves will be liable to forfeiture. It is in your own interests to ensure Customs declarations are completed properly.
3.Buyer pays $250 for an item. At the buyer's request the shipper falsifies both the invoice they include in the package (to satisfy any customs search) and the Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note to claim item was sold for much less – say $25. The item is lost or damaged in shipping. An insurance claim with the USPS will require the sender’s copy of the Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note be submitted, as proof of mailing and proof of insurance. But that form was originally falsified to accommodate the customer’s request for a much lower value. The declared value is its insured value, too, as the USPS will not issue insurance for more than an item’s declared value.
So, in this scenario, the USPS would reimburse the shipper their actual declared value of only $25, even though the item really sold to the buyer for $250. Again, expect the buyer to seek reimbursement for the full amount they originally paid. The seller can protest but won’t have much ground on which to stand since they committed themselves to the lower ‘paid’ value when they falsified the official documentation. If the buyer used a credit card, too, they would certainly have no problem at all obtaining full value back from the seller via a chargeback for failure to deliver the merchandise.
If a buyer asks that you enter false information for their shipment, there is nothing wrong with politely informing them that all customs documentation will be completed accurately. Let them know this is for their protection, as well as your own. Many foreign buyers innocently ask for ‘gift’ considerations or lower values on forms only because friends or family have told them it is quite an acceptable request for them to make when buying on the Internet.