Friday, October 29, 2010

Are just the taxes? or Freeze!! Give me your wallet!

Once you move from a foreign country to Brazil you are allowed to bring all your personal belongs with you, with no regard of their price, and you don't have to pay taxes for it. This is based on a general assumption that all those goods you are bringing is of your personal use. So the government won't impose any tax on that, since you already paid the taxes on the respective country of origin.

There is some exceptions to that. Ff you are moving to Brazil, you cannot bring brand new goods, nor things with the purpose of reselling. Another exception is motor vehicles, it is not possible to bring to Brazil any vehicle with combustion ignition, such as motorcycle or cars.

If you want to do that, you must import the vehicle and pay all the related taxes, which will increase a little bit the price of it. For example, a car that costs around US20,000 in the US, you going to pay around U$21,000 just in taxes (plus importing costs) (to check the Federal Taxes click here) plus shipping and handling cost plus DMV and Environmental Agency fees, which can easily reach U$3,000 more.
So, a car that costs U$20,000 in the US would land in Brazil at U$45,000.

Ok, you would think. It is expensive but those are the taxes and while they are there, we need to leave with it and just pay it. But why there are things (including cars) that reaches the Brazilian stores at 5 or 6 times their "normal" prices??

And here, a very annoying example that not just makes us mad, but re-think about the greed of some exclusive importers.

A friend of mine has a kid who is intolerant to the milk protein; thus, he needs a special milk called "Neocate". So, this is not just a regular powdered milk, which could be changed for any brand at any time. It has a very specific and important purpose.

In Brazil the price of a can of Neocate (400gr/14oz)  is "merely" R$625.48 (around U$370.00) + s&h. A little bit expensive for a can of powdered milk substitute, essential for some kids, is'n it? So, this friend asked me to buy one can for him, since it is cheaper here. And so I did.

The result: I bought the milk at Amazon.com. Can you guess the price?

Come on… guess it… this would be fun… K

With expedited shipping it was U$121.44. Yes, it was almost 1/3 of the price.

And then, you would say, come on, considering the taxes and the profit of the store, is not sooo bad.
And then I would reply: yes, if I had bought one!

Believing or not, this price was for a pack of 4 CANS!!!! which, surprisingly, makes U$30.00 for each of such can!! 12 TIMES LESS THE BRAZILIAN PRICE!!!

Next time, they could just point a gun in our faces and ask for the money, it is easier and nicer!!

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