Boris Liberman wrote:
So, I suppose, David, if I were to ask you *not* to use EMS or UPS but use regular USPS instead, you would probably agree, as this is totally legit thing to ask.
That is legit, but when I send something out of the country via USPS, the customs declaration asks the value, and asks whether it's "gift, commercial sample, documents, returned goods, or other". I checked "other", in this particular case. "Other", in that case is true. And since they ask, I have to tell the truth.
My say is simple. It would be unacceptable to assist in hiding from the taxes the way you described. Nonetheless, to post the thing in such a way and on purpose so that the poor fellow would have to pay taxes is, how to put it, inconsiderate.
I don't believe I did anything inconsiderate. I sent it the legitimate way. If there were an option to legally let him avoid tax, that would be fine with me, but since there isn't any such option, I just had to do the right thing.
In fact. There is third side of this coin. In Israel at least, if I were to sell some items and for big buck, I would have to go the authorities to declare that I have an extra-income that should be taxed.
Well, I bought the lens for $499, and sold it for $450, six years later. I don't have to declare that as income; it's not, it's a loss. Income would be if I bought it for $450 and sold it for $499. ;)
Would you be willing to do this? If I am paying taxes for buying/import, why wouldn't you pay taxes for selling/export?
Yes, if I were generating income, I would have to pay tax on it. But I'm not a camera dealer, I'm just a guy who owned a lens for a few years and sold it for near full price.
