IF you are selling items which might be bought by a foreign buyer (for example on an auction site such as eBay), it`s a good idea to warn potential buyers that they may be hit by import taxes imposed by their own customs authorities when they receive the goods. You also need to be careful if the item you are selling is going to be "drop shipped" to your buyer from another country - you need to make it very clear that the buyer may have to pay import duty. This is especially important if both seller and buyer are in the same country - the buyer may not realise that a foreign purchase and possible import taxes are involved. For example, a seller in the UK may auction a new camera to be delivered by mail from his supplier in another lower cost country ....

Auction site discussion forums like eBay often feature posts from pained sellers whose buyers have complained about having to pay these unexpected taxes! To help avoid this sort of problem from annoyed buyers, we suggest you put a disclaimer warning notice somewhere prominent in your sales text to cover yourself if there is a subsequent dispute about who is responsible for paying the import tax. We suggest the following text as a working model, which covers the main possible points of dispute we have heard of - you can of course modify, shorten or lengthen the text for your own requirements. You have our permission to adapt, copy and paste the code and text, and use as you wish.

Below is the CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) code and HTML code for the box and text - just select and copy all the code in bold type as indicated, then paste it into a text editor (e.g. Notepad or Note Tab). Do not use a word processor such as Word or WordPro, because the HTML text could be corrupted with word processing formatting codes. When you have the code text pasted into your text editor, if you are not selling from the UK/European Union, delete the country text, and type in the name of your own country (or the country you will be selling from). For example if you are selling from the United States, replace "UK/European Union" with "United States" or "US" so that the text reads "Important Notice to Foreign Buyers located outside of the United States"
 
You then need to save the code text to a convenient folder on your computer (for example "My Documents"). Name your file something like "imptaxwng". Then save it as a plain text file - the title should have the extension .txt after you have saved it.  Do not save it as an .htm or .html file. Then, when you are composing your auction or other sales listing, open your saved text file into your text editor, copy it, and then paste the code text into a suitable postion within the main HTML code for your internet auction or other sales page.
 
The box and text above is just a suggested layout for your guidance if you are not familiar with CSS and HTML formatting. You can of course change the text or code to your own preferences if you wish. The box length will change to fit any changes you make to the text. See below for more on this.

<!-- Copy Code down from (but not including) this line -->
 
<!-- Import Duty Warning Notice START -->
 
<CENTER>
<DIV style="WIDTH: 500px; border-width: 15px; border-style: RIDGE; border-color: RED; background-color: LIGHTPINK; font-family: Times New Roman, Times, Serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: BOLD; color: NAVY; padding: 20px;">

<DIV style="font-size: 18px;">

<P><U>IMPORT TAXES</U></P>

<P>Important Notice to Foreign Buyers<BR> located outside of the UK/European Union </P>

</DIV>

<P>To avoid any subsequent misunderstandings, please note that importing goods from another country can mean that your national Customs authorities may charge you Customs Duty and/or other additional related taxes (for example a Value Added Tax or a Purchase Tax). YOU, as the importer, are responsible for paying any such taxes. We have no control over what taxes you may be charged by your own national tax authorities. We are not responsible for compensating you for payment of any such taxes. If you do not know how much (if any) import tax you might have to pay, please check with your local tax authorities BEFORE entering into a contract to purchase.</P>

<P>Some countries prohibit or restrict the importation of some types of goods. You may need a general or special license and/or other documents to import goods, particularly in larger or commercial quantities. It is your responsibility to check with your national Customs authorities whether the goods you intend to import are subject to any such restrictions. If your goods are retained or confiscated by your own national Customs authorities for any reason, it is your responsibilty alone to negotiate with them the terms on which such goods might be released to you. If your goods are undeliverable for any reason and are returned to us, we reserve the right to reclaim from you any associated costs which may be charged back to us.</P>

<P>On any Customs forms, we declare the full purchase price as the value of the goods.  We do not under declare values, or mark goods as a "gift".</P>

<P>This notice is incorporated into our Conditions of Sale.</P>