Originally Posted by
nsummy
..... last year I mailed a girl in a rio a t-shirt (not designer, just one from my local print shop) and a $40 charging battery for her iphone. I think she had to pay around $40 in taxes to even pick up the package. Completely ridiculous!
Taxes are high in Brazil. The same model car that costs $20K in the US costs double that in Brazil, for one example. That's why electronics are so high too.
For mailing, if you keep the total of the declared value (on that green slip the PO attaches to the package) plus the postage to under U$50, it usually doesn't get taxed or flagged for taxing (but of course if it gets stolen, you have no recourse for a claim for replacement value since you have undervalued the item on the declaration form).
Otherwise, Brazilian customs is not letting much slip by these days (used to be, certain addresses/locations didn't get checked); all is taxed (declared value plus declared value amount in taxes).