Starting January 2011, the Israeli Post Office will be taxing recipients of packages from overseas a minimum NIS 38 fee (over $10) on all packages we receive through the mail.
It doesn't matter how small or cheap the package is you send, the initial tax begins at NIS 38.
If the package you send is more expensive, that tax will be even higher.
Unfortunately, this is not a joke, but abuse of the Israeli citizen.
We ask that everyone sending us packages please ensure they arrive before 2011, as after that date we have no interest in having to pay this harassment tax.
Get a Free Phone when you visit Israel!
Ask your travel agent for details, or click here to learn more.
Ask your travel agent for details, or click here to learn more.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
14 comments:
Are you serious? What is your source for this?
I need to know fast because if it is true, my mother will have to stop sending gifts by mail to her grandchildren pretty soon.
Oops. Just saw your link and read it.
Actually, the first 38 NIS isn't really a tax. It's a service charge by the postal service. In addition to that, they are increasing enforcement of duties.
do you know how this would relate to packages that do not need to be picked up at the post office? Am I now going to need to shlep to the post office to pick up every oversized envelope? Also, is this in place of the current 50 shekel fee that is charged rather indiscriminately on incoming packages from overseas? I presume this is also in addition to mechas right? So to be clear if I order a book, it is under the current $$$ value acceptale to not be charged, it will now incur a fee for being processed, plus meches over and above, plus the original random fee? This means that a $2 ebay purchase will now work out to roughly $12 plus whatever they decide to charge in meches (which we all know has no bearing on the cost of the item. I have been charged 500 shekel on 100 shekel worth of merchandise, and almost that on a used sweater I forgot last time I visited my parents).
Well there goes my "American reinforcements"!
Actually, jameel, Why not have everything sent BEFORE January because, AFTER that, costs go up.
On, second thought , next time you go overseas, please bring me ....
The post office did this with express mail two years ago, only more expensive. Now nobody uses express more than once.
If a package comes from family, one can demand "return-to-sender" and not pay the fee. Meanwhile, email the folks back home why the parcel is being returned.
If enough people do this, the postal service will lose money returning parcels.
European colonists in the New world colonies fought a revolutionary war against the British monarchy over things like this. Will Israelis lash out at the people sending them mail, or will they react against the perpetrators of the crimes instead?
Aggravating news! But shouldn't the title of this post be "Stop Mailing us Stuff AFTER January"?
I was thinking about people mailing me stuff in December and it arriving in January.
Hi, nice blog, i found the nice thread out there.
cheer up!
travel agent india
Would be very cool if we could find some segment of society that will be politically embarrassing to charge this to - like will parcels from the Palestinian post be subject to this?
We can also make a return-to-sender campaign if someone can find really lightweight small *boxes* first class airmail for 4 oz is like $3 and then we can reject each one due to the fee. That would be a good investment, if we could get a couple thousand people to do it.
But I remember this happened over a year ago also, with an online petition, and there weren't even 2000 signatures on it. (But fore some other reason the fee and hassle was stopped then.) Does anyone remember that?
That's nuts. For that sort of tax, they should phone us and hand deliver.
This story got a full ten minutes this morning on Reshet Bet Haboker Hazeh with Aryeh Golan. The angle they are playing up is not packages from family (not relevant to too many native Israelis) but rather the idea that you buy a widget on Ebay or a book on Amazon and pay this hefty surcharge.
They said that there is an on-line petition against this. It will be interesting to see if the postal company is forced to back down.
I also listened to Reshet Bet this morning, and heard a rep from the post office. He said the NIS 38 only applies to packages worth over $50, and books over $70. He claimed that 90% of the packages would not be taxed.
Post a Comment