Death and Taxes
The two things we can not avoid in this life and whereas (hopefully) death is not our immediate worry taxes are.
Can anyone tell me if its true that household goods delivered to Doha port are held a further 4-6 weeks to be made exempt from tax? Why does it take so long and is there anything that can be done to speed up the process?
We have just had a quote of £3500. (sterling) to ship a container from Buckinghamshire (England) to Doha port. Has anyone here done a shipment from England that could tell me if that is an average quote or high?
Also we will need to move our stuff from the port to the house in Qatar. Can anyone recommend a reputable removal company and what can we expect to pay? Are we expected to haggle?
Thank you Marjorie and Angelo, i really appreciate your posts.
Your information from Marj. and your desire to import a vehicle. Please note, the vehicles here are climatized to the GCC environment, as to what I understand due to the extreme heat here, the radiators here are larger to cool the engine. also there are other changes to the vehicles coming here. Vehicles have been know to catch fire during peak summer.
Sorry, thought you should know. All the best in your decision.
The company in the U.S. was called Unigroup( www.unigroupworldwide.com). They were really pricy, though.
Hello Marjorie, could you help me with the name of that company ?? I need to find how much do i have to pay to import a brand new car from USA.
Winnie,
£2000 gets me a container dropped to where ever i want. I will have it loaded and then they pick it up again at my request. of course you will need to insure it. Also either pack it yorself or pay someone to come and do it.
You need to ring around shipping agents etc, these prices can vary a little
Kaiser
Did that £2ooo include door to port service + packing?
Shipping a 40ft container with a 2500-3000kg load from London to Doha should cost no more that £2000 + 4-8% insurance, that was on June 5th.
The highest quote i had was £7000 inc. insurance.
Kaiser
Our company are paying shipping otherwise we would just buy out there. Most of what we are bringing is sentimental stuff also - boxes and boxes of books, toys, xmas and hallowe'en deccies, pictures, cds etc. My husband and I had a wrangle over this, he was all for buying out there. I insisted that if we are staying out there 2+ years then I want my things around me. Silly I know but I need some familiarity around me whilst I slowly cook in the dessert sun.
However I will check out the Gulf removal co. if it means we can avoid the delay in Doha. One week does sound very optimistic though.
Thanks Helloqatar,
Yes, I have heard this before. Winnie, I should say that we are only taking stuff via GAC that QA is paying for and the stuff I am bringing is generally sentimental and therefore necessary to make us feel at home. If you're looking at a big load your quote may be a lot bigger than mine!
3500 poundsterling with current exchange rate would be around 24.000 QR, depend what would you want to ship to Doha. You can buy most stuffs in Doha. We do have shops u know :-)
Unless it is sreally special or something you need just for you, don't ship it. You can buy most anything you need or want here. Buy it here, use it then sell out when you leave. Shipping is a hassle and costly and most everything British is here already. If you are not in a great big hurry, you can catch yard sales afrom others leaving and get it cheap.
We only shipped what our employer paid for, bring personal items to make your house a home but unless you need that chair or piano, buy one here.
We're not going out until August, and our stuff is meant to follow us within the week. Mmmmm, will let you know if it works out, perhaps I should be more suspicious too..
lachalla, please let us know how you go as I am cynical of the "within one week" line you have been told... hmmmm...
The number is on their web site - Gulf Air Cargo, and I called them in London - sorry, didn't jkeep a note of the number as they immediately put me in touch with my local carrier - but just have a peek on their website L
did u contact GAC in Qatar or in London, if so do you have any tel. numbers. I do not seem to be able to add to add to text how do u do it!!!!!
I have just been through this very same hastle. My future employers told me to go to GAC (Gulf Air Cargo) and ask them - they put us in touch with their preferred carrier for our area (we are in central London). This has been by far the cheapest quote we've had, and we are paying extra for them to arrange customs clearing at Doha too (so our things will be delivered to our new Qatar home in less than a week).
Qatar University (my employer) have helped with this so I'm not sure how easy it is to do without your employer's support - perhaps you could give GAC a call and ask them for a carrier for your area?
Lachalla
I don't know about the U.K., but I recently shipped things here from the U.S. Well, when I say "recently," I mean that I shipped them in early January and they showed up last week. !!!
I paid $1800 to ship three boxes weighing a total of 300 pounds. (One was rather large as it contained a digital piano.) I then had to pay QR1000 on this end for customs or taxes or something. My mind is still boggling at that amount of money. I'd have been better off just buying a second version of all the things I shipped!
The American company that shipped my things contracted with a local firm (Gulf Agency, I think they were called) to deliver the shipment. Did yours not do the same?