Importing from Japan into Hong Kong

Import tax is set by Hong Kong, not by the proxy service you choose. All the proxy decides is whether it takes the money at checkout or leaves you to settle with the courier at the door — the amount owed is the same either way. That is why the totals on this site are split into what you pay now and what you pay on arrival, rather than merged into one figure that would make the companies who collect honestly look dearer.

The numbers

• Import VAT / GST: none — there is no general consumption tax on imports
• Duty-free threshold: not applicable — nothing is taxed in the first place

Nothing to pay on arrival

There is no tax for a proxy to collect and none for you to pay at the door, so the question of who charges it up front does not arise. The total you pay the proxy is the total, and you avoid the courier customs handling fees that apply almost everywhere else.

What that means in money

Two orders to Hong Kong — both from Mercari Japan, both about 1 kg packed, both with ¥700 of domestic postage inside Japan — priced through the cheapest service available for each:

Nothing to pay on arrival — this destination charges no import tax on general goods.

The handling fee nobody quotes

Where tax is not collected up front, the courier or postal operator pays it for you at the border and then charges a fee for having done so. It is commonly ¥1,000–3,000 and it is not part of the tax itself. None of the four services publish it and it varies by carrier, so it is deliberately left out of the totals here rather than guessed at — but it is a real reason to prefer a service that collects at checkout where you have the choice.