Ok, just to be absolutely clear here about the basic rule of trade: import taxes DO apply on importing any goods into a trade zone as much as local taxes on rading goods in that zone would.
Thus import taxes exactly reflect the VAT for domestic goods. E.g. In case of Germany it is 16% of the commercial value - which, unfortunately, also includes shipping costs.
So, pull the SO add whatever your local VAT is and be prepared to swallow that pill.
This is NOT customs or duties but local tax, a fee the country we all live in have decided to put on trade items and hence completely beyond control, responsibility, and blame of Pimax or any international retailer for that matter.
What they DO have control over is how to handle it, though. As an international seller it is absolutely legit to advertise and sell EXCLUDING TAX. In this case tax gets collected by customs on import. This however, aggravates doorstep delivery and either implies handling charges with the courier or running the customs on personal pickup. In either case you will be left with an official invoice on the tax paid to be used for your tax declaration.
Alternatively a seller can collect the taxes on purchase (e.g. this is what you will see happen if you purchase on Amazon US - and soon UK - from Europe or vice versa). However in this case the reseller is obliged to issue and provide a proper commercial invoice stating the deductable tax must mandatory be provided. So in case you are entitled to deduct pre-tax (B2B/retailer or business with VAT ID) can properly file this with your tax declaration and or can prove tax deduction with customs if in doubt.
Funnily enough, Pimax initially opted for that route to pre-collect import taxes but refrained after customer complains based on the hope their headset might sneak through customs. Btw. this resembles an act of smugglery or tax fraud, whatever term tastes better to you.
No matter how, Pimax has (once again and apparently based on lack of experience with international trade) have committes to sell on the former option but down the road decided to arrange shipment with advance custom clearance with FedEx which basically again reflects option 2 as FedEx basically pays the tax at customs on import up front to reclaim it with the sender, not receiver.
These taxes will exactly correspond to the local VAT of the commercial value invoiced on the attached proforma. So, for one it is important it to not include any goods to be sent after (i.e. DMAS). We’ll see how accurate this goes.
Secondly, handling charges should be understood NOT transferrable - if Pimax decided to take that route (even if it is in our favour) and is now facing unexpected costs this is absolutely their problem. In any case choice of handling if any MUST be optional even more so since most charges (i.e DHL) are straight out brazen (e.g. if you pick up a shipment at customs in person you pay no handling charges as you are “handling” it)
With all this being said and Pimax refraining from charging unjust additional fees by all means, I want to express that recursively claiming the taxes should be agreed upon as unusual but acceptable practice on forgiving with their lack of experience.
Again, this applies to the taxes ONLY and also EXCLUSIVELY on togehter with the claim providing a legit, commercial invoice with the corresponding local taxes, calculated on base of the actual commercial value of that particular SO, explicitly and reproducibly listed.
(Adding to that, it will be very interesting to see what happens in regards to my shipment currently underway as it is routed my office address. Not only do we have a FedEx account and international shipments on a daily basis but also a customs clearance agreement with them so they will always clear customs and put any charges against our account independently of the sender. So, in case taxes cleared already are charged a second time this would inevitably trigger a tax fraud investigation inquiry filed with the financial department by our accounts and payables)
