We are coming to spain for 4 months and shipped two boxes of household items from the US that would not fit in luggage, now customs has held up our boxes and we don't know where to begin to find our things and what taxes we should expect. We did plan to mail these items back at the end of 4 months, HELP

Revhefty, the US Customs and Border Protection Service has a web-site that may help you locate your property. www.cbp.com
and the telephone # 877-CBP-5511.
The cbp web-site has a section that you can ask a question. The web-site has alot of information that may be helpful to you with your problem.

Sometimes your local US Congress representative office may assist you in getting the information you need.

If you are in Madrid the United States Embassy may be of assistance. The embassy is at Serrano 75, telephone 915-872-200.

Revhefty please keep this site informed on the progress of your situation. Thanks

The packages have reached spanish customs, but have not been sent forward to our rental house. I believe they may be holding them as household goods that should be subject to VAT, but I am not certain. Dose anyone have any experience dealing wuth this? Much thaks.

https://www.agenciatributaria.gob.es/AEA...speciales.shtml

copy and paste the above;locate the customs office nearest you or where you sent your boxes and then contact them directly.

you can also contact your local embassy in Madrid for advise. Its a tricky matter so seek official advise.
US Embassy in Madrid
http://www.embusa.es/

Good luck

The parcels have a value of about 300 euros total, it is more the books and art supplies. would I be better served to just write it off or do you think we can solve it for less than it would cost to replace our goods? Is it standard to send parcels to the nearest customs office or would they just leave the boxes in Madrid, where I assume they are.

well it depends how valuable they are to you irrespective of the money value. The packages are kept in the custom office for a while, days depends, then they go on sale after a period not claim,but it has so many details never the same from place to place. Better if you want to see where they are and claiming them back is to contact customs in Spain.

otherwise write them off as you said. Hope it helps your decision.

Hi revhefty, were you able to get your property from the Spanish Customs. Please tell us so that we can learn how to properly mail packages to Spain.
Thanks

My daughter completed a form that customs requested and faxed it to them. When the item did not arrive right away, she went to the customs office in Madrid (near the airport) and retrived it in about 20 minutes. I don't know if this is possible for you, but it is how she worked in out.