54% tax rate on a gift??? is this normal?

Morninglory wrote:

I had my birthday recently, and my son tried to send me a tiny gift from the USA. 
The total value of the gift was under one hundred USD. 

I had been looking forward to it greatly, as it contained a birthday card from him and some pictures.

They tried to deliver it today, and wanted me to pay 47.27 euros!!
I don't keep cash in the house and so I couldn't pay that.   They said I can pick it up later at the local post office.

But I want to know if anyone can tell me anything about this. Is it normal here to tax a gift?  And at a tax rate of over 50%?  (47.27 euros = $53.70)

Is there any way to clear that up, in your experiences, or am I stuck with either paying this ridiculous fee or losing my gift?

Thanks for any insight people can share.

Yeah, it`s like you said, pay or pay.

The main problem there, is that wasn't a formal import, so they will consider maximum taxes.