I paid $200+ plus when I declare my Cartier Love bracelet and Celine handbag. The custom ask if my bag is leather which it is so I guess leather bag got charge more than fabric/canvas..
LV at Heathrow
- Thread starter Majesticface71
- Start date
You believe you have to declare even if it's in an airport but I was over and they just let me go. Some choose not to, but I would be too nervous! 
I declared everything I had and it was well over the $800. The man looked at me, smiled and said "Thank you for your honesty. You may go. Enjoy your purchases." I have Global Entry so it's very easy for me to say I have nothing at the kiosk and walk out the door since I don't have to go through customs. I think he appreciated my full disclosure so much he decided to reward me for it. I always declare everything. The taxes are not very much anyway.
Who told you this? It's very wrong! The individual allowance is only $800 and with your husband together only $1600. Sounds like they gave you a very nice break, which they seem inclined to do most of the time, but your figures are incorrect. You technically should have paid around $1300 in custom tax, but they must have picked only one item to tax.
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/454/related/1
I just flew back from Paris on Thursday and went through customs in Chicago. Like everyone else has mentioned, I always declare as I am just the paranoid type and I'm such a stickler with rules. Because I have Global Entry, we too, could have just walked right on through without declaring anything, but we wanted to do the right thing.
Our purchases totaled well over the $1600 allowed amount (between my husband and I) and we were prepared to pay the taxes on our items. We calculated that we would pay about $300. However, we ended up paying about $450. Higher than what I expected, but still got my items way cheaper in Paris. We asked the customs officer to break down her calculations for us. By the way, they were really nice in there. This is how it is broken down: The customs officer will take off $1600 from your total amount, again $800 per person. After that, the first $2000 ($1000 per person, there were two of us) is taxed at 3%. After that, the remaining total was taxed approx. 9%. My husband did the calculations and it came out that the total amount was actually taxed at an approx. rate of 6% (rounded up). Might I add that in Chicago, and I'm not sure if they ask anywhere else, they will tax you 20% for canvas items. The officer gave a specific example of LV canvas, because it is of synthetic material. Anything leather will be at the regular percentage. Hope this helps.
Our purchases totaled well over the $1600 allowed amount (between my husband and I) and we were prepared to pay the taxes on our items. We calculated that we would pay about $300. However, we ended up paying about $450. Higher than what I expected, but still got my items way cheaper in Paris. We asked the customs officer to break down her calculations for us. By the way, they were really nice in there. This is how it is broken down: The customs officer will take off $1600 from your total amount, again $800 per person. After that, the first $2000 ($1000 per person, there were two of us) is taxed at 3%. After that, the remaining total was taxed approx. 9%. My husband did the calculations and it came out that the total amount was actually taxed at an approx. rate of 6% (rounded up). Might I add that in Chicago, and I'm not sure if they ask anywhere else, they will tax you 20% for canvas items. The officer gave a specific example of LV canvas, because it is of synthetic material. Anything leather will be at the regular percentage. Hope this helps.
Great job breaking it down and explaining. Yes, this is exactly right and it's great you declare. It would be a shame to loose Global Entry privileges over something as silly as not declaring a bag. I thought leather was the highest tax at 9% but it's good to know canvas can be taxed higher. Thank you!
I’d like to add/clarify that the tax rate that applies after you exceed your $800 exemption depends on the type of material from which your product is made from. From what I can recall a year ago, leather-composite products, which covers any items partially made of leather, is typically taxed the least at a rate slightly below 4%.
Hi there! Could you give advice about customs taxes in case of shopping on-line abroad? Want to buy a preowned leather bag from japan which is around 600$, shipping free. Will they charge me anything? Any special procedure like sending papers to customs or visiting them? I am in Delaware.
If your item is not stopped by Customs when it enters the US, you won’t be charged anything. If Customs officers decide to check the item you are importing, a fee will need to be paid in order to retrieve your item. There is a lot of info on the cpb.org website: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citiz...opping-abroad-duty-free-gifts-household-items
Thanks for clarifications, although it doesn’t really clarify for me why the customs may stop the parcel for check, as the value is stated and invoice is there. This is done at random? Run through the link you have provided, but still not clear for me.
Customs and Borders agents do not have the manpower to check every item that enters the country (millions of items daily, from small parcels to huge containers). I m not sure what their strategy is, but they must have one. Randomness may be a part of it though.
When you declare with customs, I assume you convert the price you paid (inclusive of VATS if applicable) to your native country's currency?
I purchased about $300.00 US from Japan that was delivered to me in early June. By watching the tracking I could see it sat in Customs for several days before delivery. Most people seem to get their items quite quickly, mine took a little bit longer. No fees were required at the time of delivery, but in September I received a letter from Customs that I owed about $36.00 in fees payable to the US Postal Service. I sent off a check and all was well. So it came in at about 11% for my purchase.