Good to know. I wish I knew that and asked to be billed instead. I wonder why he didn’t offer me that option.
US Customs discussion - airports, importing
- Thread starter esyee
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Good to know. I wish I knew that and asked to be billed instead. I wonder why he didn’t offer me that option.
Sounds like a customs officer had a nice little pay day to me...
I went through Philadelphia in January and had a very positive experience. Two really nice guys were working at the desk.
My customs guy went by the book and was explaining his calculation with a 9% charge on leather, but at that exact time I heart the other customs guy say to the couple declaring beside me "because you are being honest, I am only going to charge you 5%". I couldn't help myself and I blurted out "I am being honest too, why can't I have 5%". My guy said ok and changed his calculation!
My customs guy went by the book and was explaining his calculation with a 9% charge on leather, but at that exact time I heart the other customs guy say to the couple declaring beside me "because you are being honest, I am only going to charge you 5%". I couldn't help myself and I blurted out "I am being honest too, why can't I have 5%". My guy said ok and changed his calculation!
I had a general observation that I wanted to share. It seems to me that over the past couple of years the customs process is getting more formalized, professional and efficient. I have come back from Paris through Philadelphia, JFK, Charlotte, Detroit and Chicago, and although there are differences in them all, they all seem to be getting their act together.
I declare my purchases, so I am only really talking about the declaration process. In the past, I have been honest in the amount I declared but I have given the amount in euros. And I have been very clear that the amount is euros. I am a numbers person, so I know exactly how the calculation should be done -- the conversion from euros and the tiers of duty. Before this week I had never had a customs agent convert my declaration from euros to dollars and this has obviously been to my benefit. Some might think that is not being honest, but I haven't considered it my duty to instruct the customs agents how to perform the correct calculation.
This week I flew through Charlotte and for the first time the customs official had the exchange rates right on her computer and very quickly did the conversion. I flew through Charlotte a year ago and I noticed a big difference in the process then and the process now.
I did see someone have all of their luggage being searched while I was going through Charlotte customs, and in fact it seems like every time I am declaring in customs I see someone being searched. I just can't figure out how they determine who they are going to search.
I declare my purchases, so I am only really talking about the declaration process. In the past, I have been honest in the amount I declared but I have given the amount in euros. And I have been very clear that the amount is euros. I am a numbers person, so I know exactly how the calculation should be done -- the conversion from euros and the tiers of duty. Before this week I had never had a customs agent convert my declaration from euros to dollars and this has obviously been to my benefit. Some might think that is not being honest, but I haven't considered it my duty to instruct the customs agents how to perform the correct calculation.
This week I flew through Charlotte and for the first time the customs official had the exchange rates right on her computer and very quickly did the conversion. I flew through Charlotte a year ago and I noticed a big difference in the process then and the process now.
I did see someone have all of their luggage being searched while I was going through Charlotte customs, and in fact it seems like every time I am declaring in customs I see someone being searched. I just can't figure out how they determine who they are going to search.
Thank you very much for the info. I have read most of your posts in this thread and you have been very helpful and informative. I usually bring one bag; K/B from home while traveling abroad. I have noticed that many instagramers travel with several bags abroad and posting many great pictures on their instagram page. My question is, if you travel with multiple bags abroad, do you bring each bag receipt or just take a picture of the bag at home prior to the trip so there is no issue with the customs while entering back to the US?
In Canada you can go to a point of entry before you travel and get a card for any item that has a unique identifier on it. If it does not have an identifier customs will place a sticker on the item.
Which is a lot better than the agent that scratched my sin number into my Walkman with a dremel when I was a kid.
I’m sure most countries have a similar procedure.
Which is a lot better than the agent that scratched my sin number into my Walkman with a dremel when I was a kid.
I’m sure most countries have a similar procedure.
A few years ago, I decided not to travel in Europe with high-end recognizable bags. This is more an attempt to not stand out as I am out walking around than anything to do with customs. I typically take a Longchamp and a small Loro Piana.
What I do like to carry with me is small leather goods! I have never taken receipts with me, even though I have taken Hermes, Chanel, and Goyard wallets, change purses and pouches. Thus far this has not presented any issues because I have never been searched at customs. With my feeling that the customs agents and process may be getting more sophisticated, I am wondering if might be a good idea to take pictures of receipts. Lol — I just wish we had someone who worked at customs to really give us the low-down!
I had a friend who went through JFK this week and her description of her JFK experience also reflects a more sophisticated, educated customs agent and system than existed a few years ago. She did declare and her agent wanted to see her receipt, and each of the items on the receipt. From her description he was very through.
Each time I had to pay duty, they looked up current exchange rate on the computer and used it. At least that's what my usual guy did.
He would spend long time gathering all the declared items. Then on a blank paper, he would write down every single item. Even if I note something like $3000 silk scarves on the form, he doesn't care. He would list each scarves, write content and each ones price, and then calculate the duty for each item. How inefficient I thought, but he claimed he does so he can get the correct amount. But seriously, the whole process took soooooo long time, usually an hour, my legs felt like standing on the queue for FSH.
What was even more annoying was the fact it was very inconsistent. I once noticed another passenger's "list," who was on earlier flight. It was much simpler. True, that passenger might just bought much less than me, but it just felt like whoever did his/her calculation simply grouped things in different categories and processed it much quicker. So it really depends on which officer you get.
About bringing expensive items you already owned, even my very detailed guy didn't seem to care. He only cared about and counted the newly purchased items with receipts. So let's say if a friend in Paris gifted me something, he would have regarded it as my already owned item as I have no receipt for it saying it's new. I'm guessing they think if this woman has bought that many things in a few day trip, she would've probably owned comparable priced items in the first place.
But even this, I think depends on the officer of the day. My least fave guy in JFK (not the one mentioned above) even wanted to see my hands and arms to make sure I had no rings, watches or bracelets he can "catch." And he was also curious about a LV receipt I forgot about but had in one of my bags. It clearly said the purchase was a month before I took the trip and location was NY, but still, he was making angry face and acting as if I was hiding something. OMG. The sole LV item I had at that day was a tiny coin purse that was obviously well used for many years!
So my experiences with custom at JFK is somewhat similar to SAs at FSH. Whoever you get on the day makes whole lotta difference.
I have heard about it too. Do you have to bring all of the Canadian receipts or it works as long as the items are already in the country? I dont have the habit of keeping my receipts, so if they ask for it, I dont have it.
Do you know where “point of entry” office is in Toronto? Also, do we need to bring receipts, as I don’t have receipts for some of my old items.
We flew in to Dulles from Paris yesterday and when we went through customs the first two agents said they will charge us 3% across the board for everything since we were honest they may just waive it. They then led us to the next room and the 3rd customs agent said he's going to charge us 3% for the first 1000.00 and 5.3% for the rest. We then asked why since the first 2 agents said 3% on everything he proceed to walk us over to this book that was about 5 inches thick and said this has a break down for everything possible but it's quicker to just do 3% for the first 1000.00 and 5.3% on the rest.
I guess it's better than 9%... But I do think it comes down to luck and which agent you get.
I guess it's better than 9%... But I do think it comes down to luck and which agent you get.
So true!
When I came through Chicago last year there were two agents working from the same desk. My guy said he was going to calculate as follows : $800 tax free, $1,000 at 3%, and 9% on the excess. Since that is the correct calculation I was ok with it....that is until the 2nd agent (who was about 1 foot away from me) told the people he was processing that he was only going to charge them a flat 3% since they were honest. At that point I couldn’t control myself and spoke up and said that since I was also being honest I’d like to get the same calculation . I was lucky that my agent did adjust my duty down to 3%, but if I hadnt overheard the other agent , I would have been paying 9%.