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Both these incidents were over four years ago. You might not hear details from the posters.
Thank you! Last time I declared and in the end paid duty, but still had to go thru full bag search. I was 7-month pregnant and with my 3-yr old and senior mom. It took more than an hour and we almost missed the connecting flight. The male and female agents were very rude. They even checked the dirty clothes laundry bag. Not sure if we were singled out. It was a terrible experience for us.
Thanks for sharing your experience .I don’t understand why you would have had to pay 20%—was it an exotic?
I will share a little more on my experience .
I have had a few things shipped — canvas bags, leather bags , wooden jewelry box, crystal glassware, art . What I have discovered is duty is computed by the carrier who brings it into the country . The carrier determines that duty based on the description provided by the shipper - which determines the items category - and “The US Harmonzied Tariff Schedule “ (HTS) - which provides the duty %.
Harmonized Tariff Schedule
hts.usitc.gov
I have spent time going through the HTS — it is a huge document that covers duty rates for every category you can think of.
Sometimes the shipper doesn’t provide a good enough description for the carrier to determine the duty % from the HTS and additional information has to be requested from the shipper. For example in my case, additional information was requested from the shipper about my wooden jewelry box— more detail was required on the types of wood and the origin of the different woods. Unfortunately , the shipper did not answer quickly enough so the carrier sent the box back to the shipper and it took weeks to sort things out.
Sometimes the carrier makes a mistake in their calculation. When I shipped crystal glassware it wasn’t described well in the shipper’s description and was classified in a category of regular glass with a rate of over 20%. I went through the HTS and found the correct category , which was around 3%. After the carrier confirmed the correct description of the type of glass with the shipper, the rate was changed to the correct 3%.
It seems to me there is a lot of opportunity for error. Both in the shipper’s description (typically not enough detail ) and the carrier’s calculation of tariff . You can ask the carrier to provide information on their calculation if you have any questions.
When I had a shipment of only handbags, both leather and canvas, they have always been taxed at 9%.
we did not get these questions either. I’m global entry/TSA pre/ and CLEAR. I was confused bc I’m used to filling out the form the old way for many years).
. I do however love the bag and am grateful Hermes shipped it. the customer service was superb!Oh wow! For life?!? I’m wondering if someone who has experienced this can confirm, too. In short, declare everything or not shop at all. Lol. Thanks for answering btw.
My friend gets flagged and inspected every time since she was caught 4yrs ago. She got off lightly and now declares everything. It couldve been worst as CBP can confiscate all of your items and issue you a very hefty fine! Now they say thanks for you honesty and sometimes lets her go or sometimes charge her duties.
confiscating is the worst. Imagine trying to get your holy grail bag only to be taken away after all the hard work. Oh so she gets through the second inspection every time after the incident? Huge hassle especially with a connecting flight. Wonder when they’ll stop.
Oh he brought in more than $10k in cash? I think that’s a lighter charge than not declaring the goods you purchased overseas and getting caught. And yes, FedEx is by the book when it comes to their charges. good luck.
While waiting to declare and pay whatever the CBP deemed, I had a long discussion with 2 of the agents (maybe 4/5 years ago?), after they had told me "thanks for your continued honesty, and please just go through".
