I remember the days when DFS items were completely sealed! Now that’s not the case it contributed to my confusion. Thank you for your comment!
I am glad I asked! Thanks everyone!
US Customs discussion - airports, importing
- Thread starter esyee
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I remember the days when DFS items were completely sealed! Now that’s not the case it contributed to my confusion. Thank you for your comment!
I am glad I asked! Thanks everyone!
I mean, you ARE supposed to keep a Birkin in its box
. I’ve had my packages checked maybe 20% of the time with a live agent at CDG. Usually they ask if you have them but do not ask to look.People should do what they want to; all you would lose would be the détaxe after all. NBD.
It gets complicated! Again per the above you can do whatever is easiest for you, but it’s good to know the actual rules, at least here in the EU.
Hope this is still relevant - in France, they have these 'PABLO' détaxe scanning machine at the airport, where you can scan the détaxe form, and voila, you drop it off at the post box or Global Blue box, and off you go. Except for really expensive items like a watch or a Love bracelet, the machine may refer you to the customs officer for inspection. Generally, they don't peer into your boxes, so if the shoes don't look too worn, you should be fine. In fact, if you carry the shoe box and bag with you, and have them in your hand, I bet you 99% of the officers don't even look. In fact, the PABLO machine will pass you without you having to go to the customs officer.
Without being an accessory to a crime - I am not a US citizen anyway - in my view reasonable purchase for personal use should not attract extra tax. You spend your life saving for a purse or a ring, and the US Customs want a chunk of tax? That's double taxation and in my view illegal. Having said that, prices for Hermes are much lower than in the EU! Really. And if you choose to have the item delivered to a sales tax free state, like NH, you don't pay any tax at all. Obviously you have to take into consideration the travels. But choose a state that has no sales tax and send the item there.DH and I flew back from Paris to the US through Boston and had a little over $7k in USD worth of purchases. We were asked by the agent if we had anything to declare, said yes, and were told to wait to the side before an agent would collect us. There were probably 4 or 5 other people/couples waiting and only 2 agents working who were both being EXTREMELY methodical and thorough…and rather grumpy.
When it was finally our turn, I gave the agent my receipts as well as a list of purchases with all the EUR, VAT, and USD conversation math done to show the totals, by item category. The agent wanted to know where I got these numbers, to see each item matched with each receipt, and asked what things were (uhhh a purse is a purse?) and even got crappy with me when DH went to get the checked luggage…which he was instructed to go get
I stayed as pleasant as I could but this agent definitely did everything by the book and made me feel like a criminal. By my estimated math, I paid every penny the US gov’t was due from me
The whole process took over an hour and I’m glad we had a longer layover. Between this experience and my less than stellar H in-store Paris visits, I’m quite content to keep my spending domestic for a while.
I totally agree that “import taxes” on items for personal use is total baloney. Additionally the randomness with which customs operates makes me not want to declare. Here’s the thing, and I’m hoping that someone here has a convincing answer, my friend and I both flew home from Europe this summer, through different airports. We both had vat refunds linked to our passports. I declared. She did not. (She didn’t purposefully not declare she just didn’t listen to me when I explained the process) but she makes the argument that there is no way a European tax refund system is in any way linked to us customs. Despite using our passport numbers. I’d love to know if anyone has proof of communication - I really see my friends logic, I also highly doubt there sharing of info.
In what world is that double taxation? It would literally be zero taxes. You get detaxed for the VAT/sales-tax in the country you bought them. And you don't want to pay import taxes. And I'm guessing you don't want to declare the sales/use tax for your U.S. state either. That's zero taxes. And paying money for a luxury item in and of itself in not a tax — you can just, you know, not buy it.
Whether you bring an object into your home country, or someone else does, you're supposed to pay import taxes as applicable. End of story. And just because you had the item delivered to a zero sales tax state, it doesn't mean you don't have to pay a use tax if you live in a state with sales/use tax come April 15th.
I have shopped for 30 years and I have never heard of a détaxe system linking their data to a passport!!! Again I am not advocating tax avoidance!!! Global Blue is the biggest détaxe company in the world, followed by Premier Tax Free. None of them would use your data and none of them would access the US system. How could they? Think about it.
I completely agree with you. But I have read comments here saying, or suggesting, that US customs knows what you’ve bought somehow.
But customs from each European country where you’re exiting also have access to the information so it’s not a leap that they would share information with US customs or other destination countries. In any case, the why’s & why not’s can be argued left and right, bottom line is that it is existing law to declare when you enter the U.S.
When you do your detax, French customs sends an email to US customs so they know exactly how much you spent based on your detax amount. It’s not Global Blue, it’s the French customs agency (or other European country but I only have experience with France.) US customs has this information before you even get on your flight. This has happened to me personally multiple times and confirmed by the customs agent in the US. He told me that they get an email from the other country so it’s best to be honest. However, I don’t think it is done every single time for every person, because I have been waved through when I have made large purchases. It could be random or could be based on the items purchased, I have no idea. But since I’ve been pulled aside before- meaning the Global Entry agent says I need to go to the line with the agent- and this is where you need to tell the truth because they are looking in the computer and they see the exact amount. Once I made a joke and said “yeah I went on a spree…” and the agent looked at the computer and said “yeah you did!” So I ALWAYS declare even when they wave me through Global Entry because I don’t want to take any chances that I am flagged the next time I go through, or I get pulled for secondary screening and I’m fined or my goods are confiscated, or they send me a bill in the mail later. With a fine attached!
It's not double taxation
This is how import/export laws work. You purchase an item abroad and because you are exporting it you receive a refund of the VAT. Upon entering the US (and most other countries FWIW), you THEN pay taxes. Shipping items also incurs duties (federal) whether or not the receiving state has sales tax. So shipping to New Hampshire STILL goes through US customs.
And as @qubed noted, states without sales tax often have use tax and this WILL be applied to international shipments
OK, so, it's not like this hasn't been discussed before in the thread, but: Global Blue is a processing company. You take your items to CUSTOMS where you get a Pablo approval or a physical stamp, and GB processes the refund. Global Blue, PTF, etc., are not the ones actually refunding VAT. The actual detaxe still comes from (in this case) the applicable EU customs agency, as noted so cogently by @Bdbunny . They report this to US CBP.
I have literally been at customs declaring items, have discussed this with CBP officers, and have SEEN them lying in wait for someone who spent (according to the CBP officer) 190K€ in Paris including an exotic Hermès bag. (This officer knew as much about Hermes as most people here, BTW.) Will they track you down for not declaring one twilly over your exemption? Probably not. But they 100% share information, and you can bet there's a spend level where shoppers get flagged.
When I got my physical stamp from a customs officer she did not take down any information. She came to the desk, looked at my items over €2k, stamped my paper and left. So the processing company is sending info to the customs of the country you’re leaving and then that country is emailing US customs?It's not double taxation
Shipping items also incurs duties (federal) whether or not the receiving state has sales tax. So shipping to New Hampshire STILL goes through US customs.
And as @qubed noted, states without sales tax often have use tax and this WILL be applied to international shipments
OK, so, it's not like this hasn't been discussed before in the thread, but: Global Blue is a processing company. You take your items to CUSTOMS where you get a Pablo approval or a physical stamp, and GB processes the refund. Global Blue, PTF, etc., are not the ones actually refunding VAT. The actual detaxe still comes from (in this case) the applicable EU customs agency, as noted so cogently by @Bdbunny . They report this to US CBP.
I have literally been at customs declaring items, have discussed this with CBP officers, and have SEEN them lying in wait for someone who spent (according to the CBP officer) 190K€ in Paris including an exotic Hermès bag. (This officer knew as much about Hermes as most people here, BTW.) Will they track you down for not declaring one twilly over your exemption? Probably not. But they 100% share information, and you can bet there's a spend level where shoppers get flagged.
They don’t stamp anymore. They check and scan on their computers.
I believe things changed during Covid and when the Euro was very low.
JMO, but once you appreciate that you in fact owe the tax the rest of the analysis depends on your risk tolerance for breaking the law and accepting the consequences should you be apprehended. I don’t drive at the speed limit on many interstate highways but I am prepared to pay the ticket if I am pulled over.
The consequences for failing to pay taxes are what they are, whether local, state, or federal taxes in the US, including customs/tariffs/duties. The fact that you may or may not be apprehended is part of the risk analysis.
Failing to declare purchases is not a tax avoidance strategy, it’s failing to pay taxes that are due and owing. When you miss your connecting flight and are sitting in a back room detained for over 24 hours, separated from your family with no access to a phone it’s going to feel a lot closer to jail than I’d be comfortable with (happened to a friend of a friend who despite being financially capable of paying any tax that would have been assessed decided to proceed without declaring purchases). It’s one thing if the officer waves you through, another if you decide to ignore the process.
Again, IMO, YMMV.
The consequences for failing to pay taxes are what they are, whether local, state, or federal taxes in the US, including customs/tariffs/duties. The fact that you may or may not be apprehended is part of the risk analysis.
Failing to declare purchases is not a tax avoidance strategy, it’s failing to pay taxes that are due and owing. When you miss your connecting flight and are sitting in a back room detained for over 24 hours, separated from your family with no access to a phone it’s going to feel a lot closer to jail than I’d be comfortable with (happened to a friend of a friend who despite being financially capable of paying any tax that would have been assessed decided to proceed without declaring purchases). It’s one thing if the officer waves you through, another if you decide to ignore the process.
Again, IMO, YMMV.