Don't forget to back out the VAT tax paid when listing out your purchases! If it is 20% VAT and you paid a total of $1000 then you should value the item at $800 as you don't pay duty on tax, only goods.
Thank you! It does. I'm going for my first time next month
Don't forget to back out the VAT tax paid when listing out your purchases! If it is 20% VAT and you paid a total of $1000 then you should value the item at $800 as you don't pay duty on tax, only goods.
Thanks for all of this insight. What do you think happens if you declare but do not have receipts as proof?
I think we've seen in this thread that there is a lot of variability among locations and even among agents at a specific location . So matter what we say here , your experience may end up being different .
When I came through Detroit recently I was asked if I had my receipts and I said no without really thinking it through. I did have my receipts but they were buried in my suitcase and I didn't want to dig them out. These guys (I had two!) were very, very serious and I momentarily regretted my answer. But they just said OK and moved onto the next question .
Since that time I always make sure I have my receipts where I can get to them easily. However, it is my impression from reading this thread that they generally don't asked to look at the receipts -- they just ask if you have them.
Miami. Declared. Friendly officer asked me what I bought and then asked what brand it was. Not a good sign. Then he directed me to someone who escorted me to the path for additional inspection. I knew i was going to pay. When I got to the area there were three agents and no one else around. So I guess no one else declaring lol. They asked me what I bought and what was the most expensive item. One guy took control and said "she's honest, just charge her 5%." When I went to pay the cashier he seemed like he felt bad that I had to pay.
Hi everyone, I was wondering if any of you are non-american but fly thru USA in order to go to Europe.
I'm from South America, I do not hold a USA passport/residency/etc, and I'm planning my trip to Europa thru USA (ofcourse i will do some shopping in EU). Do I still have to declare it at the US customs if i'm just in transit (for 2 days) in the USA (Miami to be specific). I will ofcourse show my return ticket to my home country....
My other flying option is to fly out directly from south america (it would be a very long flight), thus, have any of you had to declare your good in any of the Latin countries..........?
So I thought I would give an update on entry into Charlotte. I had around 20,000 euro to declare (I passed out when I saw that amount figured). Even though I have Global Entry I filled out a manual form with groupings of items (leather bags, canvas bags, food stuffs, shoes, books, jewelry, brush for my horse, tea, leather card holders and wallets, and scarves). I converted the euros with VAT removed to dollars. I had a very problematic item that I knew would cause for inspection (duck confit). The first agent told me he would honestly let me just slip by if I didn't have the duck in my checked luggage he said but that he couldn't ignore. I said that is cool I abide by the law. He was worried about the taxes to be paid. So I got my checked bags and I preemptively removed the duck can in case it would save the inspection. I put it beside my purse on the luggage cart.
Of course I was then stopped to go to the secondary inspection. I had two nice guys who were a little shocked at the amount. Yeah me too! He said that if he were to look up each category it would take hours so he said he would do the flat 3%. I ended up paying $625 and they let me keep the duck. He walked me over to pay and when he handed over the items to the cashier he was like "yup you are looking at that number right."
The man was like I guess sometimes you have to treat yourself. I said no worries I am banned from purchases for a long while now!
Interestingly when he was dithering what to charge me he asked to see another form of ID and then that is when he said "I'm going to do the 3% and give both of us a break." I'm not sure what the ID had to do with it he wanted to see something else beside my passport.
I was prepared to pay around 9-11% duty so I was ecstatic!
I wish I was lucky as you. I found guys are much more friendlier and accommodating than female agents.
I came back from Paris in January. At O'Hare Chicago, I declared everything I bought, a total of 18,000 Euro (more or less, can't remember now), including a Kelly and a skeleton bag from Petite H. I took a lot of efforts breaking down my purchases into categories and writing on a piece of paper as suggested here. Unfortunately, I ran into two female agents. I almost felt they were jealous about the money I could spend. They kept me there for more than one hour, checked on their computer individual tax rate on every single category I listed on the paper, and asked me many questions. They did not give me any break. I ended up paying more than $1,200 for the duty.
On the other hand, my friend, who traveled with me at same time, declared slightly less amount than mine, including a Kelly, a Chanel WOC and a LV speedy. The amount she spent on leather bags were actually more than mine. She also wrote everything on a piece of paper. Although the male agent asked her about receipts, he specifically told my friend that he appreciated her honesty and would only charge half of the duty rate for her bag purchases. My friend only needed to pay $600 and got out half hour earlier than I did.
I felt I got penalized by honestly listing and declaring everything. It's a very bad experience. I am not sure I'd do this any more.