canonlaw

In the general spirit of "how to beat the system" (without ripping anyone off, Aubie!), where does one find the customs allowances for each country?

I am never carrying alcohol or cigarettes (I don't smoke and no one living in Belgium needs to bring in booze), nor am I ever carrying anything expensive or prohibited. But, this will be my first post-Xmas gift haul into Europe. I'm not expecting Cartier this year, but I probably will be bringing back 15+ books. I'm carrying an American passport with a Belgian residency card. How strict are the customs agents? Going back and forth from the US-Canada, unless you were carrying yellow margarine, no one cared, but I'm not sure how it is here.

skylinkusa

I flew into BRU several times during the late 80's when living there (otherwise, I lived in the US and am a US citizen). Belgian customs never said a thing. There was no customs form to fill out. Several times, I checked in 2 large boxes, each weighing as much as 70 lbs. If you want to check if there is a difference in customs allowance between visiting Americans and temporary residents, you may ask the consulate. They may not know and place you on hold. I never checked their website (if any)

Mountain Trader

I have dabbled in the customs allowance game-I even thought of writing a pamphlet to sell explaining the U.S. rules. I didn't because, having entered the US from overseas some 30+ times now and seeing almost no one declaring anything, I've decided that either no one buys much overseas (other than Jeb Bush's wife) or no one declares much of what they buy.
The actual customs rules are interesting. There are many, many valuation rules-for example, a few years ago, a compact disc was valued based on its metallic content which then was about $0.49. I had been declaring them at cost which was $18-20 in Europe (I learned all this from a helpful customs agent). Some art is exempt-is a Stallone poster art?
I always fill out the form in meticulous detail, and if I'm over the exemption based on cost, I ask the agent to apply the rules to value the items I'm bringing in since I do not know all the rules. Usually when they see our detailed list, they just waive us through.
This whole area creis for reform. The current exemption is $400. They should raise that to a much higher amount, say $10,000,then set a rate based on cost that collects the same duty as they get now in total. They would ahssle only the big spenders, leave everyon else alone, plus they could save a fortune by cutting back on the personnel that supervise the current program.