StarFeat

Has anyone been questioned, hassled or even forced to pay duties by their home country's customs upon returning home on belongings they purchased in their home country and simply brought it with them on an overseas trip?

Fortunately I have never been questioned by the CBP concerning a specific item in my possession on where I bought the stuff such as my laptop, watch, phone, etc. From time to time, a CBP officer will ask me how much I spent in a country that I am bringing back. I just give them a rough estimate, rounded up to the nearest dollar and they just wave me through. I keep all receipts of most stuff I buy abroad and tally them together to get an estimated conversion to USD and record that amount on the notes of my phone for declaration purposes. One time I declared $950 of items acquired abroad and they didn't even charge me any duties for the $150 over the limit.

My aunt (Canadian Citizen); however, had a difficult time with the YYC CBSA recently upon returning home from Vegas. She was wearing a gold bracelet she purchased at the Tiffany store in Edmonton (for about $1,000 CDN) where she had already paid all applicable taxes when she bought it. She said a customs agent pestered her on why she didn't declare it? She stated it was purchased domestically and even furnished a copy of the receipt. Despite the copy being a legible one showing the store address, item, sku, breakdown of the price, GST, etc, the agent demanded an actual receipt which she said she wasn't in possession of because it was left at home (she basically made a photo copy of the receipt and carried it with her). After finally getting a supervisor to intervene, she said they let her go. Nothing paid nor confiscated. Needless to say, she wasn't very happy to be harassed on something she didn't buy overseas and had evidence to document it.

I've traveled several times abroad with my sister (US Citizen) and her husband. She wears several gold and diamond jewelry (purchased domestically) for those travels and upon our re-entry, she has never been questioned by the CBP on where she bought those jewelries.

I know certain items can be registered with customs. But AFAIK those items would need to contain a serial number.

Blogndog

Once a very long time ago, and once very recently.

A very long time ago I was working as a photographer and at one point I registered all my gear with US Customs and stuck the registration in my camera bag. A few years later it was getting somewhat tattered so I had it laminated and put it back in the bag.

Some years later, I was covering the civil war in Nicaragua for one of the wire services. An unfortunate accident during this assignment left my camera bag swamped with sea water. All my gear with the exception of my 24mm lens was damaged beyond repair. Fortunately, it was all insured, and so I replaced it all except for the one lens, and of course, the camera bag.

Now in all those years that customs registration had sat in my bag, I had never once been challenged about my gear and never once showed it to customs, so I wasn't really concerned about updating it.

A few years later, however, I went to Scotland to do a story on the Whiskey Trail, and visited numerous distilleries. Each one presented me with a bottle of their product (turned out to be a good investment on their part, as that's how I became a devoted single malt drinker).

Returning to IAD with 10 bags and cases of photo gear and 3 personal bags, I decided not to bother declaring the dozen or so bottles of single malt I was carrying. Upon reaching the customs inspector, she immediately started questioning me aggressively about my gear and directing me to open the bags one by one. The questioning continued during this process, and I explained that all of it had been purchased in New York. The suspicion was rather stupid, as it all would have cost 2 times as much in Scotland, and most of it was well used. Then she asked if I had registered any of it, and for a moment I was relieved when I fished out my ancient, laminated customs registration. But then I remembered that although the items matched, they all had different serial numbers because they had been replaced. I explained what had happened in Nicaragua and about the replacement, and she then informed me that unless I could show at least one matching serial number, I would be charged duty on everything. That's when I remembered the 24mm lens that had survived -- I showed that to her and I was on my way. And the whiskey? She opened and searched 11 out of the 13 bags. The whiskey was in one of the two she didn't check.

On my most recent entry, neither my fiancé nor I declared anything. The agent made a point about noticing both her engagement ring and bracelet, each quite valuable. She just smiled and thanked him for the compliment and we left without further discussion of the items.

chucko

I've registered all my photo gear with Customs over the years, and keep the slips tucked away in my passport wallet in case I'm ever questioned about it by CPB. But that hasn't happened in years - though people used to go to Tokyo and Hong Kong for bargains in that line, I think the cheapest place to buy cameras and lenses these days is NYC and the rest of the US, so they don't even bother asking.

asdca

Yes - I posted this a few years ago on another thread.

About 20 years ago, when I was in my mid-20s, I was flying home from a vacation with my parents in Ixtapa. I flew into Houston and was hassled by an overzealous CBP office who wanted to know who bought my medium-sized stud earrings. When I replied that I bought them myself, he went into a whole interrogation about where I worked, how long I had worked there, how much I made, etc., questions about my parents (who I wasn't traveling with) and on and on. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before, but I kept my cool. He was about to lose it when he asked "how can someone like you afford earrings like that?" I replied that they were cubic zirconia and that they had cost me less than $10. I think I saw steam coming out of his ears when he let me go.

Blogndog

Perfect example of why I always decline to answer any of their questions -- the best response is: "If you have evidence that my declaration is false, then go ahead and press charges. And if you are pressing charges, then you can direct any questions to my attorney -- would you like his name and number? If not, then am I free to leave?"

atsak

This is likely the case of a one off agent on a mission one day, as is most often the cause of these kind of outliers.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicati...2-6-5-eng.html

Interestingly the CBSA has a whole form and procedure for this kind of thing, and of course it's all ridiculous. Realistically I'm sure lots of people don't pay duty / taxes on on jewelry they've purchased abroad and they just wear it into the country, so this particular agent must be on an enforcement kick or whatever, which is probably why this memo mentions it's of particular interest.

It's all so dumb, but it's also the law, and that's the problem; ya gotta do what they say, which means an appraisal and so on as outlined in the memo.

Boghopper

Unfortunately the burden is on the entrant to prove stuff, not the other way around. They can take it from you and then you can go through the fun of proving you didn't obtain it overseas. You're free to go without your stuff.

Rights at the border are not anything rights once you get inside. For example, they need no probable cause to inspect anything and everything they want to. Lots of child pornographers have gotten busted this way, where under any other circumstances a warrant less search would get the evidence thrown out.

Blogndog

I don't know how many times I've needed to correct this misperception -- most frequently to CBP. It's misleading to say "rights at the border" are limited, and then say "for example," you can be searched. The way you worded it implies that the ability to conduct a warrantless search is but one "example" in a long list of rights that are curtailed at the border. In fact, the border search exemption -- which allows warrantless (but not suspicionless) searches at the border, represents the entire, complete and exhaustive list of Constitutional rights that are not in force at the border. Everything else -- all the rest of the Constitution, the US Code, case law, all international treaties and conventions (including the Universal Declaration of Rights, etc.) to which the US is a signatory -- have full legal force at the border.

surreycrv

Who has the control of what is suspicious? In your wording it appears to be you who believes the innocent til proven guilty meme, which is a court related term, not a policing term. CBP is in total control of who to search & question, until their suspicion is relieved. You at that time are merely the subject, with zero control of the outcome.

It's kinda ironic, you were the one who purposely smuggled contraband booze. You were lucky. If caught all your Constitution wrapping would not have aided you a single bit. That outcome may have carried long term self inflicted harassment as the kids call it these days.

Often1

None of this has to do with CBP's authority to assess duty on goods which it reasonably believes an individual is importing from outside the US (in the case of the US) into the US. The burden of proving that the goods were purchased in the US or previously imported into the US is on the declarant. You do not need to say or do anything and may either pay the duty or surrender the goods if you choose.

On a more practical note, as others note, with goods which you have purchased outside the US and previously imported, you may register them at CBP before leaving the US. With the rare item which is manufactured overseas, imported and sold without US markings in the US, you may do the same. I've done that with some photo equiptment. Never had an issue, but it's good to have in reserve.

To be frank, the duty on most items is minimal. I know people who have lied about silly things where the duty would have been <$10 and wound up accepting significant administrative penalties for lying. Yes, you don't have to accept those penalties, you can challenge them.

DaveBlaine

Here's a great story about customs and border protection agents from a couple buddies of mine. On a road trip to Baja California they had to clear customs/immigration. They searched the van and found a box of granola bars. I guess they weren't sure what they were at first. So an officer opens one, sniffs it and takes a bite and apparently liked them. Another officer took the whole box to a back room somewhere and then told my buddies, they were free to go.

I'm sure they were properly destroyed....in the lunch room.

Section 107

I hope the cops didn't pass their next pee test!

oliver2002

I misread the title of the thread to be 'where did you buy that XXX?'

Which reminds me of a cute story when I had a stopover in DOH on MUC-DOH-BOM sponsored by QR back in December 2000: I had stocked up on German magazines in the lounge to take home for my mother. After passing immigration (where my passport was taken away from me so I don't stay in the country) customs went thru my hand luggage with a fine comb: at first they took a bottle of whiskey for safekeeping and issued me a receipt in Arabic. Then they discovered the magazines. It seems the level of skin shown by various celebrities in the glossy boulevard press was too raunchy for the agent. 'Pornographic material!' he exclaimed and called his superior. After a 5-10 min discussion (while I was wondering what happens to those who posses nude pics under sharia) it was decided to stick said material into the black plastic bag that already had the whiskey in it and issue yet another receipt in Arabic. The bag was returned to me when I left 12 hours later, sadly they kept the receipts in return, otherwise I would have had a nice memento to show

As far as goods are concerned even German customs reserves the right to question you about the duty status of goods you imported years ago and reexported. Usually if you stand your ground and ask them to keep the goods till you produce a receipt they let you go.

Blogndog

Not at all -- they question me all the time, I never provide any answers. And I remind them that they can threaten me all they want, but if they end up harassing me without being able to demonstrate grounds (and exercising 5th Amendment right to silence has been explicitly ruled as not providing grounds) for reasonably detaining me, I will sue and I will win. And then I'm on my way.

I lead a charmed life -- that was hardly my only such "lucky" experience.

tanja

I have never been asked. But how many people have not recived /gotten gifts over the year. From parents /husbands. Those gifts does not (mostly) come with a proof of purchase.They can even have passed away.
So how is a traveller suposed to proove anything? I just think that is crazzy.