Originally Posted by
danohio
Generally a CBP officer can waive duty if the amount owed will come out to less than $20. So while you must still declare amounts above the exception, you won't pay for minimal amounts owed.
I believe it is $10 duty that is allowed to be waived, but some CBP officers can waive other amounts especially if the cashier isn't open. I've brought back a case of wine fairly often and never had to pay duty. I check an empty wine travel case box over and bring it back filled. I do get some strange looks on the outbound trip when they ask me what's in the box and I say nothing.
The only time I had to pay duty was when I brought back a case of port. Because the ABV is 20%, it has a higher duty than normal table wine and I had to pay $11.44. A friend of mine traveling through a different airport didn't pay anything for his case of port, however.