Originally Posted by Athena53
Note that they usually don't collect duty, anyway.
Two years ago I came in by myslef from India with $1,000 worth of stuff (jewelry and linens are great buys there) and they didn't charge me a dime. Same for our last trip to Scotland, where my husband and I brought in 4 bottles of whiskey- double the limit. In both cases, everything was declared in the paperwork- they just glanced at us and waved us through.
I have had similar experiences - have only had to produce a bottle of booze once (ex Mexico City) - the one mistake I made, when I had "excess" was considering going to the "Items to Declare" line, and a Customs officer suggested I not... Lesson? Do not worry if you are over the monetary limit - just put it down on the form, hand the form over and say nothing.