Originally Posted by milepig
Not to mention that no one knows how to fill them out - or to answer the questions.
The listing on the back is only necessary if you're over your allowance, but I see many people scribbling things like a $25 dollar sweater on the back.
I only receintly (on my last trip back into the US) learned this. The verbage on the back of the form is very misleading. It says that you must declare ALL goods purchased abroad, which imples that you have to write down all goods purchased abroad. Of course what it really means is that you have to tell the agent about stuff you bought if asked, but you don't need to fill it out.