Gaucho100K

Folks... I of course have a horse in this race (I am a EZE based Fine Wine Merchant), but let me reflect my experiences here for the benefit of those that travel with wine - no matter where you buy it.

Global Entry or not... please always declare every single bottle you have to Uncle Sam's Customs boys & girls. In 98% of the instances, you will be waived through... for the rest, even if you have some agent that is picky enough to want to charge you tax, the amount will make you smile and/or laugh. For additional comfort, I have had a money back guarantee for US Taxes for the past 6 years, and have been called upon to honor it in exactly 3 (three) instances, and please note that not one week goes by without me preparing a package of wine that enters the USA.

Relax and bring back wine... just declare it (Global Entry or otherwise) and you will be fine..... ^

fedechat

I have Global Entry and I never had the option to declare goods , only 4 questions about fruits, meats, commercial items or carrying more than 10.000 dollars.

Gaucho100K

Strange... perhaps the different GE machines at different locations have different software loaded and therefore have different options for the user to declare...???

loofa133

This one was a little different. For instance, it appears they changed the meat/dairy question on this machine since I last travelled. The question used to be specific to dairy, meat, fruit and veges. Now the question included "food" which previously was not included.

After answering the Y/N questions, on a separate screen I was asked if I exceeded my duty free allowances. It didn't ask to specifically declare anything - only a question if I exceeded the limits or not. (Second machine from the right at IAD).

fedechat

Wine is not food and you the duty free allowance is up to u$s 800.00 (u$s 100 for visitors). Check the paper declaration form, they want to know if you bring something that is not allowed, they can't list everything and that's why they put food.

If you go to Spain, you can bring a smoked leg of ham without any problem

Fredd

The duty-free limit to bring back alcohol is one liter. While the CBP states here:

The actual tariff is so modest that it doesn't seem cost-effective to collect it.

Still, I would declare any alcohol I was importing in excess of one liter. What am I missing?

fedechat

If you don't have Global Entry, is better if you declare any alcohol. I have Global Entry and I don't have that option (yet). As I said before, the only option of my last flight (Dec 30) was the regular food question and if I was carrying more than 10,000.00 dollars. Even if you have to pay, it will be 15 to 20 cents per bottle

TSA have another limit, for any checked luggage only 5 liters of alcohol with alcohol content between 24%~70% is allowed, but since wine have less, there is not limit .

Fredd

This is very interesting information as we just received GE status and haven't used it yet. I'd feel really awkward entering at IAD with another case of Alex's wine and not mentioning it.

Gaucho100K

TSA limits on Alcohol only applies to booze that is flammable.... please remember that wine, even if its fortified, is not flammable.

Flying Machine

I have brought back (2) 12 bottle Shippers on each of approximately 10 Visits in the past 30 months or so. Every time I Declared the Full Value on the Blue and White Customs Form. Normally I am asked how many bottles do I have by the First Officer and always tell them 24. Never had an issue except one time when I was leaving and turned in my Form at the Exit Officer before the transfer baggage station. He sent me to secondary. I asked for some Courtesy as I had a tight connection. The Officer asked me a few questions, placed two holes in the Declaration and sent me on my way with "Hows that for Courtesy" BTW, Federal Tax is .21 a Bottle for 14.0 % Alcohol and lower and .31 a Bottle for 14.1 % Alcohol and higher. Customs duty is very nominal especially with the GSP for 14.1% and Higher. In my opinion its always best to declare and you should never have an issue.

fedechat

loofa133 entered trough IAD, the second screen asked if he had exceeded his duty free allowance. I didn't have that option on MIA (only the 10,000 limit), if you get it but you see the $800.00 limit you can say "NO", If you say Yes to any question, you will get a big X on your GE receipt

You will love GE, my last two flights from EZE (late OCT/late Dec) arriving to MIA was flawless ^. Remember, use your GE line, Diplomatic or any empty line to show your GE receipt.

thegrailer

Great info but a bit confusing based on the agent's comments at YYZ a couple of weeks ago. I was transiting through YYZ back to the US and had more than 1 liter of wine. I checked exceeded duty and got the big X on my GE card. I was sent to a room on the side and where I was told that I can bring in up to 1 gallon of wine (or 3.9L) and not have to declare it. Only spirits above a certain alcohol level - since forgotten - needed to be declared. Is that correct? I am hoping to bring more wine back in a few weeks and if I can skip the GE X, it would be great

Cheers -

Gaucho100K

All wines are well below the (alcohol) level of Spirits, with the notable exception of fortified wines (ie. Port and port-style wines), so unless you are dwelling into that category you dont neet to worry about them. Also, even if you did, Port is still wine so the chances of a Customs person looking into the alcohol % of your bottles of Port are very slim - although Im not suggesting anybody try to game US Customs... Im just stating the probabilities.

GE procedure specific issues aside, the bottom line is Uncle Sam doesnt give a hoot about wines, I have customers that regularly bring back 3 (three) cases of wines and they declare every single bottle, they have never been written up. Yes, if you have and use GE then you may get into secondary because the system is optimized to handle regular business travel with nothing over the normal allowance, but in the end, then chances of you getting written up and taxed on wine is less than 1%. Just declare is, explain that its not for resale, and you will be fine. I offer a money back guarantee for my customers taking wine into the USA and in 8 years in the business Ive been called upon to refund the taxes in all but 3 (three) instances - and I have clients entering the US with my wine at least 5-6 times a month.

Even if you find a loonie at customs willing to charge you, the cost will be a joke, so dont worry about it....

thegrailer

Still not quite what I was asking - interesting though. My question, in simple terms, is how much wine can I bring back into the US without having to declare anything? I understand I can bring "tons" of wine and pay. And I understand that the cost is de minimis. I was relaying info from the folks at YYZ when I was transiting back to the US, and that info was different that anything else that I had read. If I can avoid waiting for customs I'd rather just walk on through. However, to repeat, the only time I've heard numbers such as 1 gallon of wine and no declaration was ~2 weeks ago. Were the YYZ folks correct?

Cheers

Eastbay1K

You can bring 1L without declaring, of any liquid alcohol. Anything more, you must declare, no matter how "weak' the alcohol may be.