Berlin Customs Question
 

I'm sure this is a silly question to all of you but we are flying from Boston - Amsterdam, changing planes and flying to Berlin Tegel.

It is our daughter's 21st birthday and of course we are bringing presents. Can I wrap her presents and get through customs? I would hate to give her unwrapped presents.

TSA, which will handle the security checkpoint & checked luggage @BOS, reserves the right to open anything. Customs aside, the best advice is either to wrap and run the risk of having the present(s) unwrapped or to neatly fold extra wrapping paper so that you can rewrap if need be. Alternatively, you can not wrap at all and then wrap either before exiting the terminal or you get to your hotel, all depending on when you intend to give the presents.

In my experience the likelihood that your luggage will be checked is minuscule and usually when that happens German customs agents are fairly reasonable.

In the cases where I brought wrapped presents that were above the customs free limit (430 Euro; see http://www.iatatravelcentre.com/DE-G...ils.htm#Import regulations) showing receipts was fine. In this case you will have to pay a tax of 19% plus, depending on what you bring, the import duty.

However, if you have a fancy wrapping it will probably not survive the trip in your (hand)luggage anyway, while if you have a simple wrapping, why not carry the wrapping paper separately and then wrap before giving the present?

Jeez I never even thought about Boston. We are doing carryon luggage only.

Yes I think I will bring wrapping paper. I finished wrapping last night and that's when my husband said - do you think that will work? which made me post this question. The hassle I could incur is way worse than wrapping later.

Only 17.5% if you aren't above 700€.

If hand luggage only, that will technically clear customs in Amsterdam. Besides that, is your daughter living in Germany, or going on the trip with you? If the items aren't staying in the EU, they might count as personal effects anyway.

- which means that, unless they do one of their extremely rare spot checks at the arrival gate, there will be no customs inspection at all. With hand luggage only the OP will be able to walk through the blue EU arrivals channel at TXL, if there is one.

On the down side, though, there will be Security at AMS, and the non-Schengen to Schengen security point can be a bit of a pain... so leaving the presents unwrapped, or loosely wrapped, is probably a wise precaution.