You missed the comments upthread that USCIS also enforces any state laws, so it is relevant.

Michigan seems to have a similar law to TX.
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CI...6_117664_7.pdf

Some of my trips have been under an hour, and I have returned with up to 40 liters of liquor and 5 cases of beer. I have always declared it. With a few liters, they usually wave me on. With 10+, they send me to secondary to pay the duty (and thoroughly search my car while I am inside :mad:). CBP has never brought up Michigan law or charged me Michigan taxes. The duty on a $10 liter of vodka and $25 liter of bourbon has always been the same, so they must not be including MI taxes in the calculation CBP charges.

I brought a dozen or so bottles of beer back from Germany about 6 years ago. Declared them on my form, under valuation, and got waved through.

Not really. Those comments were posted after mine. And what I expressed poorly was that the Texas law isn't going to effect the duty charged by US CBP.

joe

a bit of a tangent but THe TABC- Texas Alcholic Beverage Commision is not set up at DFW or IAH, but they do have little stands at the Mexican border bridges and their officers, who are very high on power, will inspect bags and make you pay even ten cents of tax on the bottles and normally make you get the stamp.

I don't know if they run 24/7 or not, but they are there.

I brought 5 giant moving boxes worth of wine, liquor and beer back from Europe, but luckily Texas (and most states) have special provisions for US gov't employees moving household goods from overseas. The only caveat in Texas is a licensed dealer must accept it first and then deliver it to you. The gov't covers the cost as a benefit.

I actually wanted to ship a much larger quantity in my returning household goods, but they would have required me to hire a customs broker to clear my shipment when it hit the US, and the price was too rich for my blood. Since I'm not a collector, it just didn't seem worth it.

damn man, how much? Was it because of the state you were moving too?

I shipped 9 crates of wine, plus 80 bottle of various types, plus some beer and hard stuff (granted my dutch movers were good at hiding the Havana Club :-) )

I have flown with beer many, MANY times, have always put it on the hold, and (knock on wood), have not yet broken a single bottle. Wrap each bottle in bubble wrap individually, and put it inside of a ziploc bag (or a shopping bag if giant ziplocks are unavailable). That should be enough, but I also take the additional step of wrapping clothes around the bottles as additional padding, and having the airline tag the bag as fragile at check-in.

As far as customs goes, I declare that I have X amount of alcohol with me in my checked luggage, and have never had to pay a cent in duty.

Makes sense. Very few people are going to import massive quantities of liquor through an airport - way to cost prohibitive to the consumer, and minimal taxes mean an unacceptable cost/benefit ratio to the state (not that it matters to most governments). The probability of intercepting a truckload of tequila at a land border is much higher.

I'm planning on driving back from Canada -- we're US residents (some US citizen and some dual but not relevant for this purpose, I think). We're likely to have a case of beer and 3 bottles of wine left over.

Does the limit apply to adults individually (my assumption) or the family? We have two adults and one 19 year old. Does that mean one case for one adult is OK and one bottle for each of the two others meet CBP regs?

Individual. Since the 19 year old is younger than the USA drinking age, at minimum expect his alcohol to be confiscated, and at worst except him to be arrested for possession of alcohol by a minor. I suggest that the 19 year old not declare any alcohol and the "adults", if aged 21 or older, declare all alcohol.

My specific experience bringing excess alcohol into DFW:
From my experience crossing the Mexican border on land, I thought the rule was two bottles of liquor per person. So my husband and I both had 2x1.5 liters, or 3 liters each. I mentioned that I always thought the limit was two bottles. He replied that the specific limit it 1 liter, but they usually wave 2 x 750 mL bottles of liquor through as under the limit because it basically rounds down to 1 liter. <shrug> They referred us to a window where they guy spent 15 minutes calculating that we owed $4.15. Then they got flustered when we tried to pay cash because they didn't have change and they have to write special receipts for cash, so we just charged it to a credit card.

Experience in LAX:
My husband, traveling alone, brought one case of wine (12 bottles) from Australia. They referred him to the duty window, the agent asked if they were all the same kind of wine. Hubby said no, they were all different wines from several small vineyards. The agent looked disgusted at the thought of having to calculate taxes on 12 individual bottles of wine, asked if they were for personal consumption, and just waived him through. I can only guess that the tax owed would greatly outweigh the cost of his salary for the hour it would take him to calculate the tax. That or he knew they wouldn't be in the book and would just be a royal PITA to establish the tax value.

So, a case of wine for personal consumption is not too much; I can't imagine a case of beer (24) would raise eyebrows. But if they follow the book, you may spend a bit of time calculating taxes.

Huge +1. Paying an extra couple of dollars for the alcohol duty is much better than paying a citation for MIP (minor in possession).

State drinking age :)

The US territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are both 18 and up. ;)

Indeed. The USA has no federal drinking age. However, all 50 states have chosen to set their drinking age at 21. But other US territories might be lower. Be sure to check local regulations.

Not sure about applicability on tribal reservations / Indian lands.

When did Louisana bump the bar age from 18 to 21? I know through the mid to late 90s it was 18 in Louisana bars but not liquor stores; they were 21.
IIRC Louisana lost federal highway dollars, which was how the feds enforced 21 year old drinking laws again IIRC.