I brought Scotch back from my study abroad year in the UK...just one liter, stuffed into my checked bag. No one inspected me and I never had to talk to anyone about it.

I was mildly concerned that someone would take it since I was only 19. Thankfully it wasn't an issue.

Of course, this was many years pre-9/11 and well before anything like Global Entry that would record you as a smuggler for life. These days, I'm pretty diligent about reporting everything even though I'm never bringing more than 2 liters back (can't fit any more than that into my checked luggage!)

Out of curiosity, how do you pay? Is it cash only? (I've never had anything over the limit)

I did this all the time underage (even with Duty Free booze in my backpack) and never got in any trouble.. but YMMV. You may get it taken away.

Added curiosity: what exactly *is* the duty on imported booze? Say I find 3 liters of Scotch at LHR - all unusual bottles that I really want to have in my cabinet at home. Say I'm happy to declare them all and offer to pay duty upon entry. How is it calculated? My bottles are typically in the GBP 60 / US 100 range and I'd obviously have the receipts to prove it. Is it just kind of up to the customs official? Is there a chance he could say "Go ahead...I can't be bothered"? Is there a chance he could want 100% of the value of the bottle as payment? Does the act of declaring an extra liter of whiskey increase your chances of getting a full-search through all of your luggage?

It's hard to pin down because it looks like it's affected by multiple factors, but the US Consulate in Curacao says it's about $2.89 per liter for scotch.

http://curacao.usconsulate.gov/u.s._..._information#7

It shouldn't take the agent long to figure out the tax ($6 or so); I suspect you pay by credit card. If anything, you'd get credit for being honest, and they'd not search you.

It is hugely short-sighted to do what some advise. A false Declaration is taken very seriously as are false statements to an Officer. Needless to say, if OP doesn't get caught, this doesn't matter. But, if he is:

1. Significant fine.
2. Bottle confiscated.
3. No chance of Global Entry (GE)
4. Likely secondary inspections for future entries.

#3's & #4 really matter as OP may well want expedited access in the future.

Well it has been 2 days so I'd like to know how the OP handled it and what happened?


or maybe he's in GITMO now ;) kidding.

I don't know - earlier this year I brought back 8 bottles of wine and a 750ml of Hibiki 17 and they didn't bat an eye. I declared it all and sailed through GE without a second glance.

In fact the place where I had to pay duty was at HND where I had an overnight on my way back to the US from Australia and since I declared it they made me pay ~$10 USD even though I was in Tokyo for less than 24 hours.

Also, although several people have said, essentially, "Well, I did it and got away with it," we don't know anything about the OP other than age and occupation as a student abroad. We have know way of knowing whether there is something about him or her which would register as a red flag and lead to a search.

Exactly. If he gets pulled into a secondary because his name matches someone on some watch list, they will find the booze.

As an aside, I routinely bring in two bottles of good stuff and, when asked, always state the # of bottles. Only once in the recent past was I charged the duty for that second bottle and it was somewhere around $3.

I've also had the interesting experience at BDA where duty-free is post pre-clearance CBP, that the duty on extra bottles is collected by the vendor at the point-of-purchase. I suspect that there are many people who envision massive payments, but import duties on standard consumer items tend to be negligible.

There's published allowances - something like under $800 USD and max of 1 liter of distilled spirit. I'm not sure if/how they treat beer and wine differently.

I brought 30 liters of Czech beer back from Prague in two suitcases last month, and declared it. I looked up excise on it ($0.60/gal), which would have been a bit under $5, but customs at DFW just looked it over and passed me on through.

If not GE, at least, having something to declare does get you routed through manual review and then over to the customs line.

FWIW, I brought alcohol back to the US a number of times while under 21 from many countries, including openly carrying it in duty-free bags. Never a word from customs. As a 20 year old, I even once explicitly declared and paid duty on a case of wine I brought back from Europe!

Since I have GE now, it has been a while since I've done the paper customs declaration, but as far as I can recall there is no question specifically asking about alcohol. I always interpreted that form to mean that as long as I was within my exemptions and none of the specific checkboxes applied (e.g. meat, etc.) there was no need to write down details of any sort... how would not declaring a single bottle of whisky then be a false declaration?

Also, aren't the underage drinking laws all state laws anyway?

As always, if you choose to break laws you may get away with it, and you may not.

The OP just needs to decide if the chance of never getting Global Entry, getting fined, possible heavier secondary inspections for years, etc is worth it to bring this one bottle back.

Since OP had already purchased the liquor, he has little choice (unless he throws it away before departing:rolleyes:), but to bring it through customs--declare it, and hope for the best [hiding it, as others have noted can have current AND future issues, if it is detected (undeclared).
A further comment, duty free (particularly liquor) is not the big bargain people believe it is:td:. I've priced several items at DF in LHR, ZRH, CDG--they are NOT bargains. With proper searching on the internet, I've been able to buy some liquor at 1/2 the DF prices at those airports.
I can buy from an internet store (in the US) Courvoisier XO 750 ml for $99...