Import/export allowances to/from Europe?
Oct 4, 2005 | 10:58 am
#1
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Import/export allowances to/from Europe?
Doing research on a trip, and was curious if anyone has a link handy to information about customs and duties, alcohol limits, etc. for Americans going to/from France and England? Thx in advance!
Oct 4, 2005 | 11:08 am
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Originally Posted by anonplz
Doing research on a trip, and was curious if anyone has a link handy to information about customs and duties, alcohol limits, etc. for Americans going to/from France and England? Thx in advance!
More than you can carry I would think.
Oct 4, 2005 | 11:21 am
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Thanks, USAFlyer!
Here is another site I found that answers some questions:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/va..._exemption.xml
But say I want to bring back 5 or 6 bottles of wine from Freedom - how much is the duty, hypothetically, to get back into the US?
Here is another site I found that answers some questions:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/va..._exemption.xml
But say I want to bring back 5 or 6 bottles of wine from Freedom - how much is the duty, hypothetically, to get back into the US?
Oct 4, 2005 | 12:59 pm
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Originally Posted by anonplz
But say I want to bring back 5 or 6 bottles of wine from Freedom - how much is the duty, hypothetically, to get back into the US?
Mike
Last edited by nako; Oct 4, 2005 at 1:02 pm
Oct 10, 2005 | 8:25 am
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Originally Posted by nako
Not very much - probably a few dollars at the most. (IIRC, the duty is charged at a 3 percent rate of the amount exceeding the duty-free limit.) In fact, it may be small enough that the customs agent won't bother with the forms and the time needed to collect said duty.
Mike
Mike
Oct 10, 2005 | 11:51 am
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Originally Posted by anonplz
It's important to note that, for US citizens (and others, as far as I know), the customs form doesn't outright ASK you how much in volume of alcohol you are bringing back into the US - the form requests only that you itemize and list value of your purchases on the back of the form, where you can simply write, "Wine" along with the dollar amount in the "value" column. So whether it's a single, rare $100 bottle of wine or 8 bottles of wine from the Monoprix totalling $100, it appears as though it's equally non-dutiable, as long as you are within your duty-free limit (of, what, $800?). This is assuming that you are bringing the wine into the US for personal use.
Were you to put "Wine - $100" on your customs form, don't be surprised if they were to ask you "How many bottles?" as part of the questioning. This is because it's the volume that determines whether or not it's dutiable, not the value.
Mike
Last edited by nako; Oct 10, 2005 at 11:54 am
Oct 10, 2005 | 8:08 pm
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Originally Posted by nako
The problem, however, is that it doesn't work this way. In the $800 duty free limit, you're only allowed to include a limited amount (1 liter) of alcohol. Any amount above the 1 liter is technically dutiable, regardless of whether its value would still fall within the $800 limit. I could bring back 12 liters of single-malt from Scotland and still have to pay duty on 11 liters, even if I brought nothing else back with me and the combined value of the bottles was only $600.
Were you to put "Wine - $100" on your customs form, don't be surprised if they were to ask you "How many bottles?" as part of the questioning. This is because it's the volume that determines whether or not it's dutiable, not the value.
Mike
Were you to put "Wine - $100" on your customs form, don't be surprised if they were to ask you "How many bottles?" as part of the questioning. This is because it's the volume that determines whether or not it's dutiable, not the value.
Mike
Oct 10, 2005 | 8:40 pm
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My experience with wine into US
My experience has been favorable with the customs agents. My understanding is that duty is charged by the bottle, there is a two bottle limit (750 ml bottles), and that you should declare how many bottles total you have in addition to the price. I don't remember the exact duty amount, but it was a ridiculously small amount per bottle (less than $1.00 each) and I was always therefore ready and willing to pay it. I've never brought back more than a case and I've always been waved through - my guess is they don't want to fill out more forms just to collect $5 or $10 from me.