Buying overseas

[Incroyable12]

Originally Posted by dmash

Germany was horrible when I lived there (in a Zoll sense). A lot of countries will just take your word for it if you declare a package for say, 250eur. EVERY package I imported there would get flagged to the Zoll office, they would ignore the value, and I'd have to open the package in front of the them. I then provide an official invoice for appropriate value, and even THEN if they didn't believe me, they'd google eBay completed auctions to see the actual value of said stuff. It was absolutely insane how much time they'd put into making sure they got every penny.

Sounds very German.

[Incroyable12]

Originally Posted by Xbj

Any country in mind in this context?

I've heard it's mostly the Germanic "Northern" countries that are very strict. The more South you get the more lenient.

[Incroyable12]

Originally Posted by INC

Nope. Switzerland is not part of the EEA, so this country acts as a de facto third country for EU customs authorities. However, since Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are part of the EEA, and Monaco has another agreement with the EU, so these countries form the duty-free zone in Europe.

What about the UK post-Brexit?

UK citizens get VAT free if they use a Guernsey or Isle of Jersey address.

[INC]

Originally Posted by Incroyable12

What about the UK post-Brexit?

UK citizens get VAT free if they use a Guernsey or Isle of Jersey address.

The legal status of these islands is so much the subject of English humor that as a foreigner, I don't quite perfectly understand this.

As far as I know the Channel Islands are British Crown dependencies but not part of the UK. Therefore they can have their own legal system but of course there can't be any customs between UK and the UK related territories.

[Incroyable12]

Originally Posted by INC

The legal status of these islands is so much the subject of English humor that as a foreigner, I don't quite perfectly understand this.

As far as I know the Channel Islands are British Crown dependencies but not part of the UK. Therefore they can have their own legal system but of course there can't be any customs between UK and the UK related territories.

Yes as I understand it they operate almost like independent nations. Neither part of the UK or the EU hence their status as tax havens.

[Stud Screw]

You can always wear the watch and mail the box home.

[seosub]

Originally Posted by JoaquinMex

Interesting opinions here.
I can only talk of 3 experiences bringing back a watch to the US
1. Bought a new watch with box and papers
2. Claimed my VAT exemption outside the US
3. Wore the watch on my wrist with box on my carryon
4. Declared the value of the watch minus VAT as total I spent

In three cases the customs agent did not even look twice and told me to go on. The watches were 6k, 12k and 16k.
IMO not declaring is not worth the risk.

Is the customs agent breaking Federal Law here? For law abiding citizens should we demand to pay?! :)

[amh]

Originally Posted by seosub

Is the customs agent breaking Federal Law here? For law abiding citizens should we demand to pay?! :)

I think just to be sure you should send the government an extra $10k tax payment. Who knows, some IRS agent may have overlooked a few items during their audit? You'll sleep better at night

[Dwatcher91]

Hi All,

Digging this thread up.

I live in New York (from Australia). A couple of months ago I bought a vintage rolex from 1991 and had it delivered to my home address in Australia to pick up when visiting for Christmas as a bit of a gift to myself. I paid the 10% tax on top when it arrived in Australia.

My question: If I'm now going to take it back home to New York with me, am I going to get slapped with an additional tax upon arriving in the US despite it being a vintage, used watch? From the above discussion it seems like yes, unless I wear the watch and post the box. I'd rather just take the watch and all contents home with me instead of sending part of it.

If that's the case, then what's to stop me having to pay tax on this watch every single time I enter a new country with it? Seems ludicrous to me.

If I have the papers in the box that states the watch was originally bought in 1991, is that enough to avoid the tax if I do declare?

Thanks all,