Buying overseas

[ts3]

Originally Posted by amh

In Germany I was told: "Go back to your own country and buy it there"

Makes sense. In Nuremberg where I was born I was told go back to Munich where you live. LOL

[TswaneNguni]

Originally Posted by amh

In Germany I was told: "Go back to your own country and buy it there"

Which is fair .

I pay 15% VAT,the foreigner claims it back at the airport,which is lost revenue for the country of sale .
Of course, the foreigner does not declare it when arriving in his own country .

So ,we see a lot of "I am on vacation " threads and want to buy Rolex .
Like the locals there are'nt buying it themselves !

[TswaneNguni]

Originally Posted by ts3

Makes sense. In Nuremberg where I was born I was told go back to Munich where you live. LOL

I also had that once before ,although I find that a bit extreme on the locals .

[Amwfhunter]

Originally Posted by rambo99

of course the custom will know what you are up to seeing you send empty new rolex box into the country. certainly they will come in full gear searching your house for the undeclared watch, beware!

No they won't. Not over a box. Lol unless you are joking lol

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[UmichNJ]

I was traveling with a colleague and we both purchased watches in Switzerland. I declared, and paid 2.5%. He did not, they found his box and receipt, and he lost his global entry privileges + paid a penalty. Not worth it. Declare it, they may waive the duty, and if not, the rate is usually pretty low.


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[Amwfhunter]

Originally Posted by UmichNJ

I was traveling with a colleague and we both purchased watches in Switzerland. I declared, and paid 2.5%. He did not, they found his box and receipt, and he lost his global entry privileges + paid a penalty. Not worth it. Declare it, they may waive the duty, and if not, the rate is usually pretty low.


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His mistake was either not declaring or having the box with him.

It is stupid and risky to not declare and have the box with you.

The price of losing global entry privileges is not worth the money u pay extra for duties.

Now if there was a way to not travel with the box and the box somehow arrives filled with candies and a birthday card addressed to someone else other than yourself...In the mail to your home..that is a different story.



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[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.

[Tdorb32]

...but is he really inquiring about how best to invade tax?

[Tools]

Evading taxes, and importing a watch into your own country without declaring it is a crime.

TRF should not be endorsing anybody who intends to skirt or break import law, and since this is an open Forum, folks are pretty dumb telling somebody to do so and "he should be alright".

Buying and paying taxes in one country does not address any import or duty taxes due when you enter (import) your watch into your own or another country.

[Giovannibravo]

Can the AD ship the box to your home? Wear the watch back. Anyways I would suggest declaring the watch. Not worth the hassle.

[1665fan]

There will be many womens datejusts waiting for your arrival!!!!!! Have fun buy them all!!!!

[jsobral]

Originally Posted by Shaitan

Put in on your wrist, post the box. Unless you want to sell it as unworn - you will have to declare it if you bring the box. No one is gonna look out for watches on your wrist if you come back from Peru, there’s something way more interesting for customs that comes from there. Wear it Under the shirt cuff and no one will ever know.

This is the way.

[Calatrava r]

Just declare the watch. Duties into US, on the value, should be about $300 based upon my experiences. I do not believe there are any offsets of other taxes against duties assessed coming into US.

[amh]

Originally Posted by Calatrava r

Just declare the watch. Duties into US, on the value, should be about $300 based upon my experiences. I do not believe there are any offsets of other taxes against duties assessed coming into US.

I've always declared and never had to pay.

[alphadweller]

I don't know about the US, but in my country anything I buy and bring from outside the EU into Spain must be declared. If I don't do it and get caught, I must pay a fine on top of the sales tax (21%) and admin fees. Taking an empty box and papers in your luggage with you while not declaring is one way of getting caught.

[Incroyable12]

Does Peru even have VAT refunds?

[fsprow]

Is there a connection between people that can afford to buy expensive watches and those who promote illegal import of goods purchased abroad? Maybe so.

[SAAS]

Originally Posted by amh

I've declared but have never been asked to pay a cent.

Same, honesty and respect goes a long way. I’ve seen things escalate quickly for those who aren’t, person ahead of me last entry was on cell phone was told to hang up and then started texting. Officer then asked to see receipts for any purchases and took them for a walk.

[Incroyable12]

Originally Posted by fsprow

Is there a connection between people that can afford to buy expensive watches and those who promote illegal import of goods purchased abroad? Maybe so.

Rich people love loopholes.

[faust munihausen]

Originally Posted by alphadweller

I don't know about the US, but in my country anything I buy and bring from outside the EU into Spain must be declared. If I don't do it and get caught, I must pay a fine on top of the sales tax (21%) and admin fees. Taking an empty box and papers in your luggage with you while not declaring is one way of getting caught.

The same goes for Germany (wexcept 19% VAT here).
If they catch you you pay a huge fine.

You can google Rummenigge (famous German seoccer player) and rolex smuggle.

[Incroyable12]

I bet a lot of watch smuggling goes on in Europe with trains.

[Incroyable12]

Originally Posted by Calatrava r

Just declare the watch. Duties into US, on the value, should be about $300 based upon my experiences. I do not believe there are any offsets of other taxes against duties assessed coming into US.

Your state may assess a sales tax actually.

Also how would they even know you have a Rolex box in your luggage? An X-ray wouldn't reveal the brand.

[JSCP]

Declare it,

they will probably not charge tax

[Wired]

Originally Posted by Incroyable12

I bet a lot of watch smuggling goes on in Europe with trains.

Smuggling from where to where?
We can buy in other EU countries and not declare purchase in our home country within EU. I am not 100% sure for Swiss but I believe the same applies. UK to EU is now a bit different. Unless you are smuggling from Instabul on Orient express…

For locals, Croatian customs/border control can be pretty much terrible almost every time when you return from countries outside EU; they will open up your luggage and go through it, ask about your laptop, watch, jewelry, basically anything that they find of value and generaly treat you like a smuggler. On one instance guy "accused" me that I have bought my MacBook pro and other photo equipment I had on me. Untill I opened the lid and showed him a keyboard with Croatian diacritics on it…

[Bizcut1]

Make sure you bring money for the fine and / or attorney needed when you break the law.

Make sure you tell the Customs Agents who are questioning you that you received some great guidance on all of this on an Internet watch forum
and you're pretty sure you are in the right.

That should help.

[amh]

Originally Posted by Incroyable12

Rich people love loopholes.

Have you ever paid cash for goods or service?
- Landscaping
- Meals at a restaurant
- Haircuts
- Plumbing, HVAC work

Ever wonder why you received a discount if paying cash?

[INC]

Originally Posted by Wired

We can buy in other EU countries and not declare purchase in our home country within EU. I am not 100% sure for Swiss but I believe the same applies.

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.

[dmash]

Originally Posted by Ringhio

If you payed taxes in the country where you got the watch and you didn’t request VAT refund, you should be good to go. You already payed taxes on the good and you are using it. You cannot be taxed two times for the same purchase, especially if taxation is higher where you bought it.

PS: if you want to play by the book and don’t use the watch, just request the VAT refund, declare the watch, get the $800 exemption and then pay taxes on the reminder. It might actually be less than what you would pay in the country where you are buying.

This is so blatantly false, sorry but you're wrong. Lol country tax doesn't reciprocate, you pay to import anything over a certain value in almost every country worldwide. Paying or not paying VAT is ENTIRELY an export policy of the country (or collection of, such as EU) you bought it. Bringing to another country is entirely separate.

There's some really weird comments in this thread.

[dmash]

Originally Posted by faust munihausen

The same goes for Germany (wexcept 19% VAT here).
If they catch you you pay a huge fine.

You can google Rummenigge (famous German seoccer player) and rolex smuggle.

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.

[Xbj]

Originally Posted by mikelprz

Have to research the rules in each country you plan to clear customs or immigration. Plus research the unofficial nonsense that occurs at the airport screening or customs process. The biggest concern is the unofficial nonsense. Some countries are just known for headaches for either of the two situations.

Any country in mind in this context?