how does one pay "duty" at customs

[tdeyette]

Question for our USA members.

 

I know as a US citizen we are able to bring back a certain dollar amount of duty free items from foreign ports including alcohol. In our various cruises we have found it fun to bring back locally produced alcohol as a souvenir or reminder of our trip.

 

We adhere to our customs limits but i'm curious as to how the duty is assessed and paid for when you go over. For example if we were to go over by a liter and declare it, is the duty assessed and paid for on the spot as you clear customs?

 

Thanks in advance

[mom says]

Haven't had to do it in the US, but have in a couple other countries. The customs agent will give you a bill itemizing the dutiable items and the amount to be paid. Then you'll be directed to a cashier desk where you pay.

Or he'll mark the dutiable items on your declaration and the cashier will tell you how much it will cost.

[easyboy]

Haven't had to do it in the US, but have in a couple other countries. The customs agent will give you a bill itemizing the dutiable items and the amount to be paid. Then you'll be directed to a cashier desk where you pay.

Or he'll mark the dutiable items on your declaration and the cashier will tell you how much it will cost.

 

 

Had same experience in a US airport. Could be the same in US cruise port.

 

 

 

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[Keith1010]

It is not totally straight forward but typically they charge you.

 

Typically if you exceed the limit up to $1,000.00 you would pay 3% of the amount that is over the limit.

 

After that it gets very tricky. What you might pay depends on each item where it was purchased, and a multitude of other factors. It is not so straightforward and the customs agents have a large notebook just to figure it all out.

 

Keith

[Anton]

Here is what happened to me at Miami last month when leaving Carnival Glory. It was my wife and I traveling so we had a total of $1600 in duty exemption. I bought $4200 worth of jewelry on the cruise. Each family member gets $1000 at a duty rate of 3%, and then it was 5.5% on the remainder. So: $4200-1600= $2600. $2000 x 3%= $60. $600 x 5.5%= $33. So our total duty was $93. Pretty cheap. What happened was I told the officer at the main lines I had exceeded the limit. They have stopped requiring a declaration in Miami, but I had a completed one with me. He stopped his lane and escorted us into a side office where another officer calculated the duty (I had to give him my sales receipts), then he took us to a little cashier window in the same office where he took our money and printed a receipt. It was sort of like a perp walk when the first officer stopped everything and told us to follow him, so everyone in the lines are staring at us, we have slowed down the process since we just caused one lane to close, etc. I didn't especially like how he handled it. But the guys in the office were very pleasant, even let us out a side door to avoid the masses.

[Keith1010]

This is the way it works at Miami. That is precisely how it happened to friends of ours.

 

Yours was less complicated since it was all jewelry.

 

Keith

[zqvol]

It is also within the discretion of the agent as to whether or not you owe any duty if you are over. All reports are that if you are over by one liter of liquor they wave you right on through, if you have a couple of cases over they will collect the duty.

[Tatka]

We just returned from a cruise starting and ending from Baltimore. This time around we didn't get usual immigration/customs form (something new). We thought we will be asked while going through immigration. Nope. Didn't happen.

We didn't have anything to declare (over the limit), but this was strange.

[Keith1010]

It is also within the discretion of the agent as to whether or not you owe any duty if you are over. All reports are that if you are over by one liter of liquor they wave you right on through, if you have a couple of cases over they will collect the duty.

 

This is correct.

 

Keith

[zqvol]

We just returned from a cruise starting and ending from Baltimore. This time around we didn't get usual immigration/customs form (something new). We thought we will be asked while going through immigration. Nope. Didn't happen.

We didn't have anything to declare (over the limit), but this was strange.

 

This is the new procedure that CBP is using. You only fill out the form if you do have something to declare. The same thing is happening in airports where you use the kiosk, and avoid paper forms as you return to the country.

 

It has been like this in Miami for about a year.

[Bonnie J.]

We got off Carnival Sunday. We had also cruised in November. On both cruises we didn't have to fill out the customs form as we had nothing to declare. The customs agent just looked at our passports STANDING outside her station. She didn't even scan them!

 

On our 1st cruise (1985) we decaled more alcohol and were escorted to a small room. The customs agent looked at the alcohol then said "just go , the fine is less than $10 and its not worth it to write it up"'! Don't know if that still happens but I have seen people with liquor boxes than hold more then the 1 liter you're allowed and they just breeze throw customs when they check out.

[new_cruiser]

We got off Carnival Sunday. We had also cruised in November. On both cruises we didn't have to fill out the customs form as we had nothing to declare. The customs agent just looked at our passports STANDING outside her station. She didn't even scan them!

 

On our 1st cruise (1985) we decaled more alcohol and were escorted to a small room. The customs agent looked at the alcohol then said "just go , the fine is less than $10 and its not worth it to write it up"'! Don't know if that still happens but I have seen people with liquor boxes than hold more then the 1 liter you're allowed and they just breeze throw customs when they check out.

 

Depending on where the liquor was purchased and made, a person can bring in 2 or even in some cases 5 liters of liquor from the Caribbean under their exemption and if it's a couple traveling together that would be doubled. See:

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/424/kw/alcohol%20allowance

 

Customs laws are complicated. We've only had one trip where we went over the dollar exemption. We showed the form to the customs agent at the airport and he waived us through. Possibly some of the items we listed weren't subject to duty. Apparently, you can bring in art duty-free so we may not have been over once that was subtracted.

[SRF]

Alcohol is dutiable by the liter, not by the dollar amount.

 

I have seen more than one case where small amounts over on alcohol or dutiable items was waived. As was mentioned, a lot of paperwork for a few dollars.

 

But what you DO NOT WANT TO DO, is not declare things and get caught. It will be NOT FUN.

[Geldhart]

Just watch Border Security for a sense of what happens when you lie to border officers. What would have been a "don't worry about it" or "this item isn't allowed, we'll just seize it and put it in the incinerator" turns into massive penalties, denied entry, or even connecting bracelets.

 

Nothing really bad will happen to (most) anyone who is honest with Border Control.

[SmoothFlying]

It is also within the discretion of the agent as to whether or not you owe any duty if you are over. All reports are that if you are over by one liter of liquor they wave you right on through, if you have a couple of cases over they will collect the duty.

 

This was almost identical to what happened to me. Wayyyyy back in '87, thirty-odd years ago when I was a solo cruise on my very 1st cruise, on CCL's very first 'cruise ship' the Mai Ga (now considered a tugboat, by today's standards) when I was debarking in FFL. I had one extra bottle of Jack Black, a gift for my best friend, as JackB is the ONLY alcohol. he'd drink, plus my bottle of Jim Beam.:cool:. The custom's agent was sitting at a desk as you came to the top of the debarkation tunnel. When my time came, I presented my declare form showing I had TWO bottles, one JimB and one JackB. He said, rather stiffly, 'YOU are only allowed ONE bottle per passenger, duty free !' I pleasantly replied, 'Oh, I know, I'll gladly pay the extra duty on the extra bottle'. He sorta looked shocked, like this was something that had never happened to him ! And he proceeded to take a pen and piece of paper and kept trying to figure out (in some sorta complicated mathematical form) just how much I owed. After several attempts, and ten minutes later, he FINALLY just threw down the pen and disgustedly said, 'Ohhhhhhh the he** with IT !! Just go with it !!' :D Boy !! Was I ever surprised ! It's never happed since, thought.:rolleyes: Ahhh..! For the GOOD ole days !! LOLLLLLLLLLLL !''

 

Mac

[new_cruiser]

Alcohol is dutiable by the liter, not by the dollar amount.

Meaning that the exemption is by volume, right? I haven't noticed any posts that said different.

 

If you go over the exemption, the duty is charged on the dollar value; CBP says 1.5%. One would have to have pretty expensive tastes or be willing to drag around a lot more quantity than I'd be willing to before it amounts to much.

[sail7seas]

This is the new procedure that CBP is using. You only fill out the form if you do have something to declare. The same thing is happening in airports where you use the kiosk, and avoid paper forms as you return to the country.

 

It has been like this in Miami for about a year.

 

 

 

I don't have a smart phone, don't need or want one so would I be able to do a paperless Customs at an airport kiosk ?

[tdeyette]

I appreciate everyone's comments. As almost everything else associated with cruising ... it depends, or it's consistently-inconsistent.

i was just curious to see if it's worth the hassle to bring back more than an allowable amount of alcohol.

we will be going to the Med in a few months and it would be nice to bring back some nice Lemoncello from Sorrento, or other unique liquors we may find.

 

Thanks

[sail7seas]

I appreciate everyone's comments. As almost everything else associated with cruising ... it depends, or it's consistently-inconsistent.

i was just curious to see if it's worth the hassle to bring back more than an allowable amount of alcohol.

we will be going to the Med in a few months and it would be nice to bring back some nice Lemoncello from Sorrento, or other unique liquors we may find.

 

Thanks

 

If you are sailing to NY, great bring your Lemonc ello but if you are flying? Why brin g a heavy bottle which will have to be packed in checked luggage. can you not b uy i t i in NY?

[Bonnie J.]

In St. Thomas everyone is allowed to get 5 bottles each of alcohol - St. Thomas is owned by the US. Other ports have been 1 litre per person.

 

I learned when I am given a gift of alcohol I had to put it on the custom form but where it said price, I was told to judy put 'gift'. (On one cruise the maitre'd gave me a bottle EACH night. When he found out it was our anniversary he ALSO gave us a bottle of champagne. Then the cruise director also gave us a bottle of champagne! We took 9 bottles of wine off the ship with no problems!)

[tdeyette]

If you are sailing to NY, great bring your Lemonc ello but if you are flying? Why brin g a heavy bottle which will have to be packed in checked luggage. can you not b uy i t i in NY?

 

Yes, I have found that you have to be careful with what you purchase as more often than not we can get the same thing at home for a few dollars more... not worth the hassle. (Cruzan or Gosling's rum or for example)

but if we find something special that we are not likely to find at home, this is what I think would be worth bringing home.

sure we can get lemoncello here, but if we find something special we'll most likely bring it home.

as we are flying, we are surely not looking at case volumes... :)

 

Thanks again

[zqvol]

I don't have a smart phone, don't need or want one so would I be able to do a paperless Customs at an airport kiosk ?

 

Yes, no phone is needed for CBP use, though when flying to certain airports there is an app that allows you to avoid the kiosks.

[zqvol]

In St. Thomas everyone is allowed to get 5 bottles each of alcohol - St. Thomas is owned by the US. Other ports have been 1 litre per person.

 

I learned when I am given a gift of alcohol I had to put it on the custom form but where it said price, I was told to judy put 'gift'. (On one cruise the maitre'd gave me a bottle EACH night. When he found out it was our anniversary he ALSO gave us a bottle of champagne. Then the cruise director also gave us a bottle of champagne! We took 9 bottles of wine off the ship with no problems!)

 

Please note that the limit is 5 liters - NOT bottles. 5 liters could be 12 - 15 bottles. Also coming from STT, to get the 5 liters one has to be a product of the USVI, usually Cruzan rum works for that.

[Go-Bucks!]

Cruised to Cuba last month; we were told that we could bring back 1L of rum and $100 worth of cigars (or a max of 25). When going through customs in Miami, no one asked us if we had anything to declare and we didn't have to fill out those little slips of paper. I was quite surprised.

[whogo]

"how does one pay "duty" at customs"

 

Cash or check. Some places accept Visa or Mastercard.