Travelers Face Limit of $630 on New Goods

[55North]

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/600/42/379437.htm     

[kievstar]

There are many free software programs you can use to make fake receipts.  So not hard if your bringing in 2,000 USDA of goods and have fake receipts showing 500 usd.  Europe has and will impose more taxes on goods.  Obama wants this as well for USA.  So this is just not a Putin thing.  But goods have always been subjected to taxes in most countries. 

http://www.customreceipt.com/index.php               

There are better programs out there but they tend to have viruses and I have strong virus control but others may not on their computers.

[Olga_Mouse]

Hm... isn't it just easier to throw the package & receipts away, and in case your luggage would be checked by customs - to tell that that the goods are not new?

Or to tell that one hasn't bought them abroad, but took from home & is bringing back now? At least this is what people I know are doing... 

[55North]

Yes, that's an option that only works until someone says 'prove it'.
 
Without a receipt, genuine or not, I expect a 'cash' settlement will be required.  

Apologies to all that the original link is now hidden behind a subscription barrier.

[ConnerVT]

Having passed through the "Green Line" customs check at SVO for a number of years (the last time this June with 6 suitcases, mostly filled with "new" merchandise), I still see this as a non-issue.

Customs at SVO isn't anywhere as organized and well run as you find in the USA.  There are usually a couple of bored employees watching people put their suitcases on a circa 1980's x-ray machine.  Unless you have several electronics devices (say, 4-5 digital cameras, a couple of laptops, etc.), no one is going to question you.

The issue with pricing "New Goods" is twofold -- What constitutes "New" vs. "Used", and what do you use to determine pricing.  Is an item still new if it isn't in the original packaging?  Is clothing still new if it has been laundered?  For pricing, is the value retail in Russia?  In the USA?  Perhaps it is wholesale pricing -- Levi jeans may sell for $100 in Russia, $50 in the USA, but wholesale is about $15.

Customs duty isn't charged on items that are personal belongings that will leave the country with the traveler.  Add in a language gap, and instead of a 45 minute headache for the employee, they are much more likely to wave you on and continue to wait until their shift ends.

[Olga_Mouse]

There are usually a couple of bored employees watching people put their suitcases on a circa 1980's x-ray machine.  Unless you have several electronics devices (say, 4-5 digital cameras, a couple of laptops, etc.), no one is going to question you.

When it goes about flights from the States, customs were actively looking for I-Phones a couple of years ago... and I know a guy who recently lost to cutoms all the 10 I-Pads he was trying ti import 

Flights from Switzerland might be checked for expensive handwatches; the trick is to put a watch on your hand and a box in your travel companion luggage (or ship the empty box by mail, if the watch is for re-sale).

Once arriving from Amsterdam to SVO I've been waiting for my luggage for more than an hour. When the luggage from our flight started appearing at the luggage belt, I had a look through these long rubber stripes that created kind of "curtain" between the loading area and the passengers area; and I saw a guy in uniform with a dog who sniffed all the suitaces before they have been thrown at the luggage belt by a loader! 

Flights from Italy might be checked for designer clothes, shoes and handbags. But throwing away the original package and price tags has always helped me so far.

According to my experience, when it goes about customs at SVO, the flights they REALLY check are from China, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

[ConnerVT]

When it goes about flights from the States, customs were actively looking for I-Phones a couple of years ago... and I know a guy who recently lost to cutoms all the 10 I-Pads he was trying ti import 

10 iPads?  Obviously a case of what I said above.  Hard to explain how they are for personal use.

Once arriving from Amsterdam to SVO I've been waiting for my luggage for more than an hour. When the luggage from our flight started appearing at the luggage belt, I had a look through these long rubber stripes that created kind of "curtain" between the loading area and the passengers area; and I saw a guy in uniform with a dog who sniffed all the suitaces before they have been thrown at the luggage belt by a loader! 

According to my experience, when it goes about customs at SVO, the flights they REALLY check are from China, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

I doubt either situation involved Customs (at least as far as collecting import duty).  More likely it was part of a security check.

[Sculpto]

I walked right into the green line in Pulkovo.. no one even looked at me let alone asked me to open a bag.  On the other hand coming back into the US I was held up both at immigration and at customs because they did not like the idea that I was travelling alone and with carry on only.  I actually said to the customs guy at JFK.. "what is your Fookin problem.. what do you care if I traveled alone or not?"  He gave me a look and passed me through.

[SANDRO43]

Once arriving from Amsterdam to SVO I've been waiting for my luggage for more than an hour. When the luggage from our flight started appearing at the luggage belt, I had a look through these long rubber stripes that created kind of "curtain" between the loading area and the passengers area; and I saw a guy in uniform with a dog who sniffed all the suitaces before they have been thrown at the luggage belt by a loader! 

Thats for narcotics, from Amsterdam for marijuana in particular I'd wager.

Flights from Italy might be checked for designer clothes, shoes and handbags. But throwing away the original package and price tags has always helped me so far.

Thanks for helping our foreign trade, SmugglerMouse .

[Rutherford]

Hmmm, wonder what would make someone look
for a way to create  fake receipts , besides cheating on income taxes

RR

There are many free software programs you can use to make fake receipts.  So not hard if your bringing in 2,000 USDA of goods and have fake receipts showing 500 usd.  Europe has and will impose more taxes on goods.  Obama wants this as well for USA.  So this is just not a Putin thing.  But goods have always been subjected to taxes in most countries. 

http://www.customreceipt.com/index.php               

There are better programs out there but they tend to have viruses and I have strong virus control but others may not on their computers.

[ConnerVT]

I actually said to the customs guy at JFK.. "what is your Fookin problem.. what do you care if I traveled alone or not?"  He gave me a look and passed me through.

He must of figured you were a fellow New Yorker.  We recognize each other pretty easily...   

[55North]

I actually said to the customs guy at JFK.. "what is your Fookin problem.. what do you care if I traveled alone or not?"  He gave me a look and passed me through.

Ah, Sculpto.  That's easy for you to say. 

Even on a visa-laiden British passport, let alone a Russian one, that would present you with the quickest return journey of a lifetime, I suspect.
 
As US embassy sites the world over say, a visa (or waiver) gives you the right to get on a US-bound plane, not to enter the country.
 
They need only to object to your choice of aftershave........

[Sculpto]

Ah, Sculpto.  That's easy for you to say. 

Even on a visa-laiden British passport, let alone a Russian one, that would present you with the quickest return journey of a lifetime, I suspect.
 
As US embassy sites the world over say, a visa (or waiver) gives you the right to get on a US-bound plane, not to enter the country.
 
They need only to object to your choice of aftershave........

LOL North.. well if they didn't let me back in I would be a man without a country.. blue passport and all..

I am accustomed to getting hassled coming in to the USA and i believe I have shared some smugglers tales on the forum.. but.. this was different.. it felt like some screwed up DHS initiative. 

[Olga_Mouse]

That's for narcotics, from Amsterdam for marijuana in particular I'd wager.

Yes, I also thought so.

Thanks for helping our foreign trade, SmugglerMouse .

Hey, I haven't been to Italy (well, only for a few hours to San-Remo - but haven't bought anything there) after these new regulations on new goods limit have been introduced - so calling me a smuggler is a bit premature, I'd say!  

[ConnerVT]

Ah, Sculpto.  That's easy for you to say. 

Even on a visa-laiden British passport, let alone a Russian one, that would present you with the quickest return journey of a lifetime, I suspect.
 
As US embassy sites the world over say, a visa (or waiver) gives you the right to get on a US-bound plane, not to enter the country.
 
They need only to object to your choice of aftershave........

Actually, by the time you get to mouth off to a US Customs agent, you have already been officially granted entrance into the USA.

[55North]

By 'they', I mean any official asking to see your passport.  One doesn't usually register departmental employment at such moments, when all you want to know is if everything is ok, and you're in.
 
My paranoia will wain the more I make the trip, as it did with Russia.

[ConnerVT]

In the US, we have a difficult time making those who entered the country illegally and commit murder leave the country.

Being a smarta$$ in New York isn't a crime.  It is a right.   

[55North]

 

[Sculpto]

Since July 1, in the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus comes into force an agreement modifying the terms of customs clearance of goods for personal use. Now, under this procedure will only goods worth over 1000 euros. Previously, it amounted to 10,000 rubles, and for courier services - 5000 rubles.
These changes may affect the market of household appliances. Especially at the part that follows the electronic news and tries to buy them immediately after the sale. Earlier, consumers are often deterred a 30 percent tax and a rather complicated procedure of the goods, from 1 July retailers that sell, for example, iPhone 4 to price in the area of 60000 rubles little that can be countered with eBay to $ 600 for the same model.

http://www.forbes.ru/52543-tamozhnya-razreshila-vvozit-tovary-do-1000-evro