Customs value reassesement?

[Adrian Bye]

I've got a package coming into the DR which I paid US$350 for. I'm now due to pay customs duty of RD $2907. This is via EPS, and it arrived in the DR on the 28th of December.

Thats almost $100 in taxes, or 30% of the cost of the item. The package had a receipt with it from Amazon. Does anyone know if I can get this customs duty re-evaluated? Is this a typical amount?

Adrian

P.S. This is what I ordered: Amazon.com: Pleo Dinosaur - A Ugobe Life Form: Electronics

[Hillbilly]

Sorry to say, good buddy, but you're screwed!!
Pay up, cry a bit, but unless you want to pay for a lot of gasoline going out to the airport and arguing until you are blue in the face, don't waste your time.
Next time, have the item sent to a friend who can then mail it to you, but with a declaration of value of less than $200....

HB

[MrMike]

I usually don't complain about 30%. You were going to pay at least 16% or ITBIS anyway, so you are really arguing over 14%, or about 39 dollars. If 39 dollars is worth your time and effort you may persue it, although you have a very small chance of the taxes being reduced.

I recently ordered quite a bit of stuff through EPS ad I am convinced more and more it is tossing dice, nothing more or less. I ordered two identical amplifiers for example, both cost $250 and they came in the same shipment. I paid 30% taxes on one and 100% on the other.

Sure I could complain, but I also ordered another item that cost me 1500 dollars and the taxes were less than 5% on that, so why have the whole shipment re-evaluated?

[Chris]

Saw one of these at the checkout of a store yesterday. A totally bizarre experience. I almost gave it my credit card to pay for my purchases while questioning my own sanity. Yikes!

Not enough money to complain about. If you complain, they will re-assess with a little note that a re-assessment may lead to 'increased charges'. Been there, done that!

[Beads]

If you have a receipt included does it usually help or hurt you with the assessed tax value? For example if you buy something in the states for $500 and bring it in with a receipt that looks legit and says you only paid $150 will they question it or just use the receipt if it isnt an item they are familiar with the costs of?

[Chris]

It has been said before on the board. The customs have a book and they don't share their book. They have values for stuff and will go according to their value, despite what your invoice indicates. It is a crapshoot, sometimes you're lucky and sometimes not. Most of us were hoping that DR Cafta would change this process to something where the costs are more definitive, but it has not worked that way.

Again, sometimes you're lucky. My personal estimation is that we get screwed on every 4th importation.

[Criss Colon]

Until they realize that a "Free Market" economy is the ONLY way for a country to prosper,they will remain a "Third World Country"!
They like taxes and fees,because those you can steal!
I stopped ordering "stuff" from outside the country through mail forwarders.I do without,or bring it in myself. At least then you can give the customs agent a few hundred pesosto let you pass. If they stop you at all!
Cris Colon
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

[Chip]

First, Happy New Year Adrian. There is a way to get around this, especially with uncommon items such as yours, have the item mailed to a PMB or a friend's residence in the States or wherever, and when you receive the receipt of your item in your email in html format, simply save it to your desktop and revise it so that it is not more than US200 and then have the PMB caretaker or friend forward it too you with the revised invoice.

As far as bringing stuff back into the DR and being charged by customs, In my almost two years and 8 or 9 trips, they have yet charged me anything, nor even asked to look at my stuff. Of course I do my very, very best to look like a pure gringo tourist, other than wearing shorts. And I bring back hundreds of dollars of goodies when I return, typically on the order of US500 to US600.

[Chris]

Chip, if you do that and they find you out, you'll pay too much in fines for it to be worth while. As I said, they have a book. They accused us of this very thing one time on a 2 for 1 spiff we got from a supplier. Luckily it was an invoice from a very well known multi-national.

Aduana soon backed off when we wrote to the multinational and told them that DR aduana is questioning the value on their invoices. We never sent the letter, but simply showed it to aduana. I never heard so many 'falta falta' in one sentence. We still had to pay for both items, but this time around it was a fair value.

[Adrian Bye]

Thanks for the insightful answers everyone.

Happy new year!

Adrian