Customs on software and computers?

[rafael]

After getting ripped off on customs for my 46" LCD TV I am wondering what customs rates are for software? I am planning on buying a bunch of software this month and would love to have it shipped here and not have to wait till I am in the states to get it.

Next month I may buy a new workstation and will carry that down with me. It would be better to just take it in original packaging but if customs charges as much on cumputers as they do on TVs . . . .. forget it!

Also my company has a few new products that are computer related but the customs people would have no clue what they did. I want to get one of each sent to me to use as demo units, but don't want to pay through the nose in customs. I may have to wait till I get to the states.

[Robert]

Flatscreen TV's are charged 14% Duty, 20% luxury tax and then 16% ITBIS on top of that, that's why they are expensive!

Computers are only charged 16% ITBIS. Computer related components are also taxed at various rates plus ITBIS.

I have many computer related components and software shipped here via EPS and they incur almost no duty. The trick is to keep the value under US$200 per package.

[PlantaFULL]

How much was the ripoff on the 46"LCD if I may ask?

I plan on gettin a 46" myself and because I often hear that customs charges by "size" regardless of the brand & model. So I figure I can as well bring a expensive Pioneer or Sony if the tax is going to be about the same as a cheapo Westinghouse of the same size.

[rafael]

Hmm. .. . so worst case the computer would not be taxed all that bad. What about software? I suppose I can have CDs removed from boxes and shipped fed ex etc

My 46" Tv was not charged by size, they assigned a value to it which was too high so I brought a copy of bill. I paid 900 for the TV and 200 to ship and customs was almost 700 bucks. Still cheaper than buying here!

[windeguy]

Originally Posted by Robert

Flatscreen TV's are charged 14% Duty, 20% luxury tax and then 16% ITBIS on top of that, that's why they are expensive!

Are the duty and luxury taxes applied first and the ITBIS then calculated on top of the that total? A tax compounded on a tax? That would mean about a 55% total duty/tax. Or is 50% total duty/tax correct?

On a $900 TV, 55% should have been about $495 US. The OP mentioned that customs applied their "own price". How nice, that they still do so! I take there still is no "transparency" in their dealings since he was overcharged by about $200.

Sadly, the OP is correct in that even spending what he did for the TV it was still much less expensive than what I see for prices here. And he probably got a new latest released model instead of an earlier generation, potentially refurbished unit. One huge potential drawback would be if the set fails in any way, it will be hard to get the warranty repair work done.

[dv8]

rafael, my husband had the parts for his computer shipped recently (he built the thing himself). as robert said, the key is to have no more than 200 USD of value per box. we paid no tax as things were bought via ebay/amazon from different sellers, arrived at different times and in different packages.

[Tamborista]

I often buy reconditioned/used machines for my business, how is the duty determined if I ship a used CPU worth $300 for example?

What would make sense to ship 12 CPU's worth $200 a piece, ship em' seperately?

tia,

tambo'

[Tamborista]

Part II to my dumb question:

If my Dominican partner imports the used computers, will he pay the same or NO Duty on the package(s)?

tambo'

[dv8]

i think we talked about it recently, i believe used items are taxed based on the mood of the officer :-)
in theory tax is based on invoice so if you have an invoice on $300 USD per piece you will be charged accordingly. try to ship 6 CPUs in one package and rest separately and work out what is best for you in a long run.
i don't think dominicans have any financial advantage here unless they know the right people.