I read that customs is cool with letting a laptop go through without paying taxes.
But if I brought my Wii and PS2 along with me, will they charge me for this? Would it be a better idea to have someone here in the US ship it US Mail to me individually?
And what about games and DVDs? If I brought them in a carrying case like those old CD folders we had before the mp3 days, would they nab me for that?
[quote=“brianUS”]I read that customs is cool with letting a laptop go through without paying taxes.
But if I brought my Wii and PS2 along with me, will they charge me for this? Would it be a better idea to have someone here in the US ship it US Mail to me individually?
And what about games and DVDs? If I brought them in a carrying case like those old CD folders we had before the mp3 days, would they nab me for that?[/quote]
My experience is that they don’t care what you bring along, as long as it is not food - unless of course it is a doggy bag from the meal served during the flight.
I brought a laptop and PS2 with me and paid no taxes. I think as long as it’s not brand-new, still in the box it should be okay. Not that they actually check anyone’s bags…
In 3+ years of twice annual trips, I’ve never been checked by customs. Not even my first trip when I had 3 humongous suitcases and 2 large boxes. I went through the green line and the agents just looked at me and chuckled.
In 9 years of living in Taiwan, leaving the island 3 or 4 times a year, I’ve never once been checked by customs.
Laptops? Games? As long as they’re for personal use, I wouldn’t worry about them. If you came in with a trunk filled with Wii sets, that would be a different story.
Oh 海關 customs, boring.
Personal items are free & exempt
In this thread My mail and packages forwarded from home (USA) we mention this review of 5 US services that forward mail or packages to you abroad. wowebook.com/shopping/intern … anies.html
Talking to other expats though, the story is that its generally pretty safe to import electronics in your luggage. But if you use DHL etc. it will get hit with a customs duty. That said, I know of a guy who brought in a projector and got hit with 30% duty at the airport. And I know of a guy who brought in a projector and an amplifier in their original boxes and waltzed through the “nothing to declare” line.
I personally have an Amazon Kindle shipped through Bongo via DHL, that is hung up at customs right now. The kicker is, there is a 1700 NT fee just for the privilege of getting screwed by customs, so even if they only hit me for a $25 duty on the $250 Kindle, then they tack on another $50. I think I have the option of just sending it back (and paying DHL shipping) if I feel they are being too greedy. OTOH I know a guy here who mailed in a Kindle with just a 10% fee. As far as I can tell, Customs is just luck of the draw, though a big box or a higher value (anything over $300) is more likely to get whacked. Electronics of any kind (cell phones, kindles, amplifiers, projectors) are like, Danger Will Robinson.
I was also never checked.
There was news some time ago that they would only tax if you carry more than two Wii per person. But that was when there was a huge hype around it.
I also brought all my old CD’s and DVD’s here (over 200).
If you want to avoid customs and you live in Changhua, do not have anything sent to you as customs will search most of your packages, they’ve so far gone 4 for 4 packages recently received. They don’t actually do much except nose around so far.
I’ve had every package mailed to me over the last three years checked. Going through the airport though - once, maybe twelve years ago.
Just about every foreigner I’ve talked to reports that. Anyway customs finally let my kindle loose, at a 10% duty. The lady at DHL also confirmed, very likely for foreigners’ shipments to get checked (and dutied). Probably started when that Canadian guy got caught shipping in drugs inside textbooks.
Use government-to-government post and you’re much less likely to have the package checked. Use Fedex, DHL, UPS etc. and it’s virtually guaranteed to get checked.
[quote]Use government-to-government post and you’re much less likely to have the package checked.[/quote]I’d like to reiterate that this is true for Taipei, but not Changhua.
What the diplomatic bag you mean? That doesn’t get searched, no…
My sister once sent a whole lot of random stuff to me. She sent me a large bag containing small bags of salt and vinegar flavoured potato chips. The fat fuckers opened one bag and ate some! They didn’t finish the packet though, so they probably didn’t like them. Funnily enough, they didn’t have a go at the vegemite. I wonder if they listened to the audiobook version of Thus Spake Zarathustra.
Yeah, I wonder.
If I imported 300US$ of fitness supplements into Taiwan for my use, what would the duty charge probably be? I might get them to declare it under 300$ value.
I’d use the International Express Courier as well, since they do tracking and sign off.
cheers for any replies
I also have a Kindle on order through DHL that has been sitting at the airport for 2 days now. The DHL status website says: ADDITIONAL IMPORT DOCUMENTATION IS REQUIRED FOR CLEARANCE
Not sure what that means, or how long it will sit there now. However seeing that they got your Kindle through, I’m hoping they get mine through too. I already paid an import duty through Amazon and according to their website rules, I shouldn’t have to pay any more than that, so let’s see.
What the diplomatic bag you mean? That doesn’t get searched, no…[/quote]
No, I mean, for instance United States Postal Service (government post) which is received and handled by Taiwan’s Post Office (government post), as opposed to private companies. If the declared value is under about NT$2500-3000, and you’re in Taibei, you have a very good chance of not even having it opened, in my personal experience (15 years, hundreds of packages).