TABC to begin collecting tax in Jan 2014 (MERGED THREADS)

[smeyer418]

FYI in the past, they only collected this on Texas residents as they got off the ship. If your home residence was somewhere else, it didn't apply to you. The border crossings they talk about are also only for people who reside in Texas.

[DorothyB]

That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought reading the title.

 

I don't bring alcolhol or tabacco off the ship, so no new taxes for me :)

[danacline]

Well, yet another reason to quit cruising from Texas. I don't mind paying any Federal duty, but to pay duty to a state I don't even live in, well, just NO.

 

Kinda sad as we can drive to Galveston in about 13 hours, whereas driving to a Florida port takes 20+ hours. Oh well, Texas, you just lost my business.

[Hikini]

That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought reading the title.

 

I don't bring alcolhol or tabacco off the ship, so no new taxes for me :)

 

I thought the same thing….

[garycarla]

Just to highlight:

 

This only applies to booze and cigs purchased while on the cruise and brought back to the states.

 

It does not apply to booze and cigs that are consumed onboard.

 

 

I wonder how many will even bother to report it and will they go through bags?

[Rudyard]

I understood the rule to apply only to Texas residents or people who were not leaving the state within 24 hours. (I do understand that a lot of cruisers out of Galveston are Texans, so I'm not saying the rule doesn't impact lots of people.) In January, once you went through customs, there were people suggesting that if you had alcohol or cigarettes, you go to a window to pay taxes. But no specific lines, searches, declaration cards.

 

I read in another thread recently that it was amended in April to include everyone, not just Texas residents.

[Bookbug53]

I'm sure this will catch on and be at all cruise ports eventually. I don't bring any booze back so it doesn't really effect our cruising budgets.

 

Azmike480

 

US Customs already collects from those forthcoming passengers that actually declare their 'overages' at all ports.

 

We attempted to declare some bottles we brought back one time from the islands. The agent we walked up to did not know what we were allowed, what he should charge, and just basically waved us through with a disgusted look. Another time the agent smiled gently and said what we had wasn't worth doing paperwork for! :D

[FireEater]

I can not open the link.

 

 

Does it apply for non Texans passing through the state or just cruisers from

Texas ?

[sirfuller]

So, one day this may lead to people using rum runners to smuggle booze off the ship. What irony!

 

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[garycarla]

I can not open the link.

 

 

Does it apply for non Texans passing through the state or just cruisers from

Texas ?

 

 

It looks like the entire press release is in the post.

[tarps14]

My question is what if the booze comes with your cabin? We are cruising in October in an Owner's suite and get the three bottles with the cabin. Will they tax that?

[triptolemus]

My question is what if the booze comes with your cabin? We are cruising in October in an Owner's suite and get the three bottles with the cabin. Will they tax that?

 

Try reading it again. I will highlight the key points.

 

....cruise travelers disembarking out of the Port of Galveston will need to pay the tax for alcoholic beverages and cigarettes imported into the state that were purchased either on the ship's duty free store or at a foreign port of call.

[xbatt8]

This is the part that makes me think that the law hasn't changed.

 

"Section 107.07 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code, in effect for over 40 years, requires that each adult (21 years old and over) importing alcoholic beverages into the state for personal consumption pay the state tax and an administrative fee of $3.00."

 

Only a Texas resident would be importing it into the state for consumption. Non residents would be importing it into another state for personal consumption.

 

Bob

[tarps14]

Try reading it again. I will highlight the key points.

 

....cruise travelers disembarking out of the Port of Galveston will need to pay the tax for alcoholic beverages and cigarettes imported into the state that were purchased either on the ship's duty free store or at a foreign port of call.

 

I read it just fine the first time and my question still stands. However, I'm guessing since NCL hasn't even begun cruising out of Houston for the season yet, no one knows for sure exactly how it will be handled. Time will tell. I don't see $3.00 plus a minimal tax really breaking the bank.

[triptolemus]

I read it just fine the first time and my question still stands. However, I'm guessing since NCL hasn't even begun cruising out of Houston for the season yet, no one knows for sure exactly how it will be handled. Time will tell. I don't see $3.00 plus a minimal tax really breaking the bank.

 

I'm not sure how free booze given to you could possibly cause you to believe you may be subjected to this tax. :confused: But, okay...

[tarps14]

I'm not sure how free booze given to you could possibly cause you to believe you may be subjected to this tax. :confused: But, okay...

 

Well then, are you feeling better now that you've put me in my place? I simply asked a question. These are the types of replies that totally turn people off. Better to say nothing if you have nothing of any importance to add.

[RDC1]

My question is what if the booze comes with your cabin? We are cruising in October in an Owner's suite and get the three bottles with the cabin. Will they tax that?

 

If it has not been previously taxed in Texas then it is subject to the tax. If there is not a Texas tax stamp on it then probably the tax has not been paid. After all the tax is not based upon cost, instead by product.

 

When some ships got delayed due to fog last year, the ships were limited in what they could sell in the bars to only that product which had been purchased in Texas until they left the bay and was out of the state.

Edited September 6, 2014 by RDC1

[triptolemus]

Well then, are you feeling better now that you've put me in my place? I simply asked a question. These are the types of replies that totally turn people off. Better to say nothing if you have nothing of any importance to add.

 

Look, I'm sorry. I was just trying to understand the thought process here. I did not consider that you may try to carry off the booze that was perked to your OS.

 

Have a day.

[RDC1]

This is the part that makes me think that the law hasn't changed.

 

"Section 107.07 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code, in effect for over 40 years, requires that each adult (21 years old and over) importing alcoholic beverages into the state for personal consumption pay the state tax and an administrative fee of $3.00."

 

Only a Texas resident would be importing it into the state for consumption. Non residents would be importing it into another state for personal consumption.

 

Bob

 

I would not be to sure about that. Technically if you are bringing across state lines you are importing it into the state. The personal consumption is merely to indicate that it is not for resale, not an indication of where that consumption would take place. For example, You could not, under the law, bring in a couple of bottles for a bar you operated, even if the quantity was small and the volume allowed.

[garycarla]

I'm not sure how free booze given to you could possibly cause you to believe you may be subjected to this tax. :confused: But, okay...

 

Actually, I think it might be. Think this through.

 

If you and your brother were on a cruise and he buys you a bottle of rum in Mexico for your birthday and you take it home, would you have to pay tax on it? After all, it was free?

 

If you were in a bar in Mexico and they spilled a drink on you and gave you a bottle of rum to make up for it, would you have to pay tax on it? After all, it is free.

 

If NCL bought that booze in Mexico, and then gave it to the passenger in the OS, somebody has to pay the tax on it? Would the passenger have to get the hotel director to come down to the pier and pay the tax?

 

Bottom line, I do not know the answer. I do know that governments do some very silly things.

[smeyer418]

Well then, are you feeling better now that you've put me in my place? I simply asked a question. These are the types of replies that totally turn people off. Better to say nothing if you have nothing of any importance to add.

 

1. LOL that would cut down 95% of the posts on CC,

 

2. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1981202

 

notice that the OP shows a Texas residence and that he reports that this applies to Texas Residents.

 

as I said, the reports from when NCL sailed from Galveston before indicated that this applied to Texas Residents only. If appears that if your permanent address on your driver's license is somewhere else it doesn't apply to you...although they may as a port tax charge the inspection fee of $3 to everyone...you will never know it. It will be camouflage in "taxes and port fees"

and if you carry off what you are given for free, this is an excise tax based on volume not what you paid for it.

Edited September 6, 2014 by smeyer418

[sirfuller]

1. LOL that would cut down 95% of the posts on CC,

 

2. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1981202

 

notice that the OP shows a Texas residence and that he reports that this applies to Texas Residents.

 

as I said, the reports from when NCL sailed from Galveston before indicated that this applied to Texas Residents only. If appears that if your permanent address on your driver's license is somewhere else it doesn't apply to you...although they may as a port tax charge the inspection fee of $3 to everyone...you will never know it. It will be camouflage in "taxes and port fees"

and if you carry off what you are given for free, this is an excise tax based on volume not what you paid for it.

 

A thread similar to this appeared on the Carnival board and someone said that this law has been around for some time but in April of this year legislators changed the law so it applies to nonresidents too.

[RDC1]

It applies to everyone.

 

Since the web site isn't clear on who the tax applies to I sent an e-mail to the TABC to get a clear answer. Here is the response I received.

 

 

Regarding your questions below: The personal importation tax applies to all persons that enter the state of Texas via a cruise terminal regardless of their residency or the amount of time spent within the state. The tax is applicable to all alcoholic beverages and tobacco that enters the state via a cruise terminal.

 

Thank you,

 

Karen Smithwick

Field Operations - Ports of Entry Director

512/206-3279

[rvsullivan]

This rule/law has been in place for quite some time for border crossings. In the beginning, they asked for id and only charged Texas residents. They then found that folks were asking out of state residents to carry it through and then give it back after clearing the tax station. The rule then changed to anyone importing alcohol into Texas had to pay the tax. They now have built permanent buildings at the border to house these tax offices and you must go through/past them to leave Mexico. The oversight for the ships has been lax, but now that the cruise ports are getting busy, the loophole has been closed. It usually costs me about $5 to bring a liter of booze across. If this is enough to make someone travel to Florida instead, you must be importing a lot of booze!!!

The ones that tried to "game" the system to avoid paying the import tax are the ones that screwed it up for all of the out of states folks.

[hockeygal54]

Self reporting? 😝

 

 

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