Be Careful What You Buy on Board

[nelblu]

Just a question that came to mind.  Does anyone know if US Customs reports transactions to States, therefore triggering a sales tax or is it up to the individual to report on their income taxes.

[reallyitsmema]

5 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Just a question that came to mind.  Does anyone know if US Customs reports transactions to States, therefore triggering a sales tax or is it up to the individual to report on their income taxes.

 

I would see if you can find that information here:

 

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/clearing-cbp/traveler-entry-form

[coaster]

We will be careful next time. Had no idea purchases were reported. DW bought a $10 Cruise Club watch on a previous sailing...😏

Edited October 21, 2022 by coaster

[flamingos]

10 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

The form is available online or you can request one at guest services if you know you have paid more than your personal allowance.

 

And that's the issue. The highly trained staff in the shop could easily have mentioned that while they are duty free, items above a certain amount might be taxed when they get off the ship, 'here's the form' or 'Guest Services will have more information'.  It's not that hard, and it saves the hassle for the guests. 

[reallyitsmema]

3 minutes ago, flamingos said:

 

And that's the issue. The highly trained staff in the shop could easily have mentioned that while they are duty free, items above a certain amount might be taxed when they get off the ship, 'here's the form' or 'Guest Services will have more information'.  It's not that hard, and it saves the hassle for the guests. 

 

Or the guests could educate themselves before travelling and make sure they know what they are allowed to spend duty free and what they need to be prepared to declare.

[bjlaac]

Long time cruiser here and this has been going on for decades.  The shops whether on the ship or in the Islands will always say its duty free, which it is from excise and import duty tax.  However there is a limit up to $800 per person or $1,600 if you stop in the USVI.  I don't think the amounts have changed in a long time.

 

Use to be everyone had to fill out the custom forms but that stopped a while ago any only if you exceeded the limit did you need to complete it.  Now the cruise lines could be a little more reminding but its really each individual to know the law and their limits.

 

Always assume you'll be stopped by customs and if you are not...move along. 

Edited October 21, 2022 by bjlaac
correction

[not-enough-cruising]

13 minutes ago, coaster said:

We will be careful next time. Had no idea purchases were reported. DW bought a $10 Cruise Club watch on a previous sailing...😏

Only purchases over a value surpassed by federal guidelines are reported. 

[foxgoodrich]

15 minutes ago, coaster said:

We will be careful next time. Had no idea purchases were reported. DW bought a $10 Cruise Club watch on a previous sailing...😏

Customs only requires reporting of purchases that exceed the $800 duty free personal allowance, so relax...your DW should be fine with the $10 watch...

[not-enough-cruising]

5 minutes ago, bjlaac said:

Long time cruiser here and this has been going on for decades.  The shops whether on the ship or in the Islands will always say its duty free, which it is from excise tax.  however there is a limit up to $800 per person or $1,600 if you stop in the USVI.  I don't think the amounts have changed in a long time.

 

Use to be everyone had to fill out the custom forms but that stopped a while ago any only if you exceeded the limit did you need to complete it.  Now the cruise lines could be a little more reminding but its really each individual to know the law and their limits.

 

Always assume you'll be stopped by customs and if you are not...move along. 

Buying on the island makes it very easy to avoid the purchase being reported, and avoid the declaration. 

[foxgoodrich]

33 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Just a question that came to mind.  Does anyone know if US Customs reports transactions to States, therefore triggering a sales tax or is it up to the individual to report on their income taxes.

No, I don't believe states are involved, except in certain US ports with purchases of liquor or tobacco.  For example, if you sail out of Galveston, when you disembark there's a Texas liquor tax station you're supposed to go to and pay Texas tax if you've bought booze.  I don't buy liquor on ships or itineraries sailing from Texas, so I don't know how much they charge,

Edited October 21, 2022 by foxgoodrich

[nelblu]

 

1 minute ago, foxgoodrich said:

No, I don't believe states are involved, except in certain US ports with purchases of liquor or tobacco.  For example, if you sail out of Galveston, when you disembark there's a Texas liquor tax station you're supposed to go to and pay Texas tax if you've bought booze.  I don't buy liquor on ships sailing from Texas, so I don't know how much they charge,

You are missing my point, yes, States that have a sales tax are involved because when I fill out my NJ Income Tax forms, there's a question on $ amounts of purchases made out of state and apply a sales tax % accordingly.  In a sense it's on an honor system, however if reported by US Customs or Treasury then it's a different ball game. 

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

In retrospect, was their something you could have done differently to pre-empt the situation?  Without the form, I am not sure how you would even pay a duty anymore.

In the disembarkation info sheet they used to and probably still do have the duty amounts and they told you where to report to pay duty. Many probably don't notice it. I have not paid attention to it for a while since I don't make large purchases overseas anymore but the customs agents to report to pay duty on a cruise back then were in a lounge on the ship. if it stillis then the horn won't go off ifyou have settled. The method of determining duty is somewhat arcane depending on the item, I think art was different than jewelry,  and the customs agents seemed to have some leeway. 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Charles4515

[ReneeFLL]

3 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

…I truly question the over dramatization of the above narrative. 

I don’t. This has been reported before on here with being treated the same way.

 

24 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Or the guests could educate themselves before travelling and make sure they know what they are allowed to spend duty free and what they need to be prepared to declare.

If someone doesn’t know they need to pay taxes on something, why would they think they need to educate themselves?

[deliver42]

I've been over on liquor purchases, and haven't had a problem. Purchased on board and on an island.

[nelblu]

7 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

In the disembarkation info sheet they used to and probably still do have the duty amounts and they told you where to report to pay duty. Many probably don't notice it. I have not paid attention to it for a while since I don't make large purchases overseas anymore but the customs agents to report to pay duty on a cruise were in a lounge on the ship. The method of determining duty is somewhat arcane depending on the item, I think art was different than jewelry,  and the customs agents seemed to have some leeway. 

I'm not sure that there's a Custom Agent on board, otherwise it would have been handled on board rather than at the disembarking stage.

 

I'll have to ask when I'm on Oasis in December.

Edited October 21, 2022 by nelblu

[reallyitsmema]

3 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

I don’t. This has been reported before on here with being treated the same way.

 

If someone doesn’t know they need to pay taxes on something, why would they think they need to educate themselves?

 

It is a matter of personal responsibility.  We all look into what documents we need to cruise or to fly, or to travel to a different country during covid, we also need to know what we need to do to get back home too.

[reallyitsmema]

7 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

I've been over on liquor purchases, and haven't had a problem. Purchased on board and on an island.

 

We have also bought excess alcohol but have declared it on our form.  On one cruise, you had to go to a specified lounge to appear before a customs agent to show your overage.  Customs agent sort of laughed at our extra two bottles and said have a nice day.  Didn't charge us the couple extra dollars due.

[Charles4515]

6 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

We have also bought excess alcohol but have declared it on our form.  On one cruise, you had to go to a specified lounge to appear before a customs agent to show your overage.  Customs agent sort of laughed at our extra two bottles and said have a nice day.  Didn't charge us the couple extra dollars due.

 

That is what I remember doing. Going to a specified lounge and somehow never had a charge but on items other than liquor the amount of duty depends on category and origin. So always save receipts.  it is difficult to figure out on your own what the duty amount will be.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Charles4515

[mafig]

You can add a couple together, can't you?  For instance a husband and wife's allowance would be $1600 and it could be for one item.  i don't recall if children come into the mix, but I seem to recall they might.

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, nelblu said:

Just off Oasis out of Bayonne.  The cruise was simply fantastic other than a minor weather blip of a day.  While on board my son bought a Tag Heur men's watch.  When we disembarked in Bayonne, my son was prevented from leaving with a big warning sign indicating on the screen.  No explanation given even after we asked security multiple times as to the reason.

 

Some 10 minutes later, the D lounge concierge came and asked my son to follow him.  He was so serious and cold that we could not understand what the issue(s) was.  By the way, all of the adults have Global Pass and have fingerprints on file.  I asked the D Concierge for an explanation, but he wasn't too glib with his answers.  It seemed like one big damn secret.  We began to get worried especially, my granddaughter as she could not understand as to what was happening.  We followed them and went thru Customs/facial recognition process and no problems. Finally, he was leading us to the Customs offices.

 

A Custom officer came to greet us and asked my son for the receipt of the purchased watch.  They were so upset and frazzled that they could not readily find the receipt.  He told them to calm down and took my son to an enclosed area of the Customs Office away from us.  My granddaughter was upset as she did not understand what was going on.

 

My son told us that the Officer asked him some questions and was very kind and asked him the cost of the watch.  My son told him, and he was led to a cubicle where a cashier filled some paperwork and charged some $50+ and I guess it was for federal excise tax.

 

My conclusion, since Customs has done away with the "Custom Declaration Form", it seems that the cruise line is communicating/coordinating with Customs on any large purchases made on ship.

 

Our gripe is the secrecy and convoluted way that the way it was handled.  It was a bit embarrassing to say the least.   Why not explain why he was prevented from leaving and better yet why not charge for any federal excise tax at point of purchase rather than being treated like he did something wrong.

 

By the way if one says, "why should Royal get involved with collecting taxes", well Royal charged Nassau VAT taxes of 10% for the Beach bed that I rented on Coco Cay Chill Island.

 

Last famous words form my son and DIL--we will never buy anything of value on the ship, other than minor items.

Your duty free limits are very clearly documented. THe fact that your son decided to smuggle a watch which exceeded his duty free limit is on him, not the cruise line, not customs and border control. 

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, Ashland said:

How are casino winnings over a certain amount handled ? Someone on our Panama Canal cruise a couple of weeks ago won 10k.

If you have over $10K in monetary instruments at time you cross the boarder into the United States, you are required to declare it. If you win $10K and spend $1K and only have $9K in your pocket, you can walk on through. Declaration is filling out an online form on your phone and submitting it for processing. Anything over $1200 generates a W2G form which is reported directly to the IRS. 

[not-enough-cruising]

28 minutes ago, mafig said:

You can add a couple together, can't you?  For instance a husband and wife's allowance would be $1600 and it could be for one item.  i don't recall if children come into the mix, but I seem to recall they might.

correct

 

[Mum2Mercury]

Serious questions: 

 

Why do people buy expensive things like jewelry and watches on ships, where it's hard to price-compare and getting customer service later would be difficult?  Do you research it ahead of time to know what a reasonable price is?  Same questions about buying on an island.  

 

What am I missing?  

[Sunshine3601]

4 hours ago, nelblu said:

You weren’t there, so you don’t know how it  all went down.  All the security or the d lounge concierge had to say was Customs issue regarding a purchase made in ship. 
Do you want me to say that my granddaughter cried. 

Remember they ate also limited on what they can or cannot say to travel companions.   They cannot announce to the entire travel party "this man bought a watch that cost xxx of $$$ and must come and pay tax"   

Privacy policy comes into play.  

Having Global Entry doesn't matter for this situation.

[Seville2Cabo]

1 hour ago, mafig said:

You can add a couple together, can't you?  For instance a husband and wife's allowance would be $1600 and it could be for one item.  i don't recall if children come into the mix, but I seem to recall they might.

I thought everyone in the household got the allowance. So if there were 3, there would be a $2,400 allowance. I have bought watches declared them, and told to just go. Not worth their effort. 
 

Tag’s are usually under $2,400.  So surprised they would do paperwork for $50