International Shipping
 

Please remind me of the daily duty free alowance for items shipped back to yourself in the US.

Keith

topping

Hi K,

IIRC, $200

Zero. To get the duty free allowance the items must be in you possession when you re-enter the US. Things you ship to yourself are subject to duty. Now whether or not they bother to stop a package and collect duty is variable...it the amounts are small, sometimes they just do bother. But these packages are subject to duty, and you should plan to pay and hope for good luck.

So, $200 or $0? Is there a website for this?

Inquire about shipping or mailing gifts as opposed to personal items.

There is no exemption for gifts at all. But the same thing applies: for small packages of small value, they may not bother to stop them for duty payment. But they can.

sorry, can't give you a webpage or site, but you can easily google it...of find the relevant info on www.treasury.gov-- the U.S. Customs Service is part of the Treasury Department.

But trust me: to qualify for the personal exemption
(1) the goods must be physically with you
(2) the goods must be for your personal use. (If you say they are a gift FOR someone else, they can charge duty, and I've seen them do this.)
(3)Doesn't matter if you purchased the goods or were given as a gift. The exemption covers (or duty applies to) any goods "acquired abroad"
(4) You can only get a $400 exemption (I think this is the current amount for most of the world) once every 30 days. And you must be outside the US a certain amount of time, I think 48 hours) to get an exemption.

This should be a helpful site:

http://www.ehow.com/how_111995_ship-...purchases.html

Here is another site with more info:

http://travel.howstuffworks.com/us-customs-service5.htm

When I send parcels from USA to Europe I mark "gift" on the form. Can the same be done in reverse?

What if I want to send my personal items so I can bring more souvenirs with me back to USA?