Amy40

I would like to give our host and hostess in France a gift, but I am also trying to keep the luggage to carry-on only. I am wondering if they will be charged duty on the package. Or will this "gift" in any other way become a PITA? Any advice on which service to use to ship? Thanks.

flanneruk

"I am wondering if they will be charged duty on the package"

If shipped separately, however you do it, they will be charged:
- import duty. In Europe, this is always trivial.
- VAT on the sum of the value of the product, the shipping cost, the import duty and any insurance. This is never trivial, except on books
- a handling fee by the organisation that's acted as an advance taxpayer by forking out the duty and tax.

There's no legal way of getting round this. You can lie on the Customs declaration you have to complete in the US, but that actually makes the recipient party to your criminality.

hetismij

It depends on the gift. My son regularly receives gifts from his Godfather in California with no charges for VAT or Import duty.
State honesly on the customs form what it is, and it's value and, provided it is nothing electrical/photographic, it should be fine.

Underhill

Our friends in France have never been charged duty on gifts under $25 or for the Christmas box of chocolates, jerky, and dried blueberries that we send.

Underhill

You could always order flowers and/or chocolates for delivery in France. There a number of good internet sites for doing so.