Paying duty at the border above exemption amount
May 26, 2019 2:40 PM   Subscribe

I am purchasing my wedding dress in Paris and carrying it home across the border to the USA. It costs more than the $800 duty-free exemption; so how much duty will I actually owe?

Some more details, because from preliminary research figuring out duty rates is horrendously specific:
- The dress is from a Spanish designer, although I don't know where they actually manufacture.
- I bought it directly from a brand flagship store located in Paris.
- I'm not certain what materials are used in the dress, but probably (some combination of) silk or polyester.
- I'm a US citizen residing in the US.
- The retail value is in euros, but at current exchange rates it costs about $4000 before VAT tax refund.

Since the duty-free exemption is $800, I assume that I subtract that from the cost of the dress and will have to pay duty on $4000-800=$3200... but what's the *rate* of the tax?

Can I just show up at the border, fresh off the plane with my hopefully unwrinkled dress, declare it, and pay whatever amount they assess? This is my current plan, but it'd be nice to know how much to expect in extra taxes, for wedding budget purposes.
posted by serelliya to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (14 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Have you seen this page? Determining Duty Rates and here are the actual rate sheets. Pretty detailed stuff. At the left is a link to ask a question, worth a try.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:37 PM on May 26, 2019


Best answer: Can I just show up at the border, fresh off the plane with my hopefully unwrinkled dress, declare it, and pay whatever amount they assess?

You can. But you may need a checkbook. Credit cards not always accepted.

You can find duty rates in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. You might conclude that this garment falls into the following classification:

Chapter 62 Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted
6204 Women's or girls' suits, ensembles, suit-type jackets, blazers, dresses, skirts, divided skirts, trousers, bib and brace overalls, breeches and shorts (other than swimwear)
6204.43 Dresses, of synthetic fibers
6204.43.20 Other: Containing 30 percent or more by weight of silk or silk waste (636)

Chapter 98 Special classification provisions
9804.00.65 Articles imported by or for the account of any person arriving in the United States who is a returning resident thereof (including American citizens who are residents of American Samoa, Guam or the Virgin Islands of the United States): Other articles acquired abroad as an incident of the journey from which the person is returning if such person arrives from the Virgin Islands of the United States or from a contiguous country which maintains a free zone or free port, or arrives from any other country after having remained beyond the United States for a period of not less than 48 hours, for his personal or household use, but not imported for the account of any other person nor intended for sale, if declared in accordance with regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury and if such person has not claimed, an exemption under subheadings 9804.00.65, 9804.00.70 and 9804.00.72 within 30 days preceding his arrival, and claims exemption under only one of such items on his arrival: Articles, accompanying a person, not over $800 in aggregate fair retail value in the country of acquisition, including (but only in the case of an individual who has attained the age of 21) not more than 1 liter of alcoholic beverages and including not more than 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars

Chapter 98 Special classification provisions
9816.00.20 Articles for personal or household use, or as bona fide gifts, not imported for the account of another person, valued in the aggregate at not over $1,000 fair retail value in the country of acquisition, if the person claiming the benefit of subheading 9816.00.20 or 9816.00.40, or both, has not received the benefits thereof within the 30 days immediately preceding his arrival: Accompanying a person, arriving in the United States (exclusive of duty-free articles and articles acquired in American Samoa, Guam or the Virgin Islands of the United States

The U.S. has Normal Trade Relations with France and Spain, so you pay the Column 1 general rate. You can expect the first $800 under 9804.00.65 (free), the next $1000 under 9816.00.20 (3%), and the remainder under 6204.43.20 (7.1%). So 0×$800 + $1000×0.03 + $2200×0.071 = $186.20.

Interpreting Harmonized Tariff Schedule is super-complicated so it's possible I've gotten the above totally wrong. Especially since it's not really clear what country they'll decide it's from, but unless it is Cuba or North Korea, the rate can only go down. If I got the category wrong it could go up but probably won't by that much—the highest duty rate I see for dresses is 16%. I hope this provides you with a rough idea of what this might cost.

Also, you may have to pay state sales or use tax.
posted by grouse at 3:43 PM on May 26, 2019 [5 favorites]


Chapter 62 will drive you mad. You might try to call a customs broker in the US. They are the middle man for people and businesses importing into the US. They clear your commercial shipment because, as you can see, it's very painstakingly detailed. Since you wouldn't actually be hiring them, getting an answer from them would depend on their good graces.

In the past, I've also talked to a US Customs agent who was stationed abroad in a foreign capital and he was happy to answer questions so you might check that possibility. I don't know if you are overseas at the moment.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:57 PM on May 26, 2019


If you are determined to pay import duty, you should try to apply for the VAT refund in Paris.

Otherwise, unless you're reselling it, it's just used clothing. Once you leave the showroom, it loses most of its value. People bring expensive laptops, racing bicycles, etc. back and forth across the Atlantic all the time. It's don't ask, don't tell. If you're pathologically honest, say you bought some clothes.

The one situation where you're forced to pay import duty is if it got shipped to you by the retailer, but that's not the case since you're already flying over to fetch it.

Do buy premium travel insurance in case something happens to your checked luggage.
posted by dum spiro spero at 3:59 PM on May 26, 2019 [8 favorites]


Nobody pays duty on their own clothes in their suitcase.
posted by w0mbat at 4:41 PM on May 26, 2019 [16 favorites]


Used clothing that you've bought and worn during your trip, no. But you haven't worn it yet, right? Still has the "price tags" on it? Duty. If you are being scrupulous.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:45 PM on May 26, 2019 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Sorry, just to be clear not paying or declaring is a major major deal. For real. Don't eff around. That's pretty stupid advice.

The super detailed link above and calculation of ~$186 by grouse above is about what I came up with after searching for wedding dress in the HST book. I can also tell you as someone who lived abroad for ages the amount of times I actually had to pay duty was 1.the amount of times I declared over the limit was dozens and dozens. Including gifts, electronics, a freaking car, booze, wine, alcohol, hooch, and did I mention a freaking car.

Declared, bring checkbook and credit card and debit card and you will probably get an early wedding gift from your friendly CBP agent.

Seriously, a car. "No problem have a nice day". I was actually irritated as I had been extremely careful in document prep.
posted by chasles at 4:57 PM on May 26, 2019 [18 favorites]


Best answer: My reading of the US tariff schedule matched grouse's. And of course, you have no need to calculate the actual bill for them at the border, that's their job.

If it's a obviously wedding dress, it'll be easy for the customs officials to find out if it's used or not, so I'd avoid lying for that reason as well as for basic reasons of integrity.
posted by ambrosen at 4:57 PM on May 26, 2019 [1 favorite]


Before the specific duty kicks in, the first $1,000 over the $800 exemption is a flat 3%. We just went through this on the way home from Paris, but with a different kind of item. Also, we were able to pay with a Visa card at the airport.
posted by gingerjules at 7:01 PM on May 26, 2019


Declared, bring checkbook and credit card and debit card and you will probably get an early wedding gift from your friendly CBP agent

Not to pour cold water on this sentiment, but I was at Customs in Dulles Airport last Tuesday and it took over 3 hours to be processed, they only took cash, and the agents were horrifically rude and openly mocking of anyone who didn’t speak English. So.
posted by chainsofreedom at 4:33 AM on May 27, 2019 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Thanks all for the info (I am one of those pathologically honest types, so I'll probably declare and hope for the best).

For future reference, CBP's website states that personal check drawn on a US bank is an acceptable way to pay duty (debit/credit card being accepted at "some" locations). Though I suspect it's easier to argue regulations with them when one is a US citizen who speaks US English natively :/ I will also make plans for possibly having to wait a ridiculously long time, hadn't thought of that.
posted by serelliya at 8:37 AM on May 27, 2019


Tell them explicitly it’s for your wedding. You may get lucky. I have declared purchases over the exemption amount and have had the agent look at me like I had three heads and let me go through without paying anything.
posted by marguerite at 8:43 AM on May 27, 2019 [1 favorite]


I've been scrupulously honest about being over the limit a couple times and have never once been charged. Once when I was honestly under the limit by about $50 they still interrogated me about anything I might have bought, mentioning possible things one by one and making me say "no" to each of them. No really, this is all I bought, and here are my receipts. In conclusion: don't lie and be prepared to pay, but you may be pleasantly surprised. In my experience they're usually more concerned with people running undocumented import businesses or bringing prohibited products in than they are with people who purchased one big ticket item and are honest about it.

Note: all bets are off if you're traveling for business, on a non-US passport, or relocating into or out of the US. And Dulles is a total crapshoot, but my worst US Customs experience was driving back from Canada. (Worst overall: Denmark's (pre-Schengen) agent who boarded an overnight train, woke me from a deep slumber and Just Wasn't Having It. She was worse than any of my multiple crossings of the German border with what was then still, very much, Czechoslovakia).
posted by fedward at 9:33 AM on May 27, 2019 [3 favorites]


Best answer: I have on several occasions brought well in excess of the non-dutiable amount of wine back from France, have always declared, and have never been asked to pay duty. I understand from anecdata that this is common, but not universally the case. Keep your receipts, hope to catch the agent on a good day. Do not under any circumstances mail the dress; then you'll be on the hook for duty plus either a customs broker or going to a customs facility in a nearby airport to fill out inscrutable forms yourself. I would never, ever, take an item of significant value that is obviously subject to duty across the border and just hope they didn't notice. That's tax evasion, and on a practical level if they catch you, you would be ineligible for Global Entry and would be asked for receipts on every single item in your suitcase from now until the end of time.

Enjoy the dress!
posted by wnissen at 11:00 AM on May 28, 2019


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