Anything to Declare ?

[DMC]

As we all know there is alot of discussion going on about the £ v $ exchange rate at the moment.

The current rate is very good for us Brits and as regular tarvellers to Florida, we are very much looking forward to making the most of it during our next trip in May.

Now as regular visitors will know, Orlando is an easy place to spend, spend, spend at the best of times, what with all those Factory Outlet Centres etc.

It has never been difficult to get your cases filled to the max and there have been many times I have placed my case on the scales at Orlando Airport Check-In with beads of sweat on my forehead wondering if we are going to be over our baggage allowance !!!

Thankfully we haven't ever been over, but its been too close call on a few occasions

Anyway with all the hype about how cheap its is for us Brits, it is worth mentioning that, strictly speaking, we are not allowed to bring back goods that are worth more than £145.00 without declaring them when we pass through customs back in the UK.

Now as anyone will know, if they have flown back into Gatwick on the 'red eye' from Orlando, it is very rare that you see a Customs Officer waiting to greet an Orlando flight, at least that is the case whenever we have gone through early in the morning.

Therefore if we have ever been abit naughty and gone over our £145.00 allowance we haven't ever had a problem [}]

Well following a report on TV yesterday it appears that our 'Friendly Customs Officer' has started to realise that us Brits are making the most of the exchange rate and are starting to take more of an interest in Flights landing back from the US

Guess they see it an even easier way to increase the Governments Revenue

This means that if you are caught with goods totalling over £145.00, you will have to pay the duty / tax on the amount you are over and depending on how much you are over, this could wipe out much of the savings you made by buying in the US.

Does anyone else have any thoughts / views on this ?

[blott]

Well, I don't think that we should be recommending to visitors how they can break the law. How do you know we haven't got Customs Officers who are thinking of visiting Florida, have a Florida home or just keep an eye on forums such as these and that this may potentially get John or Roger into trouble?

I've removed your creative 'ideas' for beating the system for that reason. If any Florida visitors want to take the risk of smuggling stuff into the UK, then they should be aware that there are stiff penalties for doing this.

[DMC]

Point taken Blott - don't want to get John / Roger or anyone else in trouble.

Nor would I advocate doing anything illegal, but I thought it worth highlighting something that may get over looked having over indulged on the shopping front, only to get a surprise when you land back in the UK.

[george]

Does the £145 relate to 'Goods'for personal use or Gifts' or both?

[DMC]

George

It is my understanding that it is the "total" amount - i.e. both.

Unlike when you come back from Europe, where you can endulge in "booze cruises" and get away with "personal use" allowances, from the US its different.

[george]

Who is to say that, provided there are no price tags, bags etc that you did not by that shirt for example on a previos trip?

[firsttimer]

Years ago when the limits were even lower I was really worried when I came back from Singapore. I knew I had brought in too much, so being a good girl I made a list of what I had bought and the prices. I went thro the red channel, and they were really nice and complimented me on doing it. I had to show them a couple of things, and I think I ended up paying £8 duty, but I would far rather have done that than risk being hauled out and searched.

The only suggestion I would make would be to share out your purchases so that rather than one person having £250 and the other having none, you have £125 worth each. Keep the receipts and carry them all together in your hand luggage so that if you need to you can prove how much things cost you and they can easily work out how much you owe.

Of course, with the stronger pound, then you can actually buy more for your money, so you are better off anyway....if you see what I mean!

[firsttimer]

This is a list of what you are allowed:

The customs allowances
For travellers arriving from outside the EU
(including the Canary Islands, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar)

200 cigarettes; or
100 cigarillos; or
50 cigars; or
250gms of tobacco
2 litres of still table wine
1 litre of spirits or strong liqueurs over 22% volume; or
2 litres of fortified wine, sparkling wine or other liqueurs
60cc/ml of perfume
250cc/ml of toilet water
£145 worth of all other goods including gifts and souvenirs.

People under 17 are not allowed to bring in tobacco and alcohol.

You are entitled to the allowances shown above only if you travel with the goods and do not plan to sell them.

If you bring something in worth more than the limit of £145, you will have to pay charges on the full value, not just on the value above £145.

If you are travelling as a family or group, you cannot pool your individual allowances towards an item worth more than the limit. You will have to pay charges on the full value of the item.

For the full article including banned items see: http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/notices...s%20allowances

[Nostromo]

Am I right in thinking that with 7 of us going, we can but a total just of over £1000 worth of goods as long as no individual item is worth over £145?

Also, a lot of people break these rules on a daily basis and get away with it. The most common example are digital cameras, which are far cheaper in the US anyway and with the favourable exchange rate, even better. Now Jane Bloggs going to Orlando does not have to declare her camera at the UK end before departure and so officially no one can prove that she was not carrying one in the first place. So she lands in Orlando, buys a top of the range job for, say $900, takes pics while she is there and then returns to the UK. If she saunters through the customs with the camera (that looks identical to its UK counterpart) around her neck claiming (if asked) that she had it all the time, who's to prove otherwise?

[blott]

I think you'll find that Customs can ask you to produce a receipt for anything! So, in your example of Jane Bloggs and her digital camera, she could be asked to produce the receipt to prove that it was purchased in the UK before she left if Customs so desired to require that.

It might also be worthwhile pointing out that in some cases VAT is also required to be paid on items imported.

I think it's also possible to just leave the item with Customs if you can't afford to pay the import duty and/or VAT. Whether there's any further action taken if you didn't declare it and just got stopped randomly is a matter for the Customs Officer to decide.