what are the fees or restrictions to bring tvs in my luggage on my next flight to put in my vacation property in DR
I am a Canadian Resident.
I am a Canadian Resident.
- Thread starter dominicanlabinsky
- Start date
bringing tv,s to my vacation home
It is a crap shoot. You may get through customs without cost, or you may not. Tourists don't bring TVs on vacation.
If customs wants to tax you, they will ask for receipts and base the amount of tax on the specified value. If you have no receipts they will consult their book of imaginary prices and assign you some amount that is usually reflective of how much money the customs person needs for Christmas this year.
It's the Christmas season, you can and should expect customs to be just a tad more vigilante on what people have in their luggage. A payday on this scale only comes around once a year.
If they deem the TVs to be "new", you'll pay more than if they they are considered "used".
You should expect to pay full pop for each TV, then be mildly thankful if you end up getting a break.
If customs wants to tax you, they will ask for receipts and base the amount of tax on the specified value. If you have no receipts they will consult their book of imaginary prices and assign you some amount that is usually reflective of how much money the customs person needs for Christmas this year.
It's the Christmas season, you can and should expect customs to be just a tad more vigilante on what people have in their luggage. A payday on this scale only comes around once a year.
If they deem the TVs to be "new", you'll pay more than if they they are considered "used".
You should expect to pay full pop for each TV, then be mildly thankful if you end up getting a break.
A few years ago I brought a 32" flat screen in a large piece of luggage. I had to take out of the box and put protective cardboard over the screen and than bubble wrap. Also brought in a 22" at the same time. Take your chances hopefully they will just wave you through. Otherwise say they are gifts for a friend.
I must have brought at least half a dozen TV's into the DR in my luggage. Never paid one peso. Only once did they open the bag and it was face down. I said it was a computer monitor I bought for $80 and was sent on my way.
Just take it out of the box and put some towels around the screen and you will be good to go.
Just take it out of the box and put some towels around the screen and you will be good to go.
Check with the airline first
Cdn-Gringo is right. It is a crap shoot. Check with the airline first, there may be a bag embargo. During the holidays the many returning Dominicans are like lemmings and follow the herd trying to cram everything from gifts to include the kitchen sink into oversize baggage to place in the hold, under the seats, overheads, wheel wells, and cabin crew laps. The airlines are not happy with this, flights are fully booked at full capacity. Passenger baggage capacity is limited because cargo contracts reserve cargo space, especially during the holidays. Passenger baggage is at the bottom of the cargo hold priority list, the reason why some bags are delayed, you arrive, your bags do not, something the airlines do not volunteer to tell the passengers.
If you are just thinking of bringing luggage size tv's for a "vacation" home you may want to reconsider buying one in the DR. What sizes are you bringing. Maybe some of the posters can provide some models and prices available here.
Regards,
PJT
Cdn-Gringo is right. It is a crap shoot. Check with the airline first, there may be a bag embargo. During the holidays the many returning Dominicans are like lemmings and follow the herd trying to cram everything from gifts to include the kitchen sink into oversize baggage to place in the hold, under the seats, overheads, wheel wells, and cabin crew laps. The airlines are not happy with this, flights are fully booked at full capacity. Passenger baggage capacity is limited because cargo contracts reserve cargo space, especially during the holidays. Passenger baggage is at the bottom of the cargo hold priority list, the reason why some bags are delayed, you arrive, your bags do not, something the airlines do not volunteer to tell the passengers.
If you are just thinking of bringing luggage size tv's for a "vacation" home you may want to reconsider buying one in the DR. What sizes are you bringing. Maybe some of the posters can provide some models and prices available here.
Regards,
PJT
We brought a 32" TV in our suitcase last December, surrounded it with clothing, no problems, no questions. You just never know though. This year they're so cheap in US, and I presume in Canada, that it's worth a shot.
if you are coming during the christmas holiday. I believe those items are tax exempt and should not be a problem to bring in.
Last year, I came in with a few laptops and digital cameras, and they opened my bags. I explained they were gifts for family, and was let thru with no problem
Last year, I came in with a few laptops and digital cameras, and they opened my bags. I explained they were gifts for family, and was let thru with no problem
There is a tax exempt status for items up to $3000, but it's for Dominicans who live abroad and haven't been in the DR for at least 6 months.
Not sure how much they check that though.
You were lucky
use a porter.... been suggested here numerous times...
give him $5 and tell him you want through fast... sin problemas
he'll understand
give him $5 and tell him you want through fast... sin problemas
he'll understand
For Dominican who have lived out of the DR fro the proper length of time there is an exemption, not for others. Everyone else just takes their chances.
Especially this time of year I have seen all different sizes of TVs pass through SDQ airport. A year or so ago I brought in a 32" in the original cardboard box, but as mentioned some airlines prohibit cardboard boxes during the holiday season.
Just for the heck of it when two customs lady agents finished thoroughly inspecting two pieces of my luggage I questioned her about taxes on TVs. She said small TVs are no taxes and large TVs get taxed while never giving what size is considered small. I did not continue the questioning because at this point they did not inspect my luggage with my USDA meat, and to be honest I don't know if bringing in meat is a NO NO or no problema.
If you have residency you don't get the form that asks about fruits, vegetables, and meat........ so, I don't know. You take your chances. Don't be nasty to the agents, play Mr. Nice Guy and try to make them laugh and play stupid tourist.
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The best advice ever, I always hire the porter and if you watch carefully as you approach customs he will nod at the customs fellow and the customs guy nods back in 6 years I have never ever been stopped or checked because I always use the porters. You know that the customs dude is going to get his commission and the porter gets to fly back for another customer. I watched a couple one time yelling at the porters not to touch their bags and snarling at them, they took their own cases and sure enough the porter walked behind them caught the attention of customs pointed at them and they were hauled over for a bag check etc. Show some consideration for your fellow humans it pays off. in closing I would never chance a tv in a suitcase, have you seen some of the guys handling bnags, one cracked screen equals a lot of wasted money. Just buy one here in the DR support the local economy.
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There are very FEW countries that allow you to bring in meat unless its something like commercially packaged beef jerky or something similar.
The air of "entitlement" expressed by some travelers just goes to show how self-centred we foreigners can be. Of course you are not permitted to bring in meat, dairy, seeds and untreated wood etc. Of course you are expected to pay the stipulated taxes & duty on products you choose to import rather than purchase locally. I can understand the the reluctance to pay taxes on a TV or a set of pots & pans but really, folks. If the need to save a couple hundred bucks in tax is your primary consideration, it's probably a good indicator that one shouldn't be buying TV's and bringing them to a foreign country. There is being frugal and then there is being downright cheap.
It is a slippery slope. If cheating on taxes and lying about new vs used is ok, then I guess so is not seeking residency when you know you should (exit fees notwithstanding) and it's a short mental hop to putting the local environment and agricultural industry at risk by smuggling in potentially contaminated food products or an invasive plant/insect species.
If we took the time to think of anyone other than ourselves once and a while, it would be much easier to appreciate the reasons why we are asked not to do something. A moment or two of unselfish reflection just might one day save the palm trees, the bananas, the coffee crop or the island's cattle industry.
I'm not perfect and I too have at times in the past acted in a way that placed my own interests ahead of others. I hope I have learned to be a bit more considerate and understanding in the future as a result. The numerous threads here on sneaking this or that in, be it people, goods or food/plants seems to have elevated the practice to that of a game and that's a very sad commentary on the willingness of some to be considerate of the needs and wishes of a people and a place that we voluntarily choose to call home or at the very least our preferred home away from home.
I swear, if I see so much as one yellow dandelion because some foreigner wanted organic salad greens in the DR, I'm going to lose it...
It is a slippery slope. If cheating on taxes and lying about new vs used is ok, then I guess so is not seeking residency when you know you should (exit fees notwithstanding) and it's a short mental hop to putting the local environment and agricultural industry at risk by smuggling in potentially contaminated food products or an invasive plant/insect species.
If we took the time to think of anyone other than ourselves once and a while, it would be much easier to appreciate the reasons why we are asked not to do something. A moment or two of unselfish reflection just might one day save the palm trees, the bananas, the coffee crop or the island's cattle industry.
I'm not perfect and I too have at times in the past acted in a way that placed my own interests ahead of others. I hope I have learned to be a bit more considerate and understanding in the future as a result. The numerous threads here on sneaking this or that in, be it people, goods or food/plants seems to have elevated the practice to that of a game and that's a very sad commentary on the willingness of some to be considerate of the needs and wishes of a people and a place that we voluntarily choose to call home or at the very least our preferred home away from home.
I swear, if I see so much as one yellow dandelion because some foreigner wanted organic salad greens in the DR, I'm going to lose it...