What is costing you twice as much? Are you bringing a vehicle down? And the residence gives you a one time exemption for household goods only.This is what I was led to believe..What container line did you use? And did you use a broker here? Or one from the States..
This is starting to look crappy and I'm only in the final planning stage..Did you not benefit from having your Residency?
Zak:
I understand your frustration.
You need to understand that NOTHING here is a certainty. One persons good experience can be another persons nightmare. To boot the DR is going through changes now in the way they collect taxes. It used to be that you could bribe your way through just about any customs situation and at the moment that is getting harder to do.
Here's the actual process for moving. Keep in mind that you'll talk to people that will recommend this broker or that broker because they had a great experience. Just remember that the 'great broker' is only as good as his bribing ability. IF the customs department won't accept a bribe then ALL of the customs brokers are bound by the same rules.
Here are the rules:
1. Residency. This is a misleading approach to bringing your goods in to the country. Why?
a. The Residency costs around $1500.00USD
b. The Residency allows for one container exemption. However that exemption has exemptions. 'USED' household goods are exempt however ANY electronics are taxed. That means if you bring your 50" plasma T.V. you're still going to be taxed. What we found is that the tax exemption really only applied to non-electronic items.
c. The Residency is a pain in the arse. Reason, NO matter what they tell you, you WILL have to spend a day in Santo Domingo at the tax department.
d. Example of prices I paid. $6,000.00 door to door / Arizona - Sosua
$1,500.00 Residency application
$ 300.00 Some tax thing
$ 400.00 Storage
$2,300.00 Non-exempt taxes
========
$10,500.00 -
e. Time frame- 3 months
We used a broker here that came highly recommended. I'm not going to give his name because I wouldn't recommend him to anyone.
Dude, the thing is that my experience and your experience could be two totally different things. I could have just been singled out and bent over while you could just breeze through without so much as an additional Peso. The thing is that you need to be prepared for anything. Remember that once you commit to your move you can't just say 'I don't want to pay that' and they'll return your goods to the States. If you don't like the amount they are requiring you'll loose your crap for good.
Last thing is the vehicle crap. IT IS A PAIN IN THE ARSE to bring any type of vehicle in to this country. Even with your tax exemption you still have to pay 40% of the assessed value of the vehicle in taxes. They have a hard enough time calculating the value of a Honda Civic can you imagine what they'll do with a Harley Davidson?
Here's what I would do if I were you. Find out how much your Harley is worth new here in the DR. Call the Harley dealership and see if they can give you a price. Take that price (say $20,000) times .40 and that is the price you'll pay in taxes with the exemption.
Lastly, make sure you have insurance HERE on the bike otherwise they will not allow you to take the vehicle off the dock.
Good luck and let me know if you need any other information.