Duty Free - Household goods with new residencia provisional

There is the law and...

then there is the reality.

Duty free/tax free does not mean you pay nothing. There are numerous fees imposed at the port, and they vary with the household contents. The 16% VAT, to my recollection, is also charged on their (aduana) determined value of the goods.

First, your goods have to be identified and accepted as used in order to get the full exemption.

Second, you are allowed only a certain number of each item duty/tax free (i.e., one refrigerator etc.), so be wary of two large LCD widescreen TV's.

Third, electronics are heavily scrutinized and pay heavy "fees."

Finally, there was a limited window to take advantage of all this, but I do not recall the exact time frame. Perhaps someone else who went through the experience can chime in.

Note: To take advantage of the car exemption, you must bring it in along with your household contents. By way of example, you could not ship contents in January and your vehicle in February.

This was my experience two years ago and may not be completely accurate today.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

bigbird said:

Quoted from the Legal Forum

"A resident is allowed to bring in tax free his household items, ranging from kitchen appliances, to furniture. Article 13 of Law #146-00 expressly exempts from any duty the importation of the personal effects and household goods of foreigners immigrating into the Dominican Republic and of Dominicans coming back home to live permanently after residing abroad for more than two consecutive years. And Law 168 grants a discount that ranges from 20% for one year in your name to 60% for five years on vehicles that will be imported together with your household goods."

Has anyone have any first hand experience bringing in household items tax free once the cedula and provisional residencia have been issued?

How much time do you have to take advantage of this article? I thought I read somewhere you only have six months.

Actually the only items I would want to ship would be two widescreen LCD TVs, desktop pc, and a few other electronic items. Furniture and appliances I will just buy in rep dom piece by piece by piece.

Click to expand...

Don't give up just yet. We brought in a full 40 foot container using the exemption. We had a very good (had been reccomended by others) importer/agent here. Our container had lots of new appliances, lights, fans, tvs etc. Tax bill with out the exemption would be over 10K. With the exemption we paid about $400 and had the container delivered and unpacked at our villa. It was relatively painless.
PM me if you want more info.

Bob K

Bob:

If you do not mind sharing, what were your costs to rent/lease the container, have it loaded and transported from your home to the port, transported to the D.R. including your agent/importer, and then transported and unpacked at your villa.

A breakdown analysis might be useful for "Bigbird" and those considering the move utilizing the exemption.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

Bob K said:

Don't give up just yet. We brought in a full 40 foot container using the exemption. We had a very good (had been reccomended by others) importer/agent here. Our container had lots of new appliances, lights, fans, tvs etc. Tax bill with out the exemption would be over 10K. With the exemption we paid about $400 and had the container delivered and unpacked at our villa. It was relatively painless.
PM me if you want more info.

Bob K

Click to expand...

you have to own your car for atleast one year before you ship it to get the exemption.

playacaribe2 said:

The 16% VAT, to my recollection, is also charged on their (aduana) determined value of the goods.

Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

Click to expand...

Are you sure?

Adaunas told me there are no taxes, even VAT, on approved household goods under the exemption. There may be some on "excess" goods, like multiple TV's/electronics.

I/the adaunas agent could be wrong...

Yes...

and No.

There was definitely a 16% tax added, but I am not sure if it was on what they perceived as excess or not.

Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

cobraboy said:

Are you sure?

Adaunas told me there are no taxes, even VAT, on approved household goods under the exemption. There may be some on "excess" goods, like multiple TV's/electronics.

I/the adaunas agent could be wrong...

Click to expand...

Fabio responded to a thread...

back in December and gave an example. Do a search in this forum.

While others may have had different experiences, my experience was that new household goods are not exonerated and thus duty must be paid. Further, that you are only allowed a reasonable amount of any item. Does that mean one stereo or one refrigerator or one TV. The very word reasonable lends itself to a great deal of interpretation, subject, of course, to the inspector in Aduana.

As to small appliances, a small LCD TV, or even a microwave, I would just take them in your checked luggage. The back of the new Customs form outlines in Spanish, and in English, that amongst other things, "a passenger {residing overseas} can bring gifts of a value up to five hundred of United States American Dollars." "This allowance can be used only once every three months." This assumes that a) you declare them and/or b) they even look at the Declaration.

While Customs has never bothered with my luggage, I always carry the receipts for those items....just in case.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

bigbird said:

Any idea where I could find information on "approved goods" and especially "excess" goods. My original thought was to just ship my electronic stuff and save the taxes/fees.

It will be a year of slowly moving to SD. I will maintain my home in the USA for a couple more years so I will have to purchase furniture in the DR.

I am trying to gather as much information as possible to minimize the last minute surprise from adaunas.

Click to expand...

playacaribe2 said:

back in December and gave an example. Do a search in this forum.

While others may have had different experiences, my experience was that new household goods are not exonerated and thus duty must be paid. Further, that you are only allowed a reasonable amount of any item. Does that mean one stereo or one refrigerator or one TV. The very word reasonable lends itself to a great deal of interpretation, subject, of course, to the inspector in Aduana.

As to small appliances, a small LCD TV, or even a microwave, I would just take them in your checked luggage. The back of the new Customs form outlines in Spanish, and in English, that amongst other things, "a passenger {residing overseas} can bring gifts of a value up to five hundred of United States American Dollars." "This allowance can be used only once every three months." This assumes that a) you declare them and/or b) they even look at the Declaration.

While Customs has never bothered with my luggage, I always carry the receipts for those items....just in case.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

Click to expand...

I often wondered is it better to declare them or not? Also, if two people travel together, can they bring in one $1000 gift item?

thanks