Immigration Taxes (Fines)

[SantiagoDR]

Rick

Rick.

In my posts I have no ill feeling to you or any others, but as you know, someone always has to make the threads negative. It's always hard to just carrying on 'adult' conversations on many boards. Forums should be read with a smile not a frown.

Tflea, I prefer not to comment on your remarks except for the following:

I brought a diesel generator with me on one trip here, the Customs agent said either pay "HIM" or pay excessive fees to pick up my generator. I PAID THE EXCESSIVE FEES and told him to GO #$$%^ himself. Another customs agent even questioned him on why he was charging me taxes on the value of the generator at 50% more than the book value.

Rick, I will try to remember at the beginning of the week to go to Immigration here in Santiago and inquire about the overstay fee and get the answer, hopefully correct, straight from the horses mouth so to speak.

One of the posters here on DR1 PM'ed me because he heard I did it solo. (And I don't speak Spanish, well, un poco). I sent him back in PM's alot of information. Even went to Immigration and got the latests forms, copied them via my digital camera and also got the latest fees for him.

I can e-mail the copies of the latest forms and fees to you if you wish to review them. I got the information at the end of July this year.

Anything I said in my previous posts should be taken with a "Smile" and not a "Frown". Guess I should have put many Smiley's around my posts and lots of "lol"'s. Relax people, enjoy life!

For Instance: my reply to Lambada about how to find out what you said before, when he asked for a hint on how to find out. My detail response on doing the search was supposed to be "FUNNY" !!! (Insert belated lol and smiley)

 

[BushBaby]

For Instance: my reply to Lambada about how to find out what you said before, when he asked for a hint on how to find out. My detail response on doing the search was supposed to be "FUNNY" !!! (Insert belated lol and smiley)

Errrrr, gre::ermm: Would you like to check Lambada's Profile SantiagoDR??? :cheeky: aranoid:
SHE has been round DR1 for quite a while & does know HER way round the 'Search' function & could easily have got the "RELEVENT' posts down to 50 or 60 by putting in the right keywords! ALWAYS useful to know something about the person you are addressing I think. As Rick will doubtless tell you, one of the BIG service quotes is "Time spent in reconnaisance is time seldom wasted" :bunny: :ermm: ~ :cheeky: Grahame irate:

 

[Chris]

I think Rick received accurate and good information and can now make his own plans in peace, and by the looks of it, a little help from some DR1 friends.

Rick, I did not know you had not done your residency and I never intended to put you on the spot in any way, but I think you know that.

I'll say again, it is hard to always to do the right thing in the DR. Sometimes one is faced with the situation where a little money up front saves a whole lot of trouble and saves the day. T'flea's comment has merit as well. To simply haggle because you know you've overstayed and you're trying to pay a little less, mostly is playing the same corruption game that everyone complains about. Disclaimer ... nothing that I say applies to aduana. Screw them! haggle with them! fight with them! and then you probably still have to pay what they want on the day.

 

[SantiagoDR]

Errrrr, gre::ermm: Would you like to check Lambada's Profile SantiagoDR??? :cheeky: aranoid:

I guess some people will just never see the humor in my response... lol

Has nothing to do with who they are or what they know BushBaby.

(For some reason I don't appear to have the ability to insert Smiley's. I am currently having a problem with Version DSL, my connection is down to 9.9kbps, slower than dial-up)

 

[Lambada]

T'flea's comment has merit as well. To simply haggle because you know you've overstayed and you're trying to pay a little less, mostly is playing the same corruption game that everyone complains about.

Yes I agree. I think we expats need to be in watertight positions ourselves before we raise a voice about our host country's corruption. I'll bow to your greater experience with aduana because they only really taxed me once for bringing something in, & they were entitled to on that occasion. But then I don't have the experience of being involved in importing.


Rick I won't comment on your not knowing about residency back in 1996 because there's really nothing I can say.............and sometimes saying less is better than saying more.

I can say something about the use of humour, though. Are the days gone on DR1 when it was subtle and intelligent? Where, oh where is bochinche.........? :laugh: There was a man who knew his stuff.............

 

[tflea]

Import rules/laws/decrees/fees, etc. are also published by the gov't. Get your hands on those and pay no more nor less than those published. the lists are extensive; and no I don't know the link but have seen the lists when we imported a car and paid through the nose and know the lists exist. We paid 50% duties! Had a good connection with the 'colector' at the muelle but didn't do an ounce of good. The guy was staight up. I won't import a car again, that's for sure. Residents get a discount on a one-time basis, but didn't have that yet. So I just bent over and screamed.

 

[SantiagoDR]

The list would have been no good to me. as the other inspector told us, we were being over-charged. However the agent charging us, was the only one that was allowed to figure the taxes. We were from Santiago, the generator was shipped to Santo Dominigo. Travel expenses were expensive, the cost of hiring someone to go with us to pick it up. It was already our second trip. Plus the expensives of being charged storage for every day we did not pick it up.

It was cheaper in the long run to be ripped off by customs.....
If we were local to Santo Domingo it might have been a different story.

 

[Chris]

Import rules/laws/decrees/fees, etc. are also published by the gov't. Get your hands on those and pay no more nor less than those published.

If you were running a business, you would understand the ludicrousness of that statement. It takes more money to fight it, than to pay it. It is seldom worth fighting. It is frequently worth paying a little to make it go away. This is endemic in the business culture and aduana sets their 'additional fees' at a level that will make it worthwhile for you to pay, rather than fight.

 

[tflea]

Sorry Chris, I don't agree. I do run a business here and I pay what is published.
There is nothing to fight. If you don't get satisfaction at the point of payment go to the next 'level' of authority, and so on. I insist on, and receive, legal transactions. I fully understand the culture of a little payola here and there to smooth processes, but the minute they hint at that I become indignant and look for the persona in charge. They don't have a leg to stand on. It's a matter of what we're willing to accept, being pi..ed off at the corruption or being pi..ed off at having to search for someone with integrity in the system. Both are a pain in the a.. I choose the legal route, but fully understand anyone's choice to choose the alternative. Whatever works for you.

 

[Chris]

Next time I'm in the office of the head of aduana in Santo Domingo I'll be sure to tell him I would like to go to the next level of authority. :rambo: I'm just being facetious here - no harm meant, but the comment is based on a true story.

Anyway, I'm happy it works for you.

 

[tflea]

Coco

No harm....Coco has bosses also. anyway, we muddle through best we can.
good luck in your endeavors. a good bottle of scotch at christmas at at the offices can help a lot as well. that, I do. :bunny: