Moving overseas - A cigarman's 1st world problem

[lipjint]

I'm having a little problem.

I had gathered about a thousand sticks of cigars after discovering this hobby years ago with most of my collection australian duty paid. However I am recently being relocated and transfered from australia to new zealand for work. I expect this job to last for a few years.

At the moment I would painstakingly bring 50grammes worth of cigars accross the border to new zealand everytime I go back to my home in australia.

My time is running out, I'm not sure what to do with them after my partner join me in new zealand next year and nobody would take good care of my stash.

I could bite the bullet and pay the tobacco duty in new zealand and import my collection. However I would probably move back to australia after a few more years, the thought of repaying tobacco duty the 3rd time gives me headaches.

Any ideas guys for aid my conundrum?

[AndrewNR]

How do you store them? Perhaps somebody could Caretake them?

[lipjint]

i'm storing my stogies in a large humidor and another in a coolidor.

[AndrewNR]

Babysitter is perhaps best option.. Let me know worst case scenario.. I can find a corner in my shed

[AndrewNR]

Ive got a wineador FYI.. And perhaps room in that and another wineador not currently used.. But I'm in Mildura so there's a logistics issue there.

[liger930]

funny, as ive regularly played out this scenario in my head. best solution for me at present has been the freezador.

a viable option may be a cigar locker..at least you can have some peace of mind that they're properly cared for in your absence.

triple taxation makes no sense for me.

[Blace]

Find a friend who can look after them and send you a few at a time. Just get a foolproof storage solution set up like a wine fridge and bovedas inside Tupperware.

[Optic101]

Freezador is a good solution if you keep your house or have a friend, neighbor who has some space to share.

Works perfect without the need of maintenance.

Cigar Box in ziplock, few of them in an airtight container, that one inside the freezador.

If you want to be of the very save side, add some bovedas inside the airtight container.

Enjoy your time oversea.

[Deodato]

Another idea is to get a locker in the wine storage area at your local eg. Kennards. Find some totally airtight coolers (I used techni-ice) and you'll be good for many months of storage without checking in.

Kennards store at around 15c so you'll be good to go.

I did this for about three years until I got a good situation at home.

[polarbear]

Maybe talk to Rob and see what it would cost to store your stuff at the same facility that he uses for the Online Humidor

[Smokin_Safari]

Mate - good question. I can offer the following;

- After living in 12 different countries over the recent career, do not trust anyone with your stuff. Part of the joy of cigars is having them on hand, to look at, show off and delve into whenever you want. Take them with!

- If you are using a removalist company, simply request to pack a few of your own boxes and sign their declaration that nothing is flammable, etc. I suggest investing in some 250 capacity humidors and spread one in each box.

- Everything going to NZ is X-rayed, same as Australia - do your homework on the worst case scenario that you may have to pay duty. If required, you can always point to your declaration.

- Just don't trust the Govt! When returning ~450 cigars to Perth from Africa, they were correctly stopped due to the declaration until I paid the duty. Not cheap, but when I arrived to collect they were magically not in existance any more. "Lost / displaced / mistakenly destoroyed / etc". If you keep a list of what you have, El Prez can provide you a valuation for loss or suit - in my case, successful !

Failing all the above, get stuck in - at 5 / day may take a while. Or, get El Prez to stuff a sheep full and send over!

Marty

[Fuzz]

Maybe talk to Rob and see what it would cost to store your stuff at the same facility that he uses for the Online Humidor

That would be a big no-no.

[torsion]

Interesting thread as I may be in a similar situation as I'm an ex-pat and since finding FoH have loaded up on sticks in the collection - I fear the day when I eventaully return to the UK especially with the tax there...

[dougincanada]

Just currious what the tax implication would be if you traded cigars online. Sending out stock from your original country and receiving traded boxes in your new country. Small batches no cash changed hands. I am not suggesting this would be effecient time wise. Just currious how a multinational barter would be treated by the tax man? You could keep email logs to prove the non cash trade.

Regards,

Doug

[FLB03TT]

Perhaps something a little more commando like a midnight boat crossing. It is 925 miles from the two closest points in each country and probably a bit impracticle, but makes for one hell of a smuggling story. Unfortunately the fuel consumed on the passage would likely pay for all the sticks and the import duties...

[Duxnutz]

The only advice I can give is be absolutely bloody certain your moving before shifting your cigars!

My mrs got a job offer last year and it looked rock solid until I had 15+ boxes of cigars and other crap stuck in the States.

Same situation as you coming through Aussie customs again. Made it through the process but was a lil unnerving!!!

I've heard when u leave Oz you can get a note from customs showing what your leaving with in case you return with the item, so to avoid duty again.

[Fuzz]

I called Customs about this kinda thing once. Short answer was, "How do we know they are the same cigars?"

Regardless of whether you have paid the duty here, once they leave the country and then come back in, you pay again. There is no definitive way to prove that they are indeed the same cigars according to Customs.

[Duxnutz]

The brains trust outbound once told me they'd attach something to the box. Never tried it but people do it for business samples I'm told.

[stunod]

Here's what I would do. Robs online humidor for the bulk of my collection. Bring with you about 100 sticks . As you start to run out order new boxes from Rob, he will ship them to u. The bulk of your collection will be aging in a perfect environment. When you get back your collection will have doubled in value .. not exactly but I"m on a roll.. Your whole stash will have aged without the temptation of smoking, and you can still enjoy your new smaller budding collection .

[...]

Here's what I would do. Robs online humidor for the bulk of my collection. Bring with you about 100 sticks . As you start to run out order new boxes from Rob, he will ship them to u. The bulk of your collection will be aging in a perfect environment. When you get back your collection will have doubled in value .. not exactly but I"m on a roll.. Your whole stash will have aged without the temptation of smoking, and you can still enjoy your new smaller budding collection .

It's actually clearly stated that the OLH can't be used for stock that you have had in your posession for various good reasons. Only boxes that have yet to be shipped out once...

[bugman78629]

Mate - good question. I can offer the following;

- After living in 12 different countries over the recent career, do not trust anyone with your stuff. Part of the joy of cigars is having them on hand, to look at, show off and delve into whenever you want. Take them with!

- If you are using a removalist company, simply request to pack a few of your own boxes and sign their declaration that nothing is flammable, etc. I suggest investing in some 250 capacity humidors and spread one in each box.

- Everything going to NZ is X-rayed, same as Australia - do your homework on the worst case scenario that you may have to pay duty. If required, you can always point to your declaration.

- Just don't trust the Govt! When returning ~450 cigars to Perth from Africa, they were correctly stopped due to the declaration until I paid the duty. Not cheap, but when I arrived to collect they were magically not in existance any more. "Lost / displaced / mistakenly destoroyed / etc". If you keep a list of what you have, El Prez can provide you a valuation for loss or suit - in my case, successful !

Failing all the above, get stuck in - at 5 / day may take a while. Or, get El Prez to stuff a sheep full and send over!

Marty

DONATE THEM AND WRITE-OFF ON YOUR TAXES AS A BUSINESS EXPENSE......

[polarbear]

It's actually clearly stated that the OLH can't be used for stock that you have had in your posession for various good reasons. Only boxes that have yet to be shipped out once...

True, but I'm sure Rob doesn't actually own the facility. Perhaps you could contact the service and see if it's possible to open an account outside of Robs service

[Fuzz]

The OLH is located at Czar Central. The warehouse you may be thinking of (the one in Sydney) is a privately owned facility. It is not open to the public as it is a bonded warehouse.

If you want to warehouse store your stock, the best bet is to contact a storage facility that does wine storage. Seal up all your stock and place it in one of their cabinets. The cabinets can range in size from 24 bottles to 400 cases.

[Firebender]

Sell off your current stock except the ones your immediately taking to NZ, and start accumulating a new non-Australian collection in OLH thru 24:24. You can get OLH to ship out boxes as you need them to the country you are in, and pay duty as you receive them.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[stunod]

It's actually clearly stated that the OLH can't be used for stock that you have had in your posession for various good reasons. Only boxes that have yet to be shipped out once...

You right, my bad. Ok back to the drawing board