Fort Lauderdale Int. Customs warning

[Cayman17]

Passing through FLL customs I declared my cigars purchased on my 9-day Caribbean vacation.  I have global entry and I will not lie to customs.  I was waived through but my wife had the carry on with the cigars inside. When she asked if she could complete her global entry interview at the airport (which I did not see any harm in her doing) she had the bag with her and they x-rayed it. 
 

Long story short, I got hauled into customs and was questioned at length by a very aggressive agent who suggested multiple times that I was actually returning from Cuba rather than Grand Cayman, which was absurd because I had travel docs which showed where I was. He also remarked several times that the length of my stay in Grand Cayman “must have been an expensive vacation. Very expensive.”  Finally I overheard him telling another officer that “that’s a lot of tobacco.”  I had 240 sticks, in case you are wondering, and my wife was with me. 
 

They told me that it’s 50 cigars up to $800 and that anything else above that is subject to tax. I said fine. They asked how much I paid, and I truthfully said five grand. There was a lot of Cohiba and sir winnies sitting there. And they opened multiple boxes (not sure what they were looking for but they did). 
 

If I had lied about anything, I would have been in deep shit. I was in there for a long time and did nothing wrong, but I was treated as though I had. In the end I kept everything I had and paid $189 by credit card. Interestingly, they gave me $800 credits for each of my one year old twins, which I thanked them for doing. So I had a $3,200 exemption against $5,000 worth of cigars. 

I have been through FLL before and never had any issues, though I always declare my cigars. The attitude regarding Cuban cigars is different now and I would not want to deal with these people on a return trip from Cuba. 

I am just putting this out there for informational purposes.  The supervisor who was called in was very courteous but was clear that I was not walking out of there without paying a duty on the cigars.   The original agent was a different story but I kept my cool and it worked out.  Be careful out there. 
 

 

[SenorPerfecto]

10% duty?? Should be like 4%...

[JeffreyLebowski]

Thanks for the detailed field report. I’m sure that was one experience you’d rather not repeat. Being treated as guilty when innocent creates such a terrible mix of feelings.

[shrink]

You should have claimed that they were fakes.

[SigmundChurchill]

“You seriously think I went to Cuba?  And where the hell am I going to find Cohibas and Sir Winstons in Cuba?!?!”

[The Squiggler]

52 minutes ago, Cayman17 said:

they gave me $800 credits for each of my one year old twins, which I thanked them for doing. So I had a $3,200 exemption against $5,000 worth of cigars. 

Noted... next time: quadruplets ?

[bmf30180]

I came back from Havana last week, nonstop to Atlanta.  The best flying experience ever.  15 minutes after being dropped off at Jose Marti, we were sitting at our gate.  I had about 500 cigars, including 200 or so customs spread throughout checked and carry-on.  

After the 3/4 mile walk to customs after landing in ATL, I declared everything I had in the kiosk, including 6 bottles of rum.  The agent asked how the trip was, took the printout from the kiosk, stamped my passport and said welcome home.

Miami was a little tougher last year, but they didn't seem to really care about the cigar overage.

I hate to hear that about FLL.  There are often deals from Atlanta with a layover in FLL on jet blue.  I guess I'll stick with Delta.

[Derboesekoenig]

44 minutes ago, bmf30180 said:

I came back from Havana last week, nonstop to Atlanta.  The best flying experience ever.  15 minutes after being dropped off at Jose Marti, we were sitting at our gate.  I had about 500 cigars, including 200 or so customs spread throughout checked and carry-on.  

After the 3/4 mile walk to customs after landing in ATL, I declared everything I had in the kiosk, including 6 bottles of rum.  The agent asked how the trip was, took the printout from the kiosk, stamped my passport and said welcome home.

Miami was a little tougher last year, but they didn't seem to really care about the cigar overage.

I hate to hear that about FLL.  There are often deals from Atlanta with a layover in FLL on jet blue.  I guess I'll stick with Delta.

SAME. I do Delta+ATL and we've had the same experience each time. I will continue this for sure

[nKostyan]

Is the reason really that it was Cubans or is it envy? ?

[Derboesekoenig]

12 minutes ago, nKostyan said:

Is the reason really that it was Cubans or is it envy? ?

Most CBP either don't know the law, or have incorrect information. So basically, it's like flipping a coin with who you get, what they know or what they want you to know, and what kind of mood they are in. In my opinion, it can't hurt to put on a smile and be as polite as possible. I feel like this is the main problem sometimes. People get an attitude or are just straight rude to CBP officers. Just be nice...

[madandana]

Thanks for the story. I’ve been in the situation a few times when I had to tell THEM the laws. I never lie, I’m flagged by now so I always get invited in for a visit.

[Hammer Smokin']

4% tax / 10% tax...

It is criminal that Canada applies a 98% tax.

Almost worth becoming an American Citizen....almost.

[TheFullMontecristo]

2 hours ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

4% tax / 10% tax...

It is criminal that Canada applies a 98% tax.

Almost worth becoming an American Citizen....almost.

You would think having the bastard son of Fidel as our Prime Minister would give Canadians some level of financial benefit or amnesty when it comes to cuban tobacco excise taxes. 

[sho671]

@Cayman17 So your "warning" is that CBP did their job by enforcing a widely published law/regulation, were lenient in doing so by allowing your underage children an allotment and not confiscating anything, then appropriately taxed your overages? #firstworldproblems

[ElJavi76]

CBP agents in Florida might be a little salty.

Thank the numerous flippers that bring cigars back that they'll never smoke, but mark up 250% a stick. Thanks guys... You shouldn't have!

[Cayman17]

The point of my story was to warn that even though I declared my cigars at the kiosk, I was basically accused of trying to circumvent the duty that I was happy to pay and treated like a criminal.  I also was warned that my global entry would be revoked if this ever happened again, even though (in my opinion) neither me nor my wife did anything wrong. I had no qualms paying the duty, which should have been around $72 (as pointed out above). Nevertheless I received an invoice for more than double that amount. Since I had been separated from my children for almost 45 minutes by that point and simply wanted to be let out of the restricted area, I said nothing, paid and left with my cigars.  

 

[Silverstix]

55 minutes ago, sho671 said:

@Cayman17 So your "warning" is that CBP did their job by enforcing a widely published law/regulation, were lenient in doing so by allowing your underage children an allotment and not confiscating anything, then appropriately taxed your overages? #firstworldproblems

I took his warning as a reminder to be honest and polite while coming back through customs here in the US

[BrightonCorgi]

I too have Global Entry and keep my declarations on the level.  They'll strip it from you real quick if you are not being honest or evasive.  Ignorance doesn't count since you certify what you are saying at the booth.

[The Squiggler]

1 hour ago, sho671 said:

@Cayman17 So your "warning" is that CBP did their job by enforcing a widely published law/regulation, were lenient in doing so by allowing your underage children an allotment and not confiscating anything, then appropriately taxed your overages? #firstworldproblems

mmmm.... salty ?

a nice example of rhetorical-structural irony  ???

wait... maybe all structural irony is rhetorical irony... or all rhetoric could be structural... is all irony rhetorical?  Shoot dang, I've gone and confused myself ?

[Buck14]

2 hours ago, TheFullMontecristo said:

You would think having the bastard son of Fidel as our Prime Minister would give Canadians some level of financial benefit or amnesty when it comes to cuban tobacco excise taxes. 

HILARIOUS (and so true)

[sho671]

1 hour ago, Cayman17 said:

I had no qualms paying the duty, which should have been around $72 (as pointed out above). Nevertheless I received an invoice for more than double that amount. Since I had been separated from my children for almost 45 minutes by that point and simply wanted to be let out of the restricted area, I said nothing, paid and left with my cigars.  

You should've paid a significantly higher amount of tax. According to CBP: "Declared amounts in excess of the exemption are subject to a flat 4% rate of duty, and any applicable IRS taxes, pursuant to HTSUS 9816.00.20 and 19 CFR 148.101, which impose a duty rate of 4% of the fair retail value on goods from a Column 2 country...In particular, HTSUS 9804.00.65 allows for the duty-free importation of personal-use articles from a Column 2 country when the fair retail value of such goods is under $800. Also see 19 C.F.R. 148.33. HTSUS 9816.00.20 establishes a duty rate of 4% of the fair retail value for personal-use articles under $1,000 imported from a Column 2 country. Thus, any articles imported under this section for personal use with a value of under $800 can be imported duty free, and any articles imported for personal use with a value between $800 and $1800, will be subject to a flat 4% duty rate. Any articles valued over, regardless of whether for personal use, will be subject to entry and should be classified, appraised, and assessed duty appropriately under the specific HTSUS Column 2 rates."

"Between $800 and $1800" means $801 to $1799 meaning "the 4% plus applicable IRS taxes" doesn't apply. You were actually subject to $9.92/kg + 25%, as you can see below. Twenty five percent of $1800 is $450, that alone is 2x more than you paid and would have been even more if you added the $9.92/kg. And this is given that your underage children were allowed to claim an extra $1600. If they hadn't been nice and done that, you'd be on the hook for 25% of $3400 which is $850.

So at the end of the day you may have been inconvenienced and your feelings hurt, but you paid significantly less tax than you should have and left with all your cigars. Thanks for the warning.

Here is the Column 2 rates for cigars: 

[Tstew75]

A friend came back from Cuba thru FLL a month ago & said it was a nightmare...hostile officers yelling insults (calling everyone liars??) @ people in line, etc. He declared everything & got pushed thru.

He also said things are tense @ Jose Marti with the new US flight restrictions ...tons of drug dogs, many bomb swabs. Pretty militant. This was earlier this week.

[The Squiggler]

1 hour ago, sho671 said:

Thus, any articles imported under this section for personal use with a value of under $800 can be imported duty free, and any articles imported for personal use with a value between $800 and $1800, will be subject to a flat 4% duty rate. Any articles valued over, regardless of whether for personal use, will be subject to entry and should be classified, appraised, and assessed duty appropriately under the specific HTSUS Column 2 rates."

"Between $800 and $1800" means $801 to $1799 meaning "the 4% plus applicable IRS taxes" doesn't apply. You were actually subject to $9.92/kg + 25%, as you can see below. Twenty five percent of $1800 is $450, that alone is 2x more than you paid and would have been even more if you added the $9.92/kg. And this is given that your underage children were allowed to claim an extra $1600. If they hadn't been nice and done that, you'd be on the hook for 25% of $3400 which is $850.

wouldn't these figures be distributed among all the passengers?  If so, $1,800 would be $450 per person, subject to $1.89/kg + 4.7% or $0.57/kg + 1.4% depending on the rate category... or the flat 4% everybody is talking about)... or if they hadn't allowed his children an allotment, it would still be $3,400 total or $1,700 per person, which would also cut below the $1,800 limit, so the rate would be the same.  I guess it depends on how they decide to spread it around, but it seems like the 25% would only apply if they made one person claim all of it

[Fugu]

2 hours ago, sho671 said:

"Between $800 and $1800" means $801 to $1799...

... between would - arithmetically - mean 800.01 - 1,799.99.

But the span is quite clearly meant to be inclusive, as you can take from the direction's text, that they specify the duty-free limit by "under $800", and the full tax rate starting for "Any articles valued over" the previously specified span.

Lighting one up in front of the officer would've immediately remedied the situation. 

 

However, you are making a logical mistake there: The remaining 1,800 cannot be directly applied to the given 800-1,800 span, as this is an allowance for two ! (wrongly even 4!) persons. Each (of the two adult) persons has got this extra flat 4%-tax span of USD 1,000. With $900 each, they are still under. (erroneously taking the two kids into account, then even less at $450)

So, if you're at all making up that full calculation, then do it correct:

He and his (I shall suppose fully-fledged and cigar-smoking ) wife are good for 1,600 USD duty free (2 x 800), plus 2,000 (2 x 1,000 for the span 800-1,800, each) at 4% flat plus applicable IRS tax. That's then for a total value of goods in the amount of 3,600 USD (or 3,599.98 worst case, if you do insist).

Anything above - that's then the remainder = $1.400 may have been fully taxed.

 

[Mikeltee]

4 hours ago, sho671 said:

@Cayman17 So your "warning" is that CBP did their job by enforcing a widely published law/regulation, were lenient in doing so by allowing your underage children an allotment and not confiscating anything, then appropriately taxed your overages? #firstworldproblems

I know you like to post crap like this all the time on reddit but this is not reddit. Save this stuff for there as well as your opinion that we are all idiots for freezing our cigars...

No reply needed.....