Hi all, I am going over to the states in a few months, and like the look of the saving I could make on a mac laptop. Just wondering if anyone knows what the deal is with customs and electronic goods? Tried googling, but can't make heads-nor-tails of HM customs website, so thought I would try you lot! Cheers for any info!
Just put it in your hand luggage without the box. Or with the box even. Then you can just says its your laptop you carry with you. Would that work?
well if you are going, they will only know if you go through something to declare.. i suggest throwing the packaging in states though..
Yea best to take it as hand luggage as Customs are a law unto themselves and just make it up as they go along.
I was planning on ditching the box etc anyway. I also heard that gifts are except, so wrapping it up in shiny paper with "Happy Birthday" written all over it would probably work Think you guys are prolly right though, in hand luggage, and other than it has no £ sign and the @ is in the wrong place, no real way to tell it is new!
Just stick it in your hand bag and go on through...... The chance of getting caught is about 1:1000000000000000.
Ace idea! Just wrap the whole thing (Box included...you really should keep Apple packaging, it's just stunning) and write a card or something, and if you get stopped by customs say it's a gift from a relative and you've not to open it until your birthday in a weeks time or whatever. I like that!
The chance of getting caught may be small, but believe me, it isn't anything like that small. And if you do get caught, you then run the risk of :- 1) Having to pay all outstanding taxes 2) Having to pay the new CCEP civil penalties 3) Having the goods confiscated 4) All of the above. If you walk thorugh green with goods that should have had tax levied, you're guilty and are then in a mitigation phase. If you own up, cooperate fully, etc, you'll probably get away with just paying the tax and maybe a small penalty. If, however, you try to brazen it out, then it becomes clear that not only did you fully know what you're doing, but were doing it with dishonest intent. At that point, the full CCEP options kick in, and you could face a lengthy civil court process. Is it worth it? Customs officers not only pick people at random, but are pretty good at reading the body language of people who are trying to put one over on them, especially if the person is nervous about it. Or, you might just get unlucky and be one of the random stops.
I've had to power up my laptop on a few occasions when stopped at customs , wouldn't be hard to tell a new one from a used one at that point
They will open the package regardless if its wrapped in birthday paper. Imagine the amounts of drugs you could get through at xmas time with "xmas presents" Mark.
just ditch the packaging, load up some software onto it etc, fake some history etc and carry it through as normal...
buy it and take it as hand luggage i have brought back a digital camcorder and a digital camera both times I've gone to the states and never been stopped. Just get your laptop and stick some stuff on it and you are laughing. Unless they mark down everything people took with them then wouldn't know you brought back something you didn't take. To be honest I wouldn't worry, ditch the box, stick the cables in your hand luggage with the laptop and the manuals in checked luggage.
Unfortunately there is a limit on the value of gifts you can bring into the country. I think it's 300 quid per traveler (not sure if you can pool it, if travelling with someone else). So if stopped you would still have to pay duty, might be worth googling the exact "gift" allowance though. The chances of being stopped are very small, but if caught they will absolutely go to town on you. My advice, chuck the packaging, put the lappy in you hand luggage and they will be none the wiser. Apple packaging really is great, but it's not so great that I would risk paying VAT on a lappy and any fines for. Enjoy the mac, they are great machines.
or if you dont want to ditch the packaging, just put the lappy in your handluggage then wrap up the packaging and send it to yourself via air mail - marked 'gift'. Put a note in explaining that it's being sent to a collecter of Mac paraphanalia and they probably won't even bother looking at it, even if it is stopped in a random check.
Just sew it into the lining of your coat I know people who found it cheaper in the past to fly to New York and buy a watch than go down the high street for the same model. I'm not sure if it's still that beneficial now though. How much is the difference?
its pretty substantial. Specially as the pound is edging nearest towards the $2 mark! My OH has been on about doing this for a while, and I think he might go for it this year,
yeah, there's a scheme here too for various people - teachers, students, journalists etc, but it's still cheaper in the US
i'll close this as half of what has been suggested is illegal. As Sequoia says the risks are reasonably high, and the penalties can be rather harsh.
