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i have just recieved my residency and have heard stories.that when i got it i could ship a container of my personal property to costa rica with no duty? is that true? i have also heard that the free trade deal with the u.s. is starting to work and that we should be able to buy us cars at a much lower cost without all the duty? please let me know if anyone knows for sure.
Legal residents of Costa Rica do not enjoy any exemption from Customs duty on either household goods or vehicles. Nor do those who are not yet legal residents, including those playing the “perpetual tourist” game. Citizens, legal residents, tourists and perpetual tourists are all treated the same.
Because all the household goods which you would ship to Costa Rica are used, they are subject to a very low duty rate. Please DO NOT let the matter of Customs duty deter you from shipping your things. The duty charge will be a minor fraction of the cost of the move.
There is no evidence that vehicles imported to Costa Rica by any party (owners, importers, etc) are enjoying any reduction in importation costs. It seems unlikely that that would happen since to exempt newly imported vehicles would have the effect of greatly devaluing those already here on which the import duties were paid. The screaming would be audible throughout the Americas.
Dave always pretty much nails it. I would like to add the following. When we packed up for shipping, we had to list – on a separate sheet – each item that had an electric cord. Everything, including alarm clocks and hairdryers. On the list: model number, serial number, name of item, name of manufacturer and date purchased. The last was very important as anything purchased within 6 months of shipping is considered new for duty purposes. We listed everything as purchased at least a year before shipping, if you get my drift.
Interesting, Victoria. We did none of that.
We were instructed to number every item in our container. That is, every box, every crate, every bundle of garden tools or garden hose, etc. We put our name and the item number inside and outside each item.
Using a spreadsheet, we made a list of each item and disclosed the contents as “Used somethingoranother”. Our descriptions were intentionally vague. That is, the kitchen utensils, the dishes, and the pots and pans, for example were “Used kitchen”. The linens were “Used linens”. We gave no numbers and stated no values.
Some of our items contained electrical tools and appliances like saws and drills, mixers and hair dryers, etc, but we made no mention of any of it. We listed the VCR and stereo as “Used VCR” and “Used stereo”.
As the container was being loaded, we were told that we had to supply U.S. Customs with a list of what we were exporting complete with values. So we copied our spreadsheet list and added a “Value” column. We gave each a “distressed end-of-the-day garage sale” value.
And it all went through smoothly.
As always, your mileage may vary.
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