Costa Rica Import Duties

[gilgreen]

I can’t find a consolidated list of duty fees if we were to ship a container of furniture/household items for a new 3 br condo we are building. Trying to see if it’s worth picking out things we can actually see here in Fla like at Ashley Furniture or American Signature, and then having it sent in one shipment.

Has anyone had any positive experience doing this? I understand the arguments for the quality built local furniture, but without the luxury of having time to make multiple trips to CR to go shopping, I don’t know if it’s a feasable alternative.

Thanks. Gil

[Andrew]

You might want to read ‘How Do Import Taxes Work in Costa Rica?’ at [ https://www.welovecostarica.com/public/421.cfm ]

I doubt you will find someone who will be able to give you a definitive answer … Just one of those things…

Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com

[rebaragon]

Gilgreen, It has been my experience that there is no definite cost you can count on per item at Aduanas and there are a lot of factors that seem to come into play including who you happen to get as your inspector, but if the furniture is yours and used (please remove all tags), the expense is usually minor. The worst part is the time spent in Aduanas (sometimes more than one day) to get your items out. However, if you really love your furniture, take it with you since you probably will not find it in CR. There are some high end furniture stores in the San Jose area, but very few. I’ve seen some that carry modern lines and there are a few others that carry more formal, conventional styles, but have very good quality. You certainly have to watch the quality especially when they use certain softer woods such as pine (in rustic furniture). I bought some beautiful chairs with forged metal inserts in a lovely and expensive Escazu store that are poorly designed for sitting (especially heavier people) because the backs are just too straight and I have had more than one of them break in the same place. I brought those chairs back to NJ because I do love them, but every time I have had one fixed, it’s been over $100 here so they’re certainly not cost efficient. 🙂 Best of luck in your move!

[DavidCMurray]

Scott and Rebaragon are correct. You’re not going to have a definitive answer until you’ve been through the process with Customs. Only then will you know.

When you ship a container, you must provide an item-by-item listing of its contents. Don’t declare values! And list everything as a “Used somethingoranother”. As rebaragon says, remove all tags. Repackage anything new. And be prepared to pay a little duty on new or late model electronics.

In 2005, we shipped a partially filled container part of which we insured. The insured value of what we covered was just over $100,000. We did not tell Customs about the insured value. Let them figure it out. Our total Customs cost was less than $700US.

I’ve not heard of anyone paying more than $1,000US in Customs duties.

As those who have read my stuff here will attest, I am a proponent of shipping a containerful in most instances.

Edited on Jan 03, 2008 05:23

[sprite]

this is interesting. I am a licensed U.S. Customs Broker and when imports come into the U.S., the importer MUST declare a value for all personal effects. Personal effects must have been used for at least one year and then they are duty free. Otherwise, new items listed on the mandatory import invoice must have a fair market value listed for each one. Customs here will not do estimates for importers. I am amazed that CR agentes aduanales would do such a thing. Removing price tags and all labels is, of course, a ploy to enter the goods as personal effects. I’ll bet Customs inspectors just automatically assume the importers are doing whatever they can to circumvent duties and so they rate electronics as dutiable and new regardless.
And, by all means, ship container loads. Loose cargo is much more expensive for freight and also more liable to be pilfered whether on pallets or not.

[rebaragon]

There is a real difference to Aduana agents between importing for your own home use and importing for commercial purposes. If you import 10 dining tables, well, then they might not be so inclined to see your cargo as personal, but they are much more lenient when it comes to personal home items, especially when they are used. It’s certainly like a ‘box of chocolates’ in Aduanas as far as length of process and fees, but they’re not looking to punish anyone for moving to CR. When I moved back to the US, customs randomly picked my container to be checked for illegal transports & drugs and had the nerve to ask me to pay for the extra cost of doing this. I told them that I did not have problem with them checking every item with a fine tooth comb since they were only my personal effects, but that I certainly wasn’t about to pay $1,500 extra for them to go thru this process. Therefore I don’t begrudge the CR Aduanas people– although part of a cumbersome bureaucratic system, they certainly are working under a much more welcoming concept for the regular homeowner that is moving to another country.

[Author]

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