Customs Question

[Ohio_Buckeye_1]

First re Courts - I didn't say they should have to forgo altogether, just would be better to practice a little delayed gratification. Save up first and so avoid paying high prices and finance costs - they would be SOOO much better off in the long run. Again, I realize I'm in the minority on that practice, too. And I know saving is hard when you're poor - and the finance payment is a self-imposed forced payment. But doing that they are only digging themselves deeper in - not getting out of - poverty.

Glad to know that high duty isn't uniform - and there's at least some thought, like with computers. For instance I found construction material is more expensive, but nowhere near double. That's the kind of info I've been wanting to know. I know that some things aren't so over-priced as electronics - so didn't think the high duty was on everything, but it's like pulling teeth to find out any reliable info.

For instance, after these discussions, I tried to find out what the duty would be on that $300 TV bringing it thru customs and declaring it. Noone on this board seems to know, and these boardies are the most experienced people at Jamaican travel/immigration I know of. It's ranged from a guess it would only be a small $40-50US duty, to it would be so much that it would be cheaper to pay the $675US JA retail price I found. So I turned to several hours searching the internet. You would think the JA gov't would make that duty rates available on the internet - but it's not. I found you have to write to an agency in Kingston and they will mail you the schedule of customs duties. The gov't does a pretty good job at posting some things on the internet - like fiance visa info - so why not the customs info?

My sour experience with electronics duty was the following. I mailed several batches of developed pictures to my then just-girlfriend in JA after my 5-week trip. So she could see them on her electronic picture frame, too, I also copied them to 4 small 2GB SD-chips and included them with the pictures. Normal activity here in the US, right? Well, ignorant me back then, I had no idea that would be subject to duty. Or that there even existed a Jamaica Postal Customs Agent who's job is to open packages and assess the duty on things mailed to Jamaicans from abroad. They told my girlfriend she would have to pay $6000J to get this package. The SD chips cost me only about $7US each here, and they wanted $1500J duty for each!!! (the developed pics were duty-free) If I had known, I would have included the receipts to show the cost wasn't as high as they were valuing them based on JA prices for SD chips. My girlfriend argued and after a couple days and several trips to the PO, finally got them to come down to $4000J - but still. I wasn't trying to save money and buy US instead of JA in that case - just send my GF copies of our vacation pics. I was pretty much ignorant of JA duty before that, and assumed it was just some small percent of the value, but was rudely awakened to it then. Lucky that even though a high percent, in that case a small-value item. Imagine if I had unwittingly mailed a $200US picture frame, not knowing of the high-duty on electronics - they might have wanted $200-400US to get it.

So, apparantly SD-chips are luxury items, too - and about triple the price in JA than here in the U.S. because of the duty. They don't manufacture SD-chips in JA, or even the U.S. as far as I know - I think they all are shipped over from Asia. Us tourists for the most part bring our photo supplies with us. So mainly only the Jamaicans pay this duty when they buy SD-chips. By making Jamaicans pay triple the world market price when they want to take pictures on SD-chips, how is this protecting the JA economy and helping the JA people - rather than the gov't just ripping them off? I know the govt has to fund itself thru taxes, but you would think the normal GCT tax would be about the right amount for that.

You've convinced me that the duty on what tourists bring in on vacation IS good and protects their economy. But definitely not the duty on imported goods mainly Jamaicans would be buying for themselves - like SD-chips and TVs that don't have a mfg base in Jamaica to protect. Us tourists buying the occassional luxury item as a gift would be more likely, too.

It's only the duty on imported goods for retail sale (not the tourist duty at the airport) making a $300 TV cost $675 in a JA store that had me even considering bringing down a TV. Without that duty causing the excessive price, I would have just planned to go to a JA store and buy it. That import duty (again on JA imports, not the tourist one at the airport) is what caused me to think about other options than NOT buying in JA. And probably why so many people on vacation bring so much stuff with them, rather than just buying it in JA - which would be so much easier. Even stuff they are allowed to bring without declaring, like sunblock, bug spray, shampoo - liquids are such a hassle traveling by plane now. I'd love to come with just a carry-on bag and not pay the checked bag fees. But they are so much higher in JA, it's worth it to bring them - and JA loses out on those sales.