9. Unaccompanied Purchases from Insular Possessions and Caribbean Countries
Unaccompanied purchases are goods you bought on a trip that are being mailed or shipped to you in the United States. In other words, you're not carrying them with you when you return. If your unaccompanied purchases are from an insular possession or a Caribbean Basin country and are being sent directly from those locations to the United States, you may enter them as follows:
- Up to $1,200 worth will be duty-free under your personal exemption if the merchandise is from an insular possession.
- Up to $600 worth will be duty-free if it is from a Caribbean Basin country.
- Of these amounts ($1,200 or $600), up to $400 worth will be duty-free if the merchandise was acquired elsewhere than the insular possessions or the Caribbean Basin. However, merchandise that qualifies for the $400 exemption must be in your possession when you return (must accompany you) in order for you to claim the duty-free exemption. The duty-free exemptions for unaccompanied baggage apply only to goods from the insular possessions and the Caribbean Basin countries listed earlier.
- An additional $1,000 worth of goods will be dutiable at a flat rate if they are from an insular possession, or from a Caribbean Basin country.(See chart under Paying Duty.)
- If you are sending back more than $2,200 from an insular possession or more than $1,600 from a Caribbean Basin country, the duty rates in the Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the United States will apply. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule describes different rates of duty for different commodities; linen tablecloths, for example, will not have the same duty rates as handicrafts or plastic toy trucks.
Here's how you can take advantage of the duty-free exemption for unaccompanied tourist purchases from an insular possession or a Caribbean country:
Step 1. At place and time of purchase, ask your merchant to hold your item until you send him or her a copy of Customs Form CF-255 (Declaration of Unaccompanied Articles), which must be affixed to the package when it is sent.
Step 2. (a) On your Customs declaration (form CF-6059B), list everything you acquired on your trip, except the things you already sent home as gifts. (b) Check off on the declaration those items you are not bringing with you--that is, the unaccompanied items. (c) Fill out a separate Declaration of Unaccompanied Articles (form CF-255) for each package or container that will be sent to you after you arrive in the United States. You can often get this form where you make your purchase, but if not, ask a Customs officer for one when you clear Customs.
Step 3. When you return to the United States, the Customs officer will: (a) collect duty and tax, if any is owed, on the goods you've brought with you; (b) check to see that your list of unaccompanied articles, which you indicated on the Customs declaration, agrees with your sales slips, invoices, and so on; and (c) validate the CF-255 as to whether your purchases are duty-free under your personal exemption ($1,200 or $600) or whether they are subject to a flat rate of duty. Two copies of this three-part form will be returned to you.
Step 4. Send the yellow copy of the CF-255 to the foreign shopkeeper or vendor holding your purchase, and keep the other copy for your records. (When you make your purchase, it is very important to tell the merchant not to send your package to the United States until he or she gets the copy of form CF-255.)
Step 5. When the merchant gets your CF-255, he or she will put it in an envelope and attach the envelope securely to the outside wrapping of the package or container. The merchant must also mark each package "Unaccompanied Purchase." Please remember that each package or container must have its own CF-255 attached. This is the most important step to follow in order to gain the benefits allowed under this procedure.
Step 6. If your package has been mailed, the Postal Service will deliver it after it has cleared Customs. If you owe duty, the Postal Service will collect the duty along with a postal handling fee. If your package is delivered by a commercial courier, the delivery service will notify you of its arrival so you can go to the Customs office holding the shipment and complete the entry procedure. If you owe duty or tax, you can pay it at that time. Alternatively, you may hire a customs broker to do this for you, but be aware that brokers are not U.S. Customs employees, and they charge fees for their services.
Storage Charges: If freight or express packages from your trip are delivered before you return and you have not made arrangements to pick them up, Customs will place them in storage after 15 days. This storage will be at your risk and expense. If they are not claimed within six months, the items will be sold at auction.
Packages sent by mail and not claimed within 30 days will be returned to the sender unless the amount of duty is being protested.
