Know Before You Go
15
You may include two liters of alcoholic beverages with
this $800 exemption, as long as one of the liters was
produced in one of the countries listed above (see sec-
tion on Sending Purchases from Insular Possessions
and Caribbean Basin or Andean Countries).
Depending on what items you’re bringing back from
your trip, you could come home with more than $800
worth of gifts or purchases and still not be charged
duty. For instance, say you received a $700 bracelet as
a gift, and you bought a $40 hat and a $60 color print.
Because these items total $800, you would not be
charged duty, since you have not exceeded your duty-
free exemption. If you had also bought a $500 painting
on that trip, you could bring all $1,300 worth of mer-
chandise home without having to pay duty, because
fine art is duty-free.
$1,600 Exemption
If you return directly or indirectly from a U.S. insular
possession (U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or
Guam), you are allowed a $1,600 duty-free exemption.
If you travel to a U.S. insular possession and to one
or more of the Caribbean Basin or Andean countries
listed above, let’s say on a Caribbean cruise, you may
bring back $1,600 worth of items without paying duty,
but only $800 worth of these items may come from
the Caribbean Basin or Andean country or countries.
Any amount beyond $800 will be dutiable unless you
acquired it in one of the insular possessions. For exam-
ple, if you were to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands and
Jamaica, you would be allowed to bring back $1,600
worth of merchandise duty free, as long as only $800
worth was acquired in Jamaica.
Also, you may include 1,000 cigarettes as part of the
$1,600 exemption, but at least 800 of them must have
been acquired in an insular possession. Only 200 ciga-
rettes may have been acquired elsewhere. For example,
if you were touring the South Pacific and you stopped
in Tahiti, American Samoa, and other ports of call, you
could bring back five cartons of cigarettes, but four of
them would have to have been bought in American
Samoa.