and I am an American citizen. I want to bring in an LCD TV, as much TV as the size and weight limits will allow. Am I going to have to pay a tax or duty to bring this in for personal use?? please advise, thanks

Hi Ricard,

How do you plan to bring it?

Even if it's for personal use, you should have to pay the import duties on it, but sometimes depending on how you bring it's more or less.

Damm you should have done it, during December it was tax exempt . but yeah most likely they will tax you. how much not sure, but its better if you bring some bogus receipt, of how much it cost( of course lower price than what you actually paid for it ) Because if not they will determine the price for you, on how much they think its worth.

Actually, if they decide to look for the price in the "libro de aranceles", you will end up paying much more than what you payed to buy the item. Thats why I asked how he was going to bring the item. If you use a courier service like EPS, CPS or business mail, most of the times you pay a fraction of the duties, sometimes even less.

If you bring it with you in the plane, it's probable that they will break it during transport. If not, when the customs officer in the DR checks, you will end up paying whatever the asked. Even if it's unfair what they want to charge you, it's that or leave the TV right there.

this guy lives in the states and has a girl in DR in one of his apartments, what does this sound like to you ?>

It doesn't matter if you bring a receipt or not. The tax will be determined based on what Customs says the items are worth.

For the OP, if you bring it with you, you need to make sure it is packed for rough handling. When you arrive, try telling the customs folks it's a gift. They may or may not just wave you through.

The customs folks don't even have to consult their books. Do you think you're the only one importing a TV? They can probably tell you off the top of their head what the appraised value is, and how much it pays in taxes. It's an everyday thing for them.

chillaxin, it sounds to me that chulo and twenty relatives now have satellite TV.

While the cat is away the mice will play,

they do not have to wait until the cat is away. they are playing with the guy they introduce to gringo as "mi primo". so, in this case, primo is wallowing around on the king sized bed he always wanted.

It can be from 18 to 24 %, thenagain, you can allways give some money under the table (not literally) according to coruption here in DR. Just be carefull with so called "friends" who wants to "help" you to pass customs.

Or pretend thats not LCD tv, but a square surfing board.