Bringing my personal electronics to Argentina?

[Huckstah]

Hey guys, hope you can help me out with a question concerning an upcoming trip I have planned to BA.

I'll be staying for a couple of months, and so ideally I'd love to bring my iPad, work phone (iPhone), personal phone (android), and probably my Playstation 3 as well. Initially, i wasnt worried about this until yesterday when a friend told me that there are some hefty fines and taxes concerning electronics in south America, Argentina especially. I was told they will actually search my bags and charge me a 30% tax accordingnto each items value.

First of all, how does customs determine the value of a used phone or ipad....especially considering I bought my iPad on craigslist for lesser price and of course it didn't come with a reciept...

Help Expats! Totally confused and worried about this!

 

[Zissou]

Yes, you have up to 500 USD (I believe, could be 300) that you can bring in new anyhow - and there is no tax on personal/ used electronics.

 

[lomo]

They do not check Gringos that much, it's the locals with giant bags that cause
their (custom) attention.

 

[Crema Americana]

Just make it clear that you're a tourist. I went through Ezeiza last week and the girl behind me got her bags checked while I was allowed to go through on my American passport. The woman at customs kept asking me if I was Argentine... if I had family here... or if I was born here. When I told her no to all of the above and that I was not traveling with the girl behind me (and handed her my nothing to declare form), she let me go through.

It seemed like they were mostly concerned with Argentines importing things for their families or for resale. At least that's the impression I got.

 

[Huckstah]

Thanks guys. I'll be staying as a tourist, and I admit I'm a bit of an electronics/gadget freak, and I was hoping there wouldn't be some limitation or fine for bringing stuff if it is indeed personal.

As far as determining whether my items are personal or not, how do they verify that sort of stuff? My smartphones and tablet are registered in my name of course, but they wold have to literally turn the device o and go into setting to determie that. And what about the PS3? I try to keep all my electronics in perfect condition (sorry, neat freak here) and I'm scared they will actually think my iPad or xbox is new. Anyone ever had any problems with that.?

 

[Markgeezer]

You don't live here, so this issue has nothing to do with you. You can bring new unpackaged items as well.

 

[Huckstah]

List of things I plan to bring with me:

IPad 2
iPhone (work)
Motorola Droid 3 (personal)
Canon t3i Camera
Sony Waterproof Digital Camera
Ebook tablet reader
Playstation 3
Playstation PSP Handheld
Sony Vaio 15in Laptop (work)
Dell inspiron 14in Laptop (personal/home)

I imagine some of the laughs you guys might have, but I warned you I am a gadget freak and Im quite sure I'll be using all of those things during my 2-3month stay. Do you think customs is going to freak out even though all of the items clearly look used and personal?

 

[Huckstah]

mark, are you absolutely sure about that? I've heard differently, particularly about whether the items are in the original box or not. I don't even have the boxes to any of my stuff except for my iPad possibly, so packaging isn't a big issue for me. I do keep my items in excellent condition though, so I'm hoping my stuff doesn't look "too new"