Cell phone replacement from the US

[jiujitsusa]

Hello. My US cell provider will be sending me a replacement cell phone next week. Does anyone know if I will have to pay import taxes on the phone? I have AT$T service plan and pay $10 extra monthly for the all South America plan. Unlimited data, text, and calls. Helps me out living in BA and working online for my US company. Thanks

 

[earlyretirement]

What method are you using to have it sent? In ALL the cases that I've experienced, all of the places have tried to charge me various taxes and fees when getting something shipped to Buenos Aires. You can almost guarantee that any electronics you have shipped to Argentina (especially if it's new) you will be charged a ton of taxes and fees.

Many years ago I worked on a business deal with some lawyers and a hedge fund in the USA. As a thank you, they sent Tiffany cuff links to everyone in Argentina that worked on the deal. I went to pick it up at the post office and it was a nightmare. First of all, it took me about 2.5 hours of waiting in line for it.

Then when I got to the line to pick it up (this was at the post office). They wanted to charge me more than 100% of the value of the actual item! I told them that this item doesn't even cost this much and showed them on the website. They didn't care.

I told them to send it back as it made NO sense to me to pay more than the actual purchase price. I got back to my office and thanked the US client for the thoughtful gift and told them that I asked them to send it back. They laughed and said that all 9 people that they sent it to, also did the same thing. They ended up bringing it the next time they arrived.

Sad but true story. Hopefully you have a better outcome with your cellphone. I would be shocked if they didn't charge you a bunch of import taxes and IVA.

 

[Quilombo]

They're going to charge you the following:

No taxes on the first $50 of the value of the phone, then 50% of the total value for the difference.

Best solution is going to be waiting for someone you know to visit, or using one of those transfer services like Grabr.

 

[earlyretirement]

They're going to charge you the following:

No taxes on the first $50 of the value of the phone, then 50% of the total value for the difference.

Best solution is going to be waiting for someone you know to visit, or using one of those transfer services like Grabr.

Quilombo,

How do they determine the "total value". The times that I got sent stuff they would come up with these crazy values on items. Even sometimes used stuff. After a few years of living in Argentina, I was clear to tell people NEVER to mail or ship me anything to my place.

I guess even 50% tax would be ok if you were desperate for something if you actually had some realistic value. My problem is they would have some crazy value on the item. Some things in Argentina are double the price of the price in the USA and they would use that price to tax me on instead of the price in the USA. I'm not sure how they do it now.

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

don’t bother

 

[Quilombo]

Quilombo,

How do they determine the "total value". The times that I got sent stuff they would come up with these crazy values on items. Even sometimes used stuff. After a few years of living in Argentina, I was clear to tell people NEVER to mail or ship me anything to my place.

It's the assessed value (which, to be frank, they pull out of their collective asses, and I assume pocket most of) unless you have an invoice.

The puerta a puerta scheme (which I referenced above) that Argentina had to implement to make some WTO legal proceedings go away after Cristina sought to basically ban imports by human persons (as opposed to companies). It's not perfect, but it's better than it used to be.

I don't use the puerta a puerta scheme, I use the courier one because I don't trust Correo Argentino to not steal my stuff. I've used it ~4 times without issue, and I accept paying the bullshit taxes as part of the cost of getting stuff I needed/wanted in between trips abroad or friends visiting. The difference is you gotta ship it to a freight forwarding company, if something is shipped to you here it will come via Correo Argentino unless it's shipped via DHL/FedEx/UPS.