diosaarenosa
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- Joined
- Jul 29, 2008
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so here´s the thing. i got passed passport control and then i was asked to put my hand luggage through the x-ray machine (i didn´t think one had to do that at the other end but in argie anything´s possible). when they saw i had a macbook the guy asked me if he could look at it.
he pulled it out, opened it on top of his counter and proceeded to ask me questions about it and about my circumstances and reasons for entering the country (i don´t look english per se but travel with an english passport). i told him the laptop had been a gift from my father and that it was invaluable as i was about to start a course. he asked me how old it was and how much it had cost in pounds. i told him that the market price was 849, to which he replied ´we´ll call it 800´. he then punched some numbers into a calculator and calculated the equivalent in pesos. he told me that he was obliged to charge me duty on the machine, mentioning 40% of it´s market value. he said i was to pay $300 US dollars. i thought this preposterous, and told him so in no uncertain terms. why should i have to be out of pocket for something that had clearly been used and was not in its original packaging?
as i am anglo-argentine and speak porteno spanish fluently, i was able to stand my ground during this. i told him i was coming in ´con mi plata contada´ as an argentine rather than a rich european with loads of savings in pounds. he said "surely you have money? you can always pay on a credit card". i said i didn´t have one. i insisted that the laptop was essential for my studies and he stood pondering and said he wondered how we could get around it. then he suggested 150 dollars, and i continued to insist that i didn´t see why i should pay anything and that i was broke. "not even 50 pounds? you must have that surely?" he insisted.
when it became evident that i wasn´t going to budge on my position, it was obvious he was tiring of me because he just skulked back to where the other staff were sat and i took the liberty of taking my bags and carried on through to the airport hall.
if this tax was legitimate, it would surely have been a fixed sum and he would have proposed some kind of official form or document for me to fill in. the fact that he asked for three different sums of varying amounts and then let me go i think is testament to the fact that he was trying to make a fast buck out of me. i was angry that this might happen to a less informed and perhaps more naive tourist, with little or no command of spanish who would duly comply and be 300 or more dollars out of pocket. there is NO REASON WHATSOEVER why one should have to pay duty on a used computer, IMO.
i would be interested to know what the law stipulates on this issue, if indeed there is one.
he pulled it out, opened it on top of his counter and proceeded to ask me questions about it and about my circumstances and reasons for entering the country (i don´t look english per se but travel with an english passport). i told him the laptop had been a gift from my father and that it was invaluable as i was about to start a course. he asked me how old it was and how much it had cost in pounds. i told him that the market price was 849, to which he replied ´we´ll call it 800´. he then punched some numbers into a calculator and calculated the equivalent in pesos. he told me that he was obliged to charge me duty on the machine, mentioning 40% of it´s market value. he said i was to pay $300 US dollars. i thought this preposterous, and told him so in no uncertain terms. why should i have to be out of pocket for something that had clearly been used and was not in its original packaging?
as i am anglo-argentine and speak porteno spanish fluently, i was able to stand my ground during this. i told him i was coming in ´con mi plata contada´ as an argentine rather than a rich european with loads of savings in pounds. he said "surely you have money? you can always pay on a credit card". i said i didn´t have one. i insisted that the laptop was essential for my studies and he stood pondering and said he wondered how we could get around it. then he suggested 150 dollars, and i continued to insist that i didn´t see why i should pay anything and that i was broke. "not even 50 pounds? you must have that surely?" he insisted.
when it became evident that i wasn´t going to budge on my position, it was obvious he was tiring of me because he just skulked back to where the other staff were sat and i took the liberty of taking my bags and carried on through to the airport hall.
if this tax was legitimate, it would surely have been a fixed sum and he would have proposed some kind of official form or document for me to fill in. the fact that he asked for three different sums of varying amounts and then let me go i think is testament to the fact that he was trying to make a fast buck out of me. i was angry that this might happen to a less informed and perhaps more naive tourist, with little or no command of spanish who would duly comply and be 300 or more dollars out of pocket. there is NO REASON WHATSOEVER why one should have to pay duty on a used computer, IMO.
i would be interested to know what the law stipulates on this issue, if indeed there is one.
