Picking Up An Xbox @ Correo Argentino

[sheawj]

...with the new rules.

I am lost. My dad sent my son a new XBox and me assorted (cheap) goodies from the US. His girlfriend listed the items as gifts and put the total value at $50.00. We usually devalue things when sending them abroad, but I admit this makes me nervous.
Believe it or not, the box arrived.
My partner, who is Argentine, will be picking it up and it's under her name. Along with the Correo Arg. slip was a note stating that she needs to fill out a form from the AFIP webpage. The form itself, you guys probably already know, is where you list the items you've received.

Now we're searching online just to get an idea of what we need to be doing (for example...obviously the XBox is more than $50.00. Will they find out? etc.) The things we're finding are: if it's more than $25 dollars, you have to pay 50% the value (in dollars). You can't pay it at the Correo, you have to pay elsewhere...and maybe only online?? To receive an electronic item, you have to be an importer? There is a site with all kinds of crazy stories. Apparently, someone had a camera sent from Canada to here, and they couldn't pick it up because they aren't allowed 'to import'.

Good Lord, we just want to pick up a belated Christmas gift. This is nuts. Does anyone have any tips or a real site (or even a thread here that didn't pop up on my search) that we can consult? Do we just go wing it or what?

 

[HenryNisental]

I have picked up many boxes there.
To AFIP you can tell "used clothing,etc"
Cost? 50 dollars.
When you pick it up at Retiro International Post Office, they will open it up, usually is no big deal, and you will pay there whatever they say. And then you go home.
The wait is long, plan for about 2 hours total time.
good luck

 

[sheawj]

I've picked up a lot of things before, too...but not with all the new regulations and the new form. And to pay, you need a clave fiscal, which we do not have, and go to a bank---I think?
Also, we just read that something being a gift doesn't matter as there is no law yet differentiating what it a gift and what is something bought online from Amazon, eBay, etc. Someone in Mendoza just has her stuff sitting at the post office because she has no idea what is in her (gift) box.

I don't know to freak out or laugh, because there isn't any information online that seems official, just annoying stories and links to more forms you need.

 

[Peony54]

You might have trouble if the xbox is in the original packaging otherwise you could maybe have gotten away with saying its used. I think it will be clear to them it's worth over 50 usd. But I actually don't know how much it costs! Since it's a present do you know if different rules apply?

 

[Alicia karr]

I've never seen an xbox so wouldn't know what it was if I did...maybe you'll have some luck and get an agent equally as ignorant..but have another explanation handy--a toy? A vibrator? A spare part for your car? Good luck

 

[Floppy]

Hi, I received a packet from Ireland, sent on 10/12 arrived 15/1 it arrived at my work and didn't have to pay anything. You have to put no value when sending stuff. Mind you I sent a parcel to Rome on 12/12, on 3/1 tracking stated it left Argentina and it still hasn't arrived, I sent a parcel to Ireland same day and arrived in 2 weeks.

 

[Crema Americana]

The rules have changed. They now require you to have a receipt (from Amazon or wherever you ordered from) and now there's that new AFIP form.

I recently sent my husband a $300 car siren, before the AFIP form came into play... and from what my husband says, the agents at correos aren't the same as the old ones. He said they seemed a lot more serious and are pretty strict. What you say the items value is doesn't matter - they either want proof or they'll give it a value.

His experience:
As my husband was standing in line, he overheard one of the agents say "your friend is an idiot for lying about the price - he could be in a lot of trouble" or something along those lines. Now I lied about the value of the item, but I only shaved $50 off a total of about $360.... so my husband got nervous. When he got to the counter, the agent asked for the receipt. My husband didn't have it, but said it was in the box. That wasn't good enough and my husband was told to bring up the purchase on his phone, or leave the line (which was 2 hours long) and go around the corner and print it out. My husband said he didn't have the email receipt, so finally the guy just asked "what's it worth?" So my husband told him, about $350. "How much was the shipping?" "$80." "Okay, for that price ($350 + $80) I can give it to you." Total taxes were about 1300 pesos. Yea, they added the shipping charges to the price.

My husband has a friend that ordered some things and went to pick them up... and ended up having to go home empty handed because he didn't have the form they asked for. So, it seems they're being pretty strict.

 

[sheawj]

The rules have changed. They now require you to have a receipt (from Amazon or wherever you ordered from) and now there's that new AFIP form.

My husband has a friend that ordered some things and went to pick them up... and ended up having to go home empty handed because he didn't have the form they asked for. So, it seems they're being pretty strict.

Yes, this is exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about. Thanks for sharing your experience, Eclair!


I thought I'd edit to add part of a PM reply I just sent with some new info:

Yup, I think we're screwed. I just asked for the shipping manifest, and my dad's girlfriend didn't even list the XBox at all...she just listed some clothing and XBox games. *sigh*
We don't get gift stuff often, sometimes I have asked for seasoned salt and once my son got some video games..that's about it in the 3 and a half years we've been here. We live in the province and I work like a slave earning pesos, so we're hardly living in up. The XBox was a special treat that my family went together in buying and shipping.

It's a shame.

 

[Somewhereinba]

Yes, this is exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about. Thanks for sharing your experience, Eclair!

I guess you have to decide if it's worth paying the 50% or getting it sent back to your father (assuming they do). I rejected a package of t-shirts I got sent to me because the young lady wanted me to pay 50 pesos in tax at the central bank which had a line that stretched around the block. No thanks. I doubt she sent the package back as well, probably kept it.

 

[sheawj]

I guess you have to decide if it's worth paying the 50% or getting it sent back to your father (assuming they do). I rejected a package of t-shirts I got sent to me because the young lady wanted me to pay 50 pesos in tax at the central bank which had a line that stretched around the block. No thanks. I doubt she sent the package back as well, probably kept it.

The thing is, I am not even sure if we're able to pay the tax. From what we're seeing online, you have to maybe be an importer to receive it at all. And you need to pay the fees before you even go online, using a clave fiscal, which we don't have. I would pay whatever necessary in order to get this for my kid, but I am not even sure if we can. OR...maybe online is just a bunch of crazy stories. That's why I asked here for what's really going on.
However, I did read of some people who just said 'forget it' and left the items there like you did. I am not sure if it would make it back to my dad, and that right there just pisses me off.