Question: Bringing things back stateside

Scroll down a little bit here:

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/virginislands/0092020032.html

What we have been told by Customs to pass onto all the military crews we deal with is the following quotas:

Generally, they can take up to 6 liters each of alcohol as long as at least one in each six is Crucian Rum. If they don't take one of Crucian Rum, they can only have 4 liters each. Up to two cartons of cigarettes per person. Even children can qualify for these quotas, but of course they must be accompanied by an adult while traveling with the products since they are underage. Dollar amounts of goods that can go back duty free can also be pooled among family members, but otherwise they are individual maximums that you can't share with a non-family member friend you might be traveling with (if you were under your maximum and they were over theirs, for example).

Interesting....the link says something entirely different.....1000 cigarettes is 5 cartons per person .......that's what I went through with.....dunno about kids.

One thing - I would surely put them in my carry on.......neither of my sons made it home with a single carton of Camels that were packed in their checked luggage....there were a couple of layovers and they mysteriously disappeared somewhere between STX and Houston, although my husband's Kool's made it through. Guess there just aren't that many Kool smokers anymore!

This link will take you to a whole new "if you do this, you can do that" page.....I am sure someone brighter than I can figure it out....

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/types_of_exemptions.xml

$1,600 Exemption

If you return directly or indirectly from a U.S. insular possession (U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or Guam), you are allowed a $1,600 duty-free exemption.

If you travel to a U.S. insular possession and to one or more of the Caribbean Basin or Andean countries listed above, let’s say on a Caribbean cruise, you may bring back $1,600 worth of items without paying duty, but only $800 worth of these items may come from the Caribbean Basin or Andean country(ies). Any amount beyond $800 will be dutiable unless you acquired it in one of the insular possessions. For example, if you were to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Jamaica, you would be allowed to bring back $1,600 worth of merchandise duty free, as long as only $800 worth was acquired in Jamaica.

Also, you may include 1,000 cigarettes as part of the $1600 exemption, but at least 800 of them must have been acquired in an insular possession. Only 200 cigarettes may have been acquired elsewhere. For example, if you were touring the South Pacific and you stopped in Tahiti, American Samoa, and other ports of call, you could bring back five cartons of cigarettes, but four of them would have to have been bought in American Samoa.

Similarly, you may include five liters of alcoholic beverages in your duty-free exemption, but one of them must be a product of an insular possession. Four may be products of other countries (see section on Unaccompanied Purchases from Insular Possessions and Caribbean Basin countries).

before we moved to st croix we always mailed a case of smokes to ourselves back in minnesota and then we also carried back 5 cartons each we never had a prob mailing them but it was probally illegal, we just told them at the post office it was clothing

Thank you so much for the information and links. Very informative, and I will add it all to the PMV information booklet I keep in the apartments. I did contact, for clarification, someone who smokes and did go back to the stateside. She did brin 5 cartons of cigarettes, went through customs, and there was no problem at all.

In terms of booze, I had no idea as I am a non comsumer of any, but it was interesting and informative and I will pass that along.

Thank you again.....I am getting there with all of this information that many times I take for granted.

Best wishes,

Dan