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Bringing back alcohol

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So I leave for Aruba on Sunday and was planning on bringing back Rum and a few bottles of whiskey that a buddy is looking for.

I was wondering if anyone had experience bringing stuff back. Do I need to declare it? What's the process? Any help would be appreciated
 
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I brought back tequila from Mexico. Carried it on the plane with us. When we got to Dallas, customs made us put it in our luggage. It made it home o.k., not sure what it had to be put in our luggage. That was the only problem we had.
 
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I brought liquor back from Mexico once. Declared it when I crossed at the border, and paid a small tax. No issues, but there was a limit on how many bottles I could bring back (2 or 3 per person?) so I had to make my girlfriend at the time and her stepmom carry some of it across.

That was over 10 years ago, so I'm not sure exactly what the limit per person is these days - you might want to look into that before you go.
 
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I came back from Europe recently and each person was allowed 1 liter with no tax to be paid (I imagine there is a dollar limit but I bought something inexpensive at the airport so I assumed I was way under it). If my memory serves me right, I think any additional bottles once you get passed the 1 liter mark gets taxed. Best to double check on the customs web site to be sure.
 
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When I traveled to Bermuda on a cruise maybe now 2 years ago?, my fiancé and I took home 4 or 5 bottles of alcohol with 2 of them being Gosling's rum (Bermuda made). We split it up and declared the bottles on our declaration forms. We got to carry it all off the ship with us. Just smiled, spoke politely, calm and collected to the customs officers when we arrived back in NY and went on our way.

As for flying, which I'm assuming you're going to be doing, just pack it in your checked luggage. The way your luggage gets handled, wrap everything up really good and put all your clothes around the bottles as a cushion, even if you have to use dirty clothes as gross as it might sound. I found a website that suggested bringing some bubble wrap and some plastic bags for transport should you get liquor to bring home with you. I'm going to do that and pack some when I go to St. Lucia later this year.

I've also had family buy liquor in the airport terminal, but the prices were a bit steep. I expected that because, well, it's the airport and nothings cheap.

And yes, I would declare it. If you're traveling with any friends or family who isn't buying any alcohol, by all means ask them if they can help you and put some on their declaration and pack it in their bags.

Here's what I found for you from the US Customs website since now you got me curious about the rules. I read just a few minutes ago, if you're not sure if something should be declared, just declare it to be safe and avoid issues.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/424/kw/alcohol allowance/session/L3RpbWUvMTQ5MzI2NDY5Mi9zaWQvemYyZUc2aG4=

Also, found this website for you as well which seems more directly involved with Aruba.

http://caribya.com/aruba/customs/

Hope all the information helps you! Have a great time and take a lot of pictures. :cigar: (y)
 
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yeah, make sure you wrapp it in shirts and put it in checked luggage. on the recent trip to the philippines i scored a bottle of 21 year salute and i had to fight tooth and nail to get that shit home. they wanted me to pay 600 bucks 200 dollars for each flight to check an extra bag to put the liquor in. the only reason i bought it is cause it was only 134 bucks here in the states you would pay about 300 bucks for that bottle. there were plenty of times i told UNITED take your f$(%&^ bottle back and give me my 134 dollars to which they refused every time. but with that bottle there are several diff reasons why i couldn't take it carry on 1. larger than 100 ml. 2. the ceremic bottle is painted so TSA can't test for explosives. glad i got it back but geez.

without any taxes you should be able to take back with you x2 750 ml bottles of liquor and up to 50 cigars free of tax for personal use. that is per passenger so if your wife wants to bring the same she can
 
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I once brought back a case of liquor, 12 bottles of rare or restricted liquor and declared everything, and was ready to pay taxes. Customs looked at my passport, saw the sting of Visa stamps and said "Been gone awhile?" I said yeah, he smiled said welcome home and waved me though. Next time I came back after a couple of weeks and they stopped just short of a full body cavity search.
 
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We use to go to Mexico every few months for prescriptions. The limit last time I went was 1 bottle up to 1 Liter, (any aoholic beverage) per adult every 30 days.

Call U.S. Customs ServiceOffice, as it will be Customs you will be dealing with when re-enter the USA.

Would think U.S. Customs has a web-site with frequently asked questions, and answer. This should be their.
 
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