On 08/12/2011 03:55 PM, Thomas Dalton wrote:
On 12 August 2011 22:51, James Hare
<messedrocker(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,
Not a big deal, but I'd like to correctly report this on my customs form. What is the
value of the bag, literature, etc. given out at Wikimania?
De minimis? Apart from, perhaps, the book about Israel, I doubt
anything in there has every been sold. It looked like the kind of
stuff that is always given away. There will be a cost to someone, of
course, but does that matter for customs?
I filled out U.S. Customs and Border Protection Declaration Form 6059B
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/sample_declaration_form.xml
on my way back from Wikimania. To be punctilious ("For gifts, please
indicate the retail value."), I made an estimate and declared the bag
and conference books. I believe I said that I said the shoulder bag was
worth $15 or $20, and that the books ("Facts About Israel" and the Haifa
book) were worth $10 in total.
I could have been wrong by an order of magnitude and it would not have
mattered, since I am a US resident and "U.S. residents are normally
entitled to a duty-free exemption of $800 on items accompanying them"
and this is per trip, not cumulative.
--
Sumana Harihareswara
Volunteer Development Coordinator
Wikimedia Foundation