I'm relocating to Guatemala soon and plan to ship a container with all my household furniture. Most of the furniture is over 5 years old but good quality (and too expensive to replace). Does anyone know how much import tax I'll have to pay. If so, is there a formula on how's this calculated like there is with importing cars? Any advice gratefully received.
1
sfgirl42
Hi,
Have you already worked on the logistics for getting your furniture there? If not, I checked and most of the port information (where I would usually get the info on what shipping lines call there) is in Spanish and not as well organized as other ports.
I did find that Hamburg-Sud, a very good shipping line, long established, does offer service to Guatemala.
The link is to the main site, it also has all sorts of links to pdfs with useful information:
http://www.hamburgsud-line.com/hsdg/en/hsdg/regionalinformation/northamerica/guatemala/guatemala_1/guatemala_1.jsp
This is from a commercial site which ships household goods:
https://iship2.com/customs/moving-to-guatemala/
Here's an expat forum for Guatemala (there are probably others, just search for expat Guatemala)
http://www.expatexchange.com/guatemala/liveinguatemala.html
http://www.expat-blog.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=213765
2
hopefulist
This thread on Trip advisor might interest you. The question isn't specific to duty and taxes like yours is but some knowledgeable people have commented and you could post your questions there.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g292002-i1599-k8947099-Shipping_boxes_to_Guatemala_from_the_US-Guatemala.html
3
mclarjh
I suppose you've already considered selling your furniture before you depart, and then buying locally after you arrive. It seems to me you would come out ahead, avoiding the cost of shipping, insuring and duties. And you'd own something that reflected local culture.
4
braxman
that would make sense if quality furniture were available at reasonable prices.
OP, are you emigrating on a retiree visa? If so there are special allowances for what you are allowed to bring duty free
5
donjohn
Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll follow up on all your advise. I'm not on a retiree visa but that's good to know.
7
mrmoto
I would not ship furniture to Guatemala. In fact, don't even take anything but your clothes, and pout everything else in storage or sell it.
How many years will you be in Guatemala?
8
Thorn Tree
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