just returned last week from a short trip to havana. with the new aduana regs now allowing dvd's i took one to satisfy a last minute request from a friend. i've always had one with my laptop but this was the first one taken as an external device. i selected one that was small enough and light enough to fit in my backpack (9"x9"x1.5" @ 1.8#). as a safety i took a printout of the new aduana regs with me. guess what they are now old. after being detained at the x-ray belt i waited about 30 minutes after i was told to wait for the jefa. she finally arrives and requests my plane ticket and runs off for another cuban "un momentico". being on the late flight in from cancun, tired, having people waiting up for me at the casa, and having paid only $29 usd for it in the first place, i insisted in my broken spanglish that they keep it or allow me to throw it away. they would have neither. after another 30 minutes of paperwork i was allowed to leave without it. evidently, you are taxed $62 usd on the dvd player whether it was new, used, $29, or $229. i refused to pay what would have been the equivalent of 200% in taxes. i also thought i was being taken for a ride by aduana. turns out i returned 2 days later with the friend, a round trip taxi fare, and the $62 to retreive it. took about 20 minutes at aduana. btw, the office i retreived it from had dvd's tagged and stacked to the ceiling on every wall. go figure. lessons learned; prepare to shell out the $62 on arrival or leave it at home.
Thanks for the update, Tex.
Did you by chance ask for a copy of the new $62 regulation? Jeje...
Cheers,
Terry
Hi Tex, thanks for the first hand info as I am about to bring a wide screen LCD TV with a DVD attached to Cuba. Been there so many times I am prepared to do battle with the first custom inspector that pisses me off. I have a letter from the Cuba Tourist Board saying it’s ok to bring a DVD or a TV to Cuba and another letter from the custom dept in Cfgos to bring my receipts and a notification from Terry its tax exempted for first time visitor lol.
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From: "Karen Puebla" <karen@gocuba.ca>
To: "'Richard'" Subject: RE: Request Form Web Site
Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 09:36:21 -0400
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Dear Mr. xxxx
I have information that DVDs and TVs are ok to bring them into Cuba, please contact Cuban customs at www.aduana.co.cu for taxes.
Regards,
Karen per Cuba Tourist Board karen@gocuba.ca
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxx
Sent: May 16, 2007 6:41 PM
To: info@gocuba.ca
Subject: Request Form Web Site
Hola,
In the past it was prohibited to bring electronics to Cuba because of the electricity problems but I have been told that starting June 1/07 that it’s permissible to bring DVD players and TV to Cuba. Can you please confirm if that is true and what the applicable taxes will be?
Thanking you in advance,
Rickie
Thanks for the update, Tex. Aduana has SUCH cajones, no?
I am planning to bring one in along with the purchase receipt for it but I don't think any of that matters. When I did that with an item in the past, Aduana nonetheless taxed me double it's value and explained it by saying that it's worth twice as much in Cuba as in the US.
You can't win.
I hate the late night arrival from Cancun, everyone on both sides is hungry and tired - the aiport people have been working all day - that's why my trips now go thru Mexico City for mid-afternoon arrival
Based on your $29 purchase price - I assume the DVD player was a 110v plug-in set top box......which defintely would be considered not for personal use - and you did not have the receipt with you with Custom's ?
I can see where custom's would ask for a receipt and damn the $250 for non-personal once a "natural" year, which means if your passport shows a trip within the past year from arrival they will assume you are not good for the free import - and they would "judge" the value a $62 duty is a judged value of $62 for the plug-in player, which is not that unfair of a judged value from the Cuba perspective.
On Rickie's deal - I really wouldn't put much credence to a email from gocuba.ca - I would bring a portable DVD with cables on the DVD part, and expect to pay duty on the TV based on receipt value if it was to get in....
Cuba es Cuba, all things will be clear sometime in the future !
He actually said it was a 9"X9" player, fab, so that doesn't appear to have been the issue. It's a good poit you are making, however, as I was thinking about bringing in a less costly "desktop" version myself, having several of them around. I was also considering one with a recordable VCR AND DVD in order to stoke the cottage industry aspect of things.
copy of the new regs? forget it. i did get a receipt. actually it is $60 usd with a $2 service fee. go figure. pelo, i had the purchase receipt from walmart. as she explained to me all dvd players were $62. in nov i plan on bringing a dvd player/recorder external device for a pc. i will plan on shelling out the $62 up front and not pay the return cab fare assuming they catch it upfront. who knows, by then the regs will have changed again. problem this trip was i begged them to take it or let me throw it away so i could get on to the casa. no way. i was cussing the friend until they delivered a box of monte #2's. in 18 trips i've only been stopped twice. both times after CT convinced me aduana would allow frozen vacuum sealed filet minons. aduana ate well those nights.
If you are taking a notebook computer with you you can easily bring in several devices that could be considered a part of the system, e.g. external drives, speakers. External Hard Drives are NO problem. It's the DVDs that catch the fees. You can buy a USB 2.0 5-1/4" external drive enclosure that can run either a hard drive OR an external DVD burner. You can mount the DVD burner within the enclosure so it's face doesn't show and there is no way they can know what's inside without opening the enclosure. Tell them it's an external hard drive for your notebook and no questions will be asked nor fees assessed. A DVD burner (assuming there is a computer to connect it to) can pay for itself a hundred times over. It's a terrific gift that will reward the recipients and family for a long time.
Good work, Tex, but maybe next time mas tranquilo.
Es Cuba, no?
"... both times after CT convinced me aduana would allow frozen vacuum sealed filet minons. aduana ate well those nights..."
Blame Gres. He taught me how to smuggle in beef...
Cheers,
Terry
This another DVD report:
"I just came back and took in a dvd player and they didn't say anything. Sailed on through.
The same night my guys brother returned to Cuba from Canada for the first time with 2 and he didn't have any problems with it. They were more concerned with the amount of luggage that he had for 3 kids and 2 adults...they had 7 suitcases and 2 strollers. To me for a 6 week stay that seems good to me.
No problems."
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