Avoiding taxes on diamond upon return shipping

[MissMandie]

Hi all,

My husband and I have fianlly decided to go with Leon Mege to create my ring. Yay!

I am in Bahrain and Leon is in NY. I will be using Brinks to ship my diamond over as they will insure it for its value.

I am concerned that once the diamond is set in the platinum ring and sent to me in Bahrain, that I will be charged duty on not only the setting, but the diamond as well. How can I prevent this from happening?

 

[Dreamer_D]

When you first got the diamond you paid taxes and should have some proof of that. When you ship it out to Leon, there will be a customs form that you complete and on it you will list the value of the goods being shipped to Leon. When the ring comes back, it will also have a customs form, indicating that the goods are coming to you from Leon. You should be able to show these three documents to customs to prove that you a) paid taxes on the diamond, and b) shipped the diamond to Leon. Then you should be able to argue that you should only pay taxes on the difference between the outgoing customs invioce and the incoming invoice.

BUT customs may have different rules. Or they may try to mess with you. Can you call them and see what their rules are? paying the whole amount of taxes may just be an added cost of working with Leon.

 

[jan can]

In theory for Canada, when it leaves Canada the shipping papers state the present value. When it returns, it would have a new value. You would then pay taxes on the increased value only. Perhaps Bahrain handles is in a similar fashion. Try and get something written.

Contact Leon too. His office may know the best way to handle things.