# Returning via air with stuff



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

For the last couple months we have been buying things on ebay/Amazon and have had them shipped to a friend in the US. No foodstuffs etc but a really weird assortment of hard to find things in Mexico. I've kept a spreadsheet and at the moment we are at around $600 USD. As I understand it we get a combined $1000 USD duty free coming back into Mexico by air. Soon we will be heading North. Perhaps we will add a few more small things.

So my question is - when we come back into the Mexico City airport - do we simply push the red/green button and then if RED produce my spreadsheet or do we present the list up front without being asked ?


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

You got something other than a spreadsheet? Such as receipts or invoices.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

joaquinx said:


> You got something other than a spreadsheet? Such as receipts or invoices.


Of course...


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

But perhaps someone can address my question ?


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

I thought you could bring in $300 duty free per person by air.....


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

chicois8 said:


> I thought you could bring in $300 duty free per person by air.....


By air the duty free limit is US$500 per traveller, year round. In my personal experience, even my children count as travellers for this purpose, so if my husband and our 2 children are travelling together, our total exemption is US$2000.



Gatos said:


> But perhaps someone can address my question ?


As long as you are within the US$500/person limit, you do not have to show the spreadsheet and receipts unless you are asked to by the customs agent. Even if you get the red light, they may or may not ask for the receipts. They will inspect your luggage, though.

But definitely bring the actual receipts for your items (not just the spreadsheet). I've had to show my receipts on a few occasions. Once I was even pulled for secondary inspection PRIOR to pressing the Red/Green button, which can be done at the discretion of the customs agent. I think it's because we were bringing things in a large plastic storage bin, along with several suitcases. I could tell the agent thought for sure I would be over the limit. I wasn't.

We have a house in Tepoztlan, Morelos and over the years have brought in all sorts of things by air - from Air mattresses to Bedding to Coffee makers to Drills - even a small microwave. Always within the US$500 per traveller, but I always make sure to have the receipts as proof (especially for items gotten on sale for a much lower than normal price). 

Some items are exempt from this $500 total, including clothing/shoes/cosmetics for personal use, 2 cameras (including video camera), up to 3 cellphones, a laptop/tablet, a certain amount of sports equipment, a tent for camping, a set of hand tools in their case, 2 musical instruments, one set of binoculars, one telescope, and several other items. Here is a link to Aduanas (Mexican customs) for the full list of exemptions. It's in Spanish - I couldn't find a link for an English version. This list is also included on the customs form you will get on the plane.
Mercancía que puedes ingresar a México


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

chicois8 said:


> I thought you could bring in $300 duty free per person by air.....


According to the link posted by Ojosazules, the $300 usd limit applies to entry by land, with an exception for three vacation periods when it goes up to $500 usd like the air limit.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> According to the link posted by Ojosazules, the $300 usd limit applies to entry by land, with an exception for three vacation periods when it goes up to $500 usd like the air limit.


Google Translation:

$500.00 USD per passenger by land.

"In periods corresponding to the Paisano Program (Easter, summer and winter) only Mexican passengers coming from abroad who enter the country by land, except for residents [Residentes as in legal immigrants] in the border area or region."


Paisano: one from the same country [fellow countrymen]

It only applies to Mexicans and legal residents of the border región. All others it is still $300.00 USD.

http://www.sat.gob.mx/aduanas/pasajeros/Paginas/Mercancia_ingresar_Mexico.aspx


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

AlanMexicali said:


> Google Translation:
> 
> $500.00 USD per passenger by land.
> 
> ...


Mea culpa. I should have read the fine print.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> Mea culpa. I should have read the fine print.


By no means do I want to be argumentative - and everyone's Spanish is better than mine - but I read it differently. The text reads :

"En los periodos que correspondan al Programa Paisano (Semana Santa, verano e invierno) únicamente los pasajeros de nacionalidad mexicana provenientes del extranjero que ingresen al país por vía terrestre, con excepción de las personas residentes en la franja o región fronteriza."

Which kind of makes sense to me - if you live near the border you can cross by land 'daily' so why would they need to allow you to bring in more stuff.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

Gatos said:


> By no means do I want to be argumentative - and everyone's Spanish is better than mine - but I read it differently. The text reads :
> 
> "En los periodos que correspondan al Programa Paisano (Semana Santa, verano e invierno) únicamente los pasajeros de nacionalidad mexicana provenientes del extranjero que ingresen al país por vía terrestre, con excepción de las personas residentes en la franja o región fronteriza."
> 
> Which kind of makes sense to me - if you live near the border you can cross by land 'daily' so why would they need to allow you to bring in more stuff.


When I lived in Mexicali it was not all that common to go shopping hundreds of miles away to buy good stuff. If you crossed into Calexico, Ca. or went 11 mile further to El Centro, Ca. they had much less to offer and prices were generally higher. So going to LA or San Diego to get good prices and a better selection was a trip most people would not make very often.

Mexican Americans or Mexican Nationals that are US legal residents might not visit often to see their family in Mexico so at Christmas and Semana Santa bringing gifts to them was commom. This woud be new stuff unopened usually and you might be paying some duty if over $300 USD if getting a red light, or maybe not - depends, so if paying duty was the case then an extra $200.00 duty free would be a bonus. I didn´t cross over to "la otro lado" [US] very often, maybe every 3 or 4 weeks when living there. In the Rio Grande Valley of Texas I imagine it might be a similar situation for many.

TVs, DVD players and computers etc. were expensive years ago and people usually waited until they had the chance of paying less duty on them if getting inspected. I rememeber Walmart and Costco parking lots in San Diego full of empty boxes of these things near the border as people trired to get them over without claiming them and paying duty.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Gatos said:


> By no means do I want to be argumentative - and everyone's Spanish is better than mine - but I read it differently. The text reads :
> 
> "En los periodos que correspondan al Programa Paisano (Semana Santa, verano e invierno) únicamente los pasajeros de nacionalidad mexicana provenientes del extranjero que ingresen al país por vía terrestre, con excepción de las personas residentes en la franja o región fronteriza."
> 
> Which kind of makes sense to me - if you live near the border you can cross by land 'daily' so why would they need to allow you to bring in more stuff.


Actually, Gatos is right. The increased exemption amount for those entering by land under the Paisano Program at certain times of year is only for Mexicans, EXCLUDING those residing in the border regions. Also, the right to combine the exemptions for each member of a family travelling together does not apply for those who live in the border region:

_La franquicia a la que tiene derecho cada integrante de la familia puede acumularse si viajan juntos en el mismo medio de transporte, excepto si eres residente de la franja o región fronteriza._

"The duty-free amount for each member of a family can be cumulative if they are travelling together in the same form of transportation, except for those who are residents of the border region."


Here is a link to the different rules which apply to those in the border regions:

Franja y región fronteriza

An excerpt in reference to duty-free limits for those residing in the border regions:

_El valor de las mercancías no debe exceder diariamente del equivalente en moneda nacional o extranjera a 150 dólares de Estados Unidos de América; en el caso de aquellos residentes fronterizos mayores de edad que ingresen a territorio nacional en vehículo de servicio particular donde se transporten más de dos residentes de la franja o región fronteriza, el valor de las mercancías que importen en su conjunto no debe exceder del equivalente en moneda nacional o extranjera a 400 dólares. _

"The value of the goods cannot exceed a daily amount equivalent to US$150. In the case of adults who are residents of the border area who enter the country in a private vehicle where there are more than 2 residents of the border region, the total value of all the merchandise being imported by all parties cannot exceed the equivalent of US$400."


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