QCOSTARICA – Buying online and having it shipped to Costa Rica is all the rage. However, it may not be as simple as it may be made out to be by vendors and forwarders: there is the little pesky thing known as customs, that requires the correct paperwork and taxes paid on imports.
The Dirección de Fiscalización del Servicio Nacional de Aduanas (Supervision Directorate of the National Customs Service) reports having retained packages with merchandise that show errors in their declaration of entry into the country, during the months of November and December.
The Ministry of Finance reported in a statement that the items include clothing, shoes, cosmetics, automotive spare parts, makeup, food, and electronic devices.
There are 15,000 units of preparations for beauty and personal care, and foods that require special permits for importation.
In all cases, the imports came from the United States and were incorrectly declared by the importers or were not declared at all when entering under the courier or express delivery system.
Customs reported that the companies that imported the products are not registered to provide the service, which prevents purchases from reaching their final recipients – the buyer – on time because they fail to comply with the requirements for entering the country.
The Treasury reported that the goods are kept in the custody of Depositaries under the jurisdiction of the Santamaría Customs and in the process of valuation.
The Director General of Customs, Gerardo Bolaños, indicated that when appropriate, such as customs tax fraud is suspected, complaints will be filed that triggers an investigation and action through the criminal courts.
