they can check your checked baggage and sometimes will; particularly new students who they correctly presume carry more taxable stuff. However the BEST way to deal with this is thus:

Keep eye contact while in line and as soon as they seem ready for you, try to preempt by offering to open stuff; ask "what would you like to see" or "shall I open this?". Generally if you are facilitating they really appreciate that (in the typical quiet Grenadian way) and are more likely to wave you through. getting obstreperous will land you into a thorough search.

the Grenadian culture is a bit more "old world "(even more so than the old world sometimes) and there is a strong concept that everyone has their place in society; thus you should respect the position of another. Show that you do, and you've been honorable to them. Demonstrate that you dont and you'll be shown a lesson that may cost you. Good luck!

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Steph
If you get a warning, put on yer manpants and stop whining about it.

When you fly in, there will be two things working in your favor.

1. The customs officers are Grenadians- they will not be particularly motivated to do their jobs.

2. There will be a huge line, since your flight will be all students. So what will happen is

Officer: Do you have a laptop?
You: Yes

-Show your receipt for the laptop and pay the duty, they won't really look at your checked luggage, and might glance through your carry on.

Or, alternately, if you have anything that you don't want taxed, throw a few pornography magazines in the top of your luggage. As pornography is illegal in Grenada (but not prostitution), they will confiscate your magazines, and probably won't look through the rest of your stuff. In any event, don't declare something like a digital camera- just put it in your pocket.

-A

wow. thanks for posting the list, probably will come in handy.

i've been to over 20 countries around the world, and have never had a problem with customs, even grenada. some tips:

remember, they hold all the cards. your stuff can be impounded and you can be fined, or worse. greet them. be polite. smile.

don't raise your voice if you have a dispute over duties. calmly explain why you think you shouldn't be charged so much (helps to have a list like the one above). politely ask to see their calculations. ask to speak with their supervisor if you're not happy.

they're looking for big ticket items that they can quickly find and tax. they're not going to take apart you baggage looking to tax your alarm clock. big ticket items = laptop, microwave, tv, stereo, etc. you can't hide stuff like that, so declare it, and they'll probably overlook your other stuff.

declare your friggin laptop. they know every student has one, so don't invite a search and the penalties. just pay the tax, save the reciept, and you won't have any more problems when you travel to the island. i simply walked up to the customs lady and dropped my laptop bag on the table, said hello, i'm here to declare my laptop, produced a receipt, paid up, and that was that. she didn't even bother checking my other bags.

use common sense. don't wear your digital camera around your neck, don't play with your pda or mp3 player while you're in line, etc. put them in your pockets or with your laptop accessories.

don't offer information unless they ask for it. if they ask for it, tell the truth. if you do, you can explain why you're importing it and they'll probably let you go. e.g. this is a water purifier. last semester i got sick from bad water and didn't want to fall ill again.

lastly, i can't emphasize this enough . . . be polite!!! being courteous and polite puts everyone in a better mood and you'll get away with the small things.

this is pretty scary. Getting taxed that much, what if you really get screwed. How do they decide what to take the percent off of? I guess you gotta bring extra cash (maybe more than extra)

**edit**
also, to get an understanding, how much have YOU been taxed?

as long as you are nice and courteous and offer to show your laptop to the officer, they usually will not ask to look though your stuff.

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Shhhhhh........

so how much were YOU taxed? a rough estimate would help.


ALso, should one look out for certain brands? Whether its clothes, watches, laptop, tv...etc? I know clothes would like be taxed (hopefully)...but what about brands of items brought down? ie rolex vs Burger king spongebob watches (ps I dont have a rolex, but do have a spongebob watch...got ya!!!)

I still find it funny that in all the years I was away at undergrad, when I'd come back home for holiday (typically 2x/year), I'd tell the customs guys that I was a medical student (before I actually was one) because that was my ticket to not getting taxed/searched.

lmao

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nice. youre the man! spongebob watch, how kool. although patrick is way cooler. you should only get taxed 5% on the price of your laptop. bring the receipt, or make up a fake one with a reasonably lower price. i've never heard of anyone being taxed on clothes. someone got taxed on their digicam, but he was also being a butthead to the customs guy.

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(that's karma for you)

~CD

I remember seeing a student get real angry with a customs person last term. They just took their laptop and said you can't have it until you pay. I say make up two laptop receipts, just in case you lose one. Then, when they give you your proof of payment, scan/photograph it so that you will always have a copy that you can print out in case you lose it (I speak from experience).

As far as fancy jewelery...etc, be subtle and no one will pay attention...well maybe they will if you have one of those nasty spinning rim watches .