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I know that normally if you take personal property with you out of the United States then you do not have to pay duty on it when it comes back with you. For example, if you own a Swiss watch and return to the United States you do not have to either declare or pay duty on that watch because it is your personal property.

Does this apply to tobacco as well? For example, if I have a box of 200 cigars that I bring with me out of the country to smoke or share with friends and then I return to the United States with that box of cigars, do I need to declare it or pay duty on it? How do I prove they are my cigars? Is the U.S. purchase receipt sufficient?

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  • Aren't there tax stamps on US cigar boxes?
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented Feb 14 at 21:07
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    If it's not a sealed box, how do they know it wasn't empty on the outgoing journey and then filled it with imports? If you really did want to share them with friends, leave the unsmoked cigars with said friends. Will you bring back the half-empty bourbon bottle too?
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Feb 14 at 22:32
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    How many cigars are you bringing back? And what about the country you are headed to? EG while the US allows you to import 100 cigars duty free, Mexico only allows 25
    – Peter M
    Commented Feb 14 at 22:53
  • I'm not sure it work with consumables. Try to get only the required cigars (and ev. give them to your friends before you leaves). What you describe smell a lot of smuggling, and so you can get a lot of delays before you convince custom that you are not a smuggler. (Being US cigars don't help: they may be counterfeit)
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Commented Feb 15 at 8:48
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    Unless the cigars are only available to buy in the US (which seems an unlikely scenario), even if you had a receipt for the original purchase how would you prove that the cigars you’re bringing back are the ones you took with you? Buy a smaller box (of a size that complies with import regulations of your destination country) and/or leave the leftovers with your friends, and avoid any potential hassle.
    – Traveller
    Commented Feb 15 at 12:37

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