Alcohol for checked baggage

[halfhuman]

Does anyone have any idea if opened whiskey will still be charged for excise duty? I'll be going to Australia and staying for almost a year and I'm wondering if I can buy a lot of whiskey there (their limit is 2.25L of alcohol ) and pack the remaining and opened whiskey into my checked luggage, and bring them back to Singapore without paying taxes on them. Or maybe I need to play stunt and pour the liquor out in tonic bottle and bring them in to avoid taxes

Anybody have any experience with this?

Since nobody bothers to read the comments below, I'll just post the questions I raised here:

1. Do they actually scan and tag the bags that they x-rayed and found alcoholic beverages in them?

2. How are they planning to charge me GST if I can't produce the receipt because I bought the stuff 9 months ago?

3. If it's an opened bottle and I drank some of it, how do they plan to charge me based on the remaining liquor? Use a volumetric flask on standby?

 

[patryn33]

Whiskey in Oz cheap? You coming to Singapore why are u using Oz limit? That limit doesn’t apply to Sg in the first place.

If u spending on cheap booz why import, if u paying for expensive stuff why perform stunt. How much u bringing anyway 12 bottles?

https://www.customs.gov.sg/-/media/cus/files/insync/issue02/updates/liquor.html

 

[halfhuman]

That limit doesn’t apply to Sg in the first place.

Because when I land in Oz, I can bring back 2 bottles of whiskey to my campus? And when I'm travelling back to SG, I can still bring back the bottle?

if u paying for expensive stuff why perform stunt

Because $88 tax per bottle is enough to make it bohua to bring them in, in the first place?

 

[bubbleteajanjee]

What don you like to know bro about the alcohol regulations?

 

[halfhuman]

What don you like to know bro about the alcohol regulations?

Can I bring in opened whiskey, put them in checked baggage, and not pay excise taxes for it?

Or do I have to decanter them into other bottles to avoid the daylight robbery of $88/litre?

 

[adibisalemak]

Wouldn’t risk it - open bottle in case might spoil ur studs inside.

 

[ceecookie]

Can I bring in opened whiskey, put them in checked baggage, and not pay excise taxes for it?

Or do I have to decanter them into other bottles to avoid the daylight robbery of $88/litre?

The 1 liter allowance for liquor when entering SG applies to open and unopened bottles. However the customs at the arrival section rarely check checked bags so it is ur risk if u want to carry more than 1 liter of liquor

 

[g_t2006]

The 1 liter allowance for liquor when entering SG applies to open and unopened bottles. However the customs at the arrival section rarely check checked bags so it is ur risk if u want to carry more than 1 liter of liquor

they 'rarely' check cos the bags are screened/xray as soon as they leave the aircraft. how do you think they catch people who buy excess duty free luxury goods and don't declare?

 

[halfhuman]

how do you think they catch people who buy excess duty free luxury goods and don't declare?

You mean they scan and tag bags that they suspect have alcoholic drinks in them? Also, if I opened and drink some of the bottle before packing it in my checked baggage, how are they gonna levy me? Use a beaker or volumetric flask to see how much I bring in? lol

 

[Beefsteak]

How many bottles do you intend to bring back?
It's a risk you have to take.
Sometimes they also do random baggage checks at the arrival hall.
If just 1 bottle you should be fine.
But if more than 1 bottle they will definitely suspect something.

 

[halfhuman]

How many bottles do you intend to bring back?

Depends on how much I drink in the 9 months I'll be studying there. Australia allows 2.25L per visitor so I'll be buying 2 bottles. Probably will bring back like 2 half bottles worth of whiskey... Also, if I bought the alcohol on entry into Aussie and threw away the receipt while there, they can't reasonably ask me to reproduce the receipt to charge me 7% GST on that right? Especially given that I bought it 9 months ago?

 

[Beefsteak]

Since the allowance is 1 litre. Just open 1 bottle and bring back the other.

 

[patryn33]

Because $88 tax per bottle is enough to make it bohua to bring them in, in the first place?

From the link it’s $70, what kind of alcohol?
Say buy in Oz cost $70, tax $70 cost in Sg $200, sure go ahead and pay tax!
But if it’s $30, tax $70 cost in Sg $50; why bring back from Sg? Yes it $20 savings even if u can Siam tax.
Now u just want to bring left over, no need to sweat over it; duty free in Sg it’s not super cheap anyway.

Not hard to figure simple math isn’t it?

 

[halfhuman]

From the link it’s $70, what kind of alcohol?
Say buy in Oz cost $70, tax $70 cost in Sg $200, sure go ahead and pay tax!
But if it’s $30, tax $70 cost in Sg $50; why bring back from Sg? Yes it $20 savings even if u can Siam tax.
Now u just want to bring left over, no need to sweat over it; duty free in Sg it’s not super cheap anyway.

Not hard to figure simple math isn’t it?

Where did you get $70 from? That link you gave is outdated. It's $88 per litre today under HS Code 22083000. I plan to buy Royal Salute 21 years or more better. If I buy 2 bottles, that's $176 in taxes. $88 a bottle is already 30% of local prices.

Then there are so many other questions which I posed in this thread:

1. Do they actually scan and tag the bags that they x-rayed and found alcoholic beverages in them?

2. How are they planning to charge me GST if I can't produce the receipt because I bought the stuff 9 months ago?

3. If it's an opened bottle and I drank some of it, how do they plan to charge me based on the remaining liquor? Use a volumetric flask on standby?

 

[g_t2006]

Then there are so many other questions which I posed in this thread:

1. Do they actually scan and tag the bags that they x-rayed and found alcoholic beverages in them?

Yes

2. How are they planning to charge me GST if I can't produce the receipt because I bought the stuff 9 months ago?

3. If it's an opened bottle and I drank some of it, how do they plan to charge me based on the remaining liquor? Use a volumetric flask on standby?

Based on the Singapore customs value.
https://www.customs.gov.sg/businesses/valuation-duties-taxes--fees/duties-and-dutiable-goods

Intoxicating liquors

a) For alcoholic products with duty rates based on per litre of alcohol

Duties payable = Total quantity in litres x Customs and/or excise duty rate x Percentage of alcoholic strength



Company A imports 75 litres of stout with alcoholic strength of 5%. Assuming the customs and excise duties for stout is S$16 and S$60 per litre of alcohol respectively:

As both customs and excise duties are levied on the import of stout,

the duties payable = 75 x (S$16 + 60) x 5% = S$285


b) For alcoholic products with duty rates based on dutiable content (weight/volume)

Duties payable = Total dutiable quantity in kilogrammes x Customs duty rate



If 1 kilogramme of alcoholic composite concentrates contains 0.2 kilogramme of powdered alcohol,

the duties payable** = 0.2kg x S$113 = S$22.60

 

[halfhuman]

If 1 kilogramme of alcoholic composite concentrates contains 0.2 kilogramme of powdered alcohol,

the duties payable** = 0.2kg x S$113 = S$22.60

2. The website you linked doesn't tell me the MSRP of the whiskey that I buy. So how are they gonna benchmark $XXX multiplied by 7% to charge me???

3. I'm asking a practical question on Qn3. How are they gonna measure a one half/one quarter/one third finished bottle of whiskey?

 

[g_t2006]

2. The website you linked doesn't tell me the MSRP of the whiskey that I buy. So how are they gonna benchmark $XXX multiplied by 7% to charge me???

3. I'm asking a practical question on Qn3. How are they gonna measure a one half/one quarter/one third finished bottle of whiskey?

customs value. they decide the value. fair or not fair, not up to you to decide.

1/2 of 1l is 500ml and so forth. also up to them to measure, not up to you to decide how to measure.

you want to game the system, just do it! you want to challenge the customs, just so it! after that, let us know lor.

different people are on duty. one might be lucky to slip thru the system. doesn't mean that everyone will be lucky to slip thru the system. it's a misconception that customs do not check. everyone is screened as soon as they leave the aircraft. it's the same for the bags. you try leaving a powerbank in your check-in bags. the airport personnel will open your bag and take it out. i know someone who did too much shopping in JB without realizing it. come back SG customs, they checked and have to pay GST.

 

[patryn33]

Where did you get $70 from? That link you gave is outdated. It's $88 per litre today under HS Code 22083000. I plan to buy Royal Salute 21 years or more better. If I buy 2 bottles, that's $176 in taxes. $88 a bottle is already 30% of local prices.

Then there are so many other questions which I posed in this thread:

1. Do they actually scan and tag the bags that they x-rayed and found alcoholic beverages in them?

2. How are they planning to charge me GST if I can't produce the receipt because I bought the stuff 9 months ago?

3. If it's an opened bottle and I drank some of it, how do they plan to charge me based on the remaining liquor? Use a volumetric flask on standby?

My bad, you have qns 1 answer.
Royal Salute 21 at DFS is $251.70, outside is ~$215 smaller bottle. If 70cl at DFS is like $176 or $40 diff plus GST. 2 bottles u saving just $100? What is GST and duty again? $70 plus GST? Wipe out savings here if caught with 2 bottle. If one bottle u already save on 1 bottle. $100 so much to stress about for a student who can afford oz 9 mth stay.
https://www.ishopchangi.com/product/royal-salute-21yo-1l-7280/10

On qns 3: it’s the customs if caught be nice, if u have the Kuai Lan or Xia Lan attitude you are the losing end at the end of day.

Lots of story’s ppl Siam also some stories ppl get caught.

 

[halfhuman]

Royal Salute 21 at DFS is $251.70, outside is ~$215 smaller bottle.

Where can you find $215 Royal Salute outside??? If I can find it, then it's gonna save me a whole lot of trouble.

$100 so much to stress about for a student who can afford oz 9 mth stay.

It's not so much about the money (though it's also about it too), but more of the principle behind it. I hate getting nickel and dimed by the govt over something that I already legitimately own AND have already drank (it's open bottle).

 

[patryn33]

Where can you find $215 Royal Salute outside??? If I can find it, then it's gonna save me a whole lot of trouble.

It's not so much about the money (though it's also about it too), but more of the principle behind it. I hate getting nickel and dimed by the govt over something that I already legitimately own AND have already drank (it's open bottle).

I state ~$215 + GST.
https://www.lazada.sg/products/chivas-regal-royal-salute-21-years-old-70cl-i1450492-s1670586.html

principle and a country laws.. hmm.. if U choose to stay in the country one's principle should be kept within the bounds of the law. if u kenna caught your principles means jack so I don't see the pt of debate.
if this is really important move to a different place where the laws of the land is inline with your principles.