Customs

Shopping is a major part of traveling for most vacationers. Whether you're bringing back a new wedding ring from a duty-free shop or a bottle of liquor, you'll want to know the customs rules.

For Americans returning home, you'll pass through US Customs after picking up your luggage at your first point of entry. (That means if you're flying from Jamaica to Dallas but the flight connects in Miami, you'll go through customs in Miami.)

You'll receive a particular allowance of goods that you may return home with without paying "duty" or a tax. How much is this allowance? It depends on how long you've been gone and where you went.

If you were gone less than 48 hours, you can claim $200 per person.

If you are returning from one of these Caribbean countries, you each have a $600 exemption and can each return with two bottles of liquor, duty free:

Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
British Virgin Islands
Costa Rica
Dominica
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
JamacaMontserrat
Netherlands, Antilles
Nicaragua
Panama
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago

If you traveled anyplace else besides these Caribbean countries and besides US insular possessions (USVI, American Samoa and Guam), you can bring back $800 worth of goods duty free.

If you have been traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or Guam, you can each return home with $1200 of goods, duty free and five liters of liquor (four from other countries).

If the two of you are married, you can combine your exemptions into one: if you traveled to the Caribbean and purchased a $1000 ring, you can combine your $600 exemptions ... and still hae $200 to spend duty-free! If you were claiming separately, one of you would be paying duty on the $400 over your exemption.

The rules regarding tobacco imports and liquor are detailed; check the US Customs' "Know Before You Go" online brochure for information.