Tax?

[psimon]

This may be a stupid question.....

Do they charge sales tax on purchases aboard ship? Do they (or rather the state) consider the ship "part of Florida" and therefore entitled to sales tax on merchandise?

My suspicion is no, but just confirming.

Thanks...

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[peachygreen]

No tax onboard. I am pretty sure that it is included in your duty free exemptions though so you would have to watch those limits.

This is the reason they do not have the shops open when in port. They are only open at sea.

 

[disneywonderfun]

As already mentioned, there is no sales tax at sea. Stores are closed when in port so they do not have to charge whatever local taxes and duties would be involved.

Bear in mind, however, that bargains are not easily found. The situation is very similar to a duty free shop. For example, coming home from Mexico, every toy was more expensive than US retail with sales tax included. Lindt chocolate bars were more than double I could pay at our local grocery. On the Disney cruise, for example, we saw Duffy the Bear stuffed animals for $30. After returning home, our local Disney store at the mall had them for $10 or 3 for $20.

DWF

P.S. Alcohol can be a good deal.

 

[belle07]

As already mentioned, there is no sales tax at sea. Stores are closed when in port so they do not have to charge whatever local taxes and duties would be involved.

Bear in mind, however, that bargains are not easily found. The situation is very similar to a duty free shop. For example, coming home from Mexico, every toy was more expensive than US retail with sales tax included. Lindt chocolate bars were more than double I could pay at our local grocery. On the Disney cruise, for example, we saw Duffy the Bear stuffed animals for $30. After returning home, our local Disney store at the mall had them for $10 or 3 for $20.

DWF

P.S. Alcohol can be a good deal.

I think the regular little stuffed animals are $10 for 3, but Duffy has always been $30 everywhere for the regular size. I am confused too about duty free limits.

 

[Who's your Mickey?]

I think the regular little stuffed animals are $10 for 3, but Duffy has always been $30 everywhere for the regular size. I am confused too about duty free limits.

Duty Free limits can be confusing, but there are people who will try and twist that confusion to their advantage. I was on a RCCL ship a few years ago and watched as a family of 6 (2 adults and 4 small children) try to go through Customs with the duty free alcohol limit for 6 people. They appeared shocked to find out that their duty free exemption for alcohol was only for 2 people since the kids weren't old enough to legally purchase it. They tried to talk their way out of paying the duty, but the Customs agent wasn't budging. The last thing I heard the guy say was that the booze cost him more than it would have if he bought it at home.

 

[reimero]

No tax onboard. I am pretty sure that it is included in your duty free exemptions though so you would have to watch those limits.

This is the reason they do not have the shops open when in port. They are only open at sea.

This is correct. DCL ships are Bahamas-flagged, so as far as the US is concerned, on-board purchases are from the Bahamas.

Each person is allowed $800 in duty-free exemptions, regardless of age. If the cruise stops in Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands, that number is doubled, provided at least $800 is spent in US territories. For families traveling together, those can be counted together. The exception, as mentioned previously, is alcohol, which only allows a total per passenger 21 and older.

 

[lbgraves]

There were reports that there was tax charged on the Hawaii cruise when the ship was within a certain range of the islands. For this reason, the excursions were charged to the rooms prior to this point to avoid taxes being charged from what I understood.

 

[Trekker]

I was told that if you are going to order a wine or beer package to be sure to wait and oredr it AFTER you leave the port - or you will be charged FL sales tax on it!

 

[aan1701]

There were reports that there was tax charged on the Hawaii cruise when the ship was within a certain range of the islands. For this reason, the excursions were charged to the rooms prior to this point to avoid taxes being charged from what I understood.

This is true. We got a letter in our explaing that once we got within 3 miles of the islands we had to pay sales tax on everything. Shops, babysitting, achololic drinks, just about everything.

 

[kcashner]

They were also required to collect VAT tax on purchases in the Med last year.

No taxes on most on board purchases--as above, most purchases are made while the ship is in international waters (the shops are closed when in port) and the ship is flagged in the Bahamas (which has no sales tax).

I've never heard of charging sales tax on the wine package. Perhaps they thought that the automatic gratuity was a sales tax.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

The only exception to shops being closed in ports is Shutters on the last morning so you can still purchase the last minute photos, etc.

 

[disneywonderfun]

I think the regular little stuffed animals are $10 for 3, but Duffy has always been $30 everywhere for the regular size. I am confused too about duty free limits.

Just for clarification, yes the REGULAR FULL SIZE DUFFY Bears were 3 for $20 or $10 each at our Disney Store. Yes, the same size that includes all those extra clothes for purchases. No, not the small ones. Trust me, they were the EXACT SAME DUFFY on the ship that was selling for $30 each.

DWF