I have actually move to Guatemala in December. I retired in the summer of 2008 and I still own my house in Virginia with all of my things still there. I purchased a house just outside of Guatemala City and I am in the process of getting my permanent residency here as a US retiree. I was told that I could ship a container from Virginia to here with some of my furniture, an auto and person items and that would be under a retirement exempt status and that I would not have to pay taxes or duty on those items. I am not sure if this is true or not, but if it is, I have not found the right person in the government that knows about this or can help me get started. I leave next Monday for a two month stay in Virginia and was looking for some help from you to enlighten me as to whether I have been give some bad information or if I should still pursue this crazy notion. Thank you for any help that you can give me in this matter.
Retirement exempt from taxes or duty when moving my things here?
If you find out let me know. I'm in the same boat. I have heard so many rumors. But one thing is for certain. Customs is pretty corrupt. I wanted to ship my 09 honda down here. It's full of bells and whistles. "People" have told me that "luxury items are taxed at higher rates."so that it would be much cheaper to by a new car here in Guatemala.I paid $30k for my honda about 6 months ago and found out the same car here is $43K. Go figure. have also tried to find some sort of definative guide on customs. But I can not find one either officially or unofficially. I hagetingve heard nothing about retires getting a break of any kind.
The original question was more than a year ago, too bad he hasn't reported back. I work with a tramite to handle my import stuff, so I avoid the red tape.
I believe it is correct that pensionados get a certain amount of household goods they can import without paying a duty. I don't recall the exact amount, but there are lots of companies who help with these things. Check the tourist magazines for import companies, this is what they do for a living.
Shipping a car is straightforward, they will determine a market value on the car (based on their calculations) and you will pay about 26% import duties on the car. A little market research will tell you whether it's worth it. My own opinion is I don't want to be driving a $30k car around Guatemala; it's too nice of a target.
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