The Supreme Administrative Court last week rejected an appeal in a case from 2018, in which a man surnamed Wu (吳) had a wristwatch valued at NT$4.5 million (US$146,513) confiscated by customs officers for failing to declare the watch when entering the country.
Wu, a Taiwanese citizen who was living in Malaysia, had been asked by a friend surnamed Ling (凌) — a Malaysian citizen — to bring the Richard Mille watch with him for repairs when Wu visited Taiwan. Customs Administration officials confiscated the watch, saying Wu had not declared it, and that all items exceeding NT$20,000 in value must be declared.
Wu argued that, according to Article 52 of the Customs Act (關稅法), items imported for repair or refurbishment are exempt from customs duties.
Photo: Yang Kuo-wen, Taipei Times
However, the Supreme Administrative Court said that Wu had not submitted paperwork registering the watch as an item being imported for repair, or paid the required deposit for items listed under the article.
The watch had originally been purchased by Ling in June 2018 at the Richard Mille store at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Taipei. Ling applied for a tax exemption on the watch when he returned to Malaysia in September, court documents said.
After noticing that the watch was not keeping accurate time, Ling contacted the Richard Mille store using Line, and was told the watch appeared to be broken, but he could bring it in for repairs.
Ling then asked Wu, who was returning to Taiwan for a visit in October, to take the watch with him to Taiwan so it could be repaired.
Wu had the watch in his suitcase when he was stopped at the airport’s “nothing to declare” line, and customs officers confiscated the watch according to Article 39 of the Customs Anti-smuggling Act (海關緝私條例).
Wu questioned the confiscation of the watch, arguing that it was clearly a used item.
However, he was told that even used, the watch had a market value of more than NT$3.3 million, and that it would have to be either declared or registered as an item for repair.
Wu filed an administrative lawsuit, and submitted records of the conversations between himself and Ling, and between Ling and the Richard Mille store, as well as the purchase receipt and repair order.
The Supreme Administrative Court argued that signage throughout the airport makes it clear that all items valued over NT$20,000 must be declared when entering the country, and upheld the earlier ruling by the Taipei High Administrative Court that the item would remain confiscated.
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