Chile Forum

I will probably soon be an ex-pat in Chile.

I am married to a Chilena. My wife and I are starting to look seriously at what we need to do to move our household south. We would like to bring the cars we already have. I have been poking around the internet to try and get a straight answer as to what is required in order to import our cars to Chile. Most of the links I find lead me back to this forum in one place or another, but I still have not found a direct answer.

So, can I bring my car (yes its used) with me and just pay the taxes on it and be done with it??

Some one at the Chilean embassy in LA told my wife that we could.

Reading around on this forum gives me the impression that most of the embassy workers couldn't find their asses with both hands and a flashlight.

While we are on the topic of moving. I am planning to buy a container and bring just about everything in the house (yes the 110volt items, I will bring some solar panels and do all that myself). I have been thinking that I would throw a bunch of construction materials in the container and when I get the container empty convert it into my new garage.

If I bring 10 sheets of plywood, and 10 gallons of paint, and 3 double pain windows, 10 lbs of nails and 300 sq feet of insulation, is aduana going to toss me out on my ear?? Or bend me over a barrel??

Thanks in advance for your time.

Cachi

Catchi wrote:I will probably soon be an ex-pat in Chile.

I am married to a Chilena. My wife and I are starting to look seriously at what we need to do to move our household south. We would like to bring the cars we already have. I have been poking around the internet to try and get a straight answer as to what is required in order to import our cars to Chile. Most of the links I find lead me back to this forum in one place or another, but I still have not found a direct answer.

So, can I bring my car (yes its used) with me and just pay the taxes on it and be done with it??

One returning Chilena (if she meets the been-gone-long-enough criterion and some other rules) is good for one vehicle. You had mentioned plural cars.

The rules are on the Chilean Aduana websites, for cars as well as menaje (household goods).

You probably have an idea of how much the transport and related handling costs will be. When all is done, from a US port, probably close to US$5000, assuming it fits in a 20-foot container. If you are sending a vehicle from the US, the government there has export controls that will cost you a little time and money as well.

If the model of your vehicle is not in the "sello verde" database, you may have some additional expenses (the used Toyota pickup I brought in was not in that database). If your model is not identical to a model sold in both Chile and your soon to be former country, you may find that getting spares and repair work are going to be expensive headaches.

Catchi wrote:

While we are on the topic of moving. I am planning to buy a container and bring just about everything in the house (yes the 110volt items, I will bring some solar panels and do all that myself). I have been thinking that I would throw a bunch of construction materials in the container and when I get the container empty convert it into my new garage.

If I bring 10 sheets of plywood, and 10 gallons of paint, and 3 double pain windows, 10 lbs of nails and 300 sq feet of insulation, is aduana going to toss me out on my ear??

So you are buying a container? If Aduana notices this, the value of the container and the cost to ship it may be counted as part of your allowance. And you have already calculated that the arrival of the container has to correspond to the allowable date following your approved residency (what, max 90 days or something).

Container as garage? When you install the insulation there won't be enough width for comfortably parking of most cars... so maybe you mean garage as in workshop?

In theory the SAG should recognise the plywood as having been treated in a way that meet the ag inspection. I had plywood sheets in my last container (inside a cargo trailer) and SAG didn't even show up to look. They, SAG, have been known to get trigger-happy with "raw wood" that is not treated. The rest of the construction materials might ...might...not be recognised as "household goods" and might be subject to tariff. Depends on the Aduana guy. The paint is usually OK, so long as the shipping company is happy with it. Try to keep paint cans inside original factory boxes and out of sight as much as possible.

There are no good windows made in Chile. Having decent windows in Chile is a novelty. People will worship you as an extraterrestrial deity with unusual powers. "Chile" is an ancient Andean Indian word that can mean "leaky windows" or "our carpenters are thieving incompetents who suck rocks."

Bring a case of Liquid Nails, a large set of very sturdy keyed-alike padlocks, some top of the line cordless tools, and other good quality nonelectric carpentry tools, top quality blades for the power saws you will later buy in Chile; also a good wheelbarrow and the best one-inch commercial hose you can find. If you are ever going to paint anything, bring a good airless sprayer even if you have to bring a big 220 to 110 VAC transformer. The stuff along those lines normally sold in Chile is pretty basic. I mean it's mostly just a step above shit, or incredibly expensive, or both expensive AND shit.

Oh, yes, and welcome to Chile.

Thanks Patagoniax... can you still see that big orange and yellow boat out at the 'Scorpio" pier???
I worked on that boat for about 15 years.. I spent a few months in Natalis last summer (US Summer).

I am aware of tools and supplies situation (which is why I want to carry as much as I can).
I did not know about the allowance and the aduana website. I will look into it

THANK YOU!

p.s. are you the guy that writes the english patagonia paper down there??
if you are we probably have friends in common.

Forget the wood. Chile exports APA certified plywood and osb, so kind of a waist of space and an invitation for trouble with sag. Bring the liquid nails, tools, and so on. Things that are expensive or impossible to find. Windows. French doors are unheard of here (well prehung real ones). I am biting the bullet right now and shipping in things like pex fittings and a case of liquid nails. Ow, good posthole digger. if you can find one in chile they are the cheapest chinese crap that shatters on contact with even the smallest rock.I have a friend smuggling one in for me now.
Nail guns and a life time supply of nails. You will not find nails for it again in chile. Bring a palm nailer that can accommodate what ever is sold here for when the nail gun goes dry.

As for the car, one car under your wife's name.

admin wrote:Forget the wood. Chile exports APA certified plywood and osb, so kind of a waist of space and an invitation for trouble with sag. Bring the liquid nails, tools, and so on. Things that are expensive or impossible to find. Windows. French doors are unheard of here (well prehung real ones). I am biting the bullet right now and shipping in things like pex fittings and a case of liquid nails. Ow, good posthole digger. if you can find one in chile they are the cheapest chinese crap that shatters on contact with even the smallest rock.I have a friend smuggling one in for me now.
Nail guns and a life time supply of nails. You will not find nails for it again in chile. Bring a palm nailer that can accommodate what ever is sold here for when the nail gun goes dry.

As for the car, one car under your wife's name.

Argentine-made Pex fittings no problem here and have been available for years in XII Region. Expensive but if you know where to look no problem.

If you want to think about nails: have never found ring-shank nails here. Also hard to find decent coated deck-screws that won't corrode. A really good manual compound angle mitre set, if you can find one, may be the equivalent of US200. They don't sell many here because the finish carpentry is mostly shit work that would shame a Neanderthal. A good quality stapler around here is about US$70 and will quickly disappear if you have chilean carpenters within 500 metres.

Yes on the posthole digger. And good rugged fibreglass handled shovels and the best wood-splitting maul you can find if you plan to burn wood. And a good nail-belt and leveling laser set. Yes plywood available here but at about 25 percent more than what you would pay at Home Depot. The SAG is supposed to look at the kiln-dried stamps on wood but some of the SAG people are no better trained that the illegitimate bastards who run the teacher guilds here so you can't count on them for an intellectual response.

In the container I am loading next week I am including a drywall texturing rig. Hard finding locals who can do decent knockdown or other civilised texturing.

Catchi wrote:p.s. are you the guy that writes the english patagonia paper down there??
if you are we probably have friends in common.

If you mean the Black Sheep, it's mostly a silly rag, and no. But we probably have friends in common. You may know Bill at Erratic Rock? I actually live outside of Natales about 5 km.

Cachi

Here is one of the Aduana FAQ sites to get you started. It was probably posted previously on another thread but this will save you the search

10. ¿Qué tratamiento arancelario, se aplica a los chilenos que regresan en forma definitiva al país y desean traer un vehículo?

En nuestra actual legislación aduanera, se establece un tratamiento arancelario especial, aplicable para aquellos chilenos mayores de edad, que hayan permanecido en el extranjero, sin solución de continuidad, durante un año o más, que deseen importar un vehículo, nuevo o usado, limitado a uno por persona.

http://www.aduana.cl/prontus_aduana/sit ... 61817.html and scroll down to applicable areas

Same page, summary of menaje allowances and window to import. Note the "sin caracter comercial" which means that your paint and other stuff should look like it is in no way possible to consider it as imported for resale:

32. ¿Los chilenos que regresen al país en forma definitiva, tienen derecho a franquicia, después de haber permanecido en el extranjero más de seis (6) meses?SI. Los chilenos que han permanecido en el extranjero por más de 6 meses y que regresen en forma definitiva, pueden acceder a franquicia, según el tiempo de permanencia. Esta franquicia le permite ingresar menaje de casa y/o útiles de trabajo, según tabla que se señala, sin carácter comercial y se encuentran exentas del pago de derechos de aduana e IVA.

Menaje de chilenos con permanencia de seis meses a un año en el extranjero, hasta por un valor de US$ 500 FOB.
Menaje y/o útiles de trabajo de chilenos con permanencia de más de uno a cinco años en el extranjero, hasta por un valor de US$ 3.000 FOB.
Menaje y/o útiles de trabajo de chilenos con permanencia en el extranjero de más de cinco años, hasta por un valor de US$ 5.000 FOB.

Hummm. . I am missing a few verbs but I get the idea (I can get my wife to read it and explain the fuzzy parts).
She has been here for 3 years... Does that mean she gets 3000 and I get 5000 or just that I get 5k (I read the aduana web site some last night).

You have mentioned in a few posts that you are arranging a container for yourself.
I also noticed on the aduana web site that you can bring another load in in 3 years (If I read that right).

How are you bringing your container in?? Just gonna pay the VAT? (IVA, whatever)

Catchi wrote:Hummm. . I am missing a few verbs but I get the idea (I can get my wife to read it and explain the fuzzy parts).
She has been here for 3 years... Does that mean she gets 3000 and I get 5000 or just that I get 5k (I read the aduana web site some last night).

Verbs are cheap. And I can sell you some extra vowels if you need them.

Your being married raises the question of whether the allowance applies per person or per family. I frankly don't know. But there is a vaguely similar case: when a married couple has lived in one of the "zona franca" regions and each has his/her own income, then each is permitted a value allowance for property to be "liberado" for a move to the rest of the country. That usually means that each can bring one vehicle acquired under the special provisions in the extreme regions.

Might you two married people be able to have separate allowances? Looking at the Aduana explanation at a FAQ level for the applicable "returning Chilena" allowance (under Partida 00.09 del Arancel Aduanero Nacional), we see the following similar approach: you would have to show evidence of income for each member, a "dual earner" family. But I would still contact Aduanas for clarification.


6. ¿Puede acceder el cónyuge a esta franquicia?

Sí, siempre que pueda demostrar ingresos propios, acreditados con certificado de trabajo e ingresos.

As always, don't take any sort of legal advice from engineers on this forum.

Patagoniax

copy all.. its not legal advise. Just some pointers in the right directions.

THANK YOU!