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Temporary importation while on a trip is different to going on holiday, buying loads of stuff and taking it home. You can't for example buy a MacBook in Nashua, NH [1] when on holiday and bring it back to the UK without declaring it and yet many people do. Lots of advice online to ditch the packaging just in case you get checked.
[1] 0% sales tax in NH. Cross the state line from MA and it is full of shopping malls. Or at least that was the case when I was there more than a decade ago. I never understood what the rules on cross state sales tax were, I think some states require similar declarations and payment.
jellybaby-
Temporary importation while on a trip is different to going on holiday, buying loads of stuff and taking it home.
Yes it is but I think you’ve misunderstood. Some countries do let you buy loads of stuff for yourself on holiday (ex., in the UK) and take it back without an import charge.
Edit to add UK relevance.
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Cross the state line from MA and it is full of shopping malls.
Luxembourg border areas are full of petrol stations selling tobacco and booze. All three items are low tax items here, but not so much in Belgium/France/Germany. A French MP recently put forward a draft bill proposing that cigarettes must be consumed in the same country they were bought. Not sure how they plan to enforce it but supposedly the lockdown where French people were unable to buy cigs here added 2B euros to the French coffers in tax so I guess they think it might be worth a try.
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When I used to spend a lot of time in Memphis, TN we'd drive over the bridge to West Memphis, AK for party booze, it was way cheaper... There were a few big liquor stores at the first exit...
Adhiero
atz
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Good question, I’ve no idea but I’m sure there have been studies on it. Lots of countries have tax exemptions on importation of personal items by travellers (clothes, a bike, a laptop...), so I’d expect those countries focus on large undeclared imports meant for re-sale. In those cases, it’s in the interest of both the country exporting and the country receiving the goods to identify who’s evading their taxes. That’s one of the reasons the UK has/had a requirement that clothes purchased here be for the traveller’s personal use. (Edit-to qualify for tax refund).