Is it possible to buy an unlocked duty free iPhone in Paraguay?
Submitted By: L,Published by The Duty Free Advisor : Editor on 2012-07-04
Yes we believe it is possible to buy a duty free unlocked iPhone in Paraguay for use in other countries. One of our researchers was recently in Ciudad del Este, the border town next to Foz in Brazil and the driver from the airport said he bought his phone in Paraguay as it was much cheaper than Brazil. Apparently his phone worked fine and was anything up to 30% cheaper than Brazil.
Most iPhones and other smartphones are sold with a service provider contract, so it is difficult to buy these items in a tax free zone. There is always the concern when buying an unlocked phone as to whether the article is genuine or not. This can be especially true in some tax free areas.
Some countries operate the Tax Free Shopping tax refund scheme where visitors to a country can recover the local sales tax, vat or gst on their purchases. We cannot confirm this and it is a theory only, but if you were to purchase an unlocked phone for delivery to your destination of travel, you may be able to re-claim the tax on this item when you leave. The specialist tax refund Firms like Global Blue should be able to answer this question.
