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by cgrand-net 5586 days ago
> if I buy anything anywhere in the world, I owe the French government 20% of the amount of that purchase; if I'm able to hide my purchase in my suitcase, then I'm evading taxes, but I'm certainly never exempt.

You are not evading the system, there is an exception:

http://www.douane.gouv.fr/page.asp?id=533

Sont exonérés de la TVA [...] les biens contenus dans les bagages personnels des voyageurs en provenance de pays extérieurs à l’Union européenne.

(Goods contained in personal luggages of travelers coming from a non-EU country are exempted from VAT.)