Import tax in Canada:

I plan to purchase a S6240 (about US$1600) from P1 soon. Anyone knows how much approx the customs in Canada will charge for such import? I live in Toronto, Onatrio.

 

Customs is always 15% I believe.


Sometimes they charge you tax with customs as well, but Justin from PROPortable who sells ASUS units, had said some of his customers in Canada didn't get charged customs when he sent their laptop from the US.

You may need to contact customs Canada about this.

 

Thanks for your reply.

Is 15% tax max.? I heard sometime customs will charge more than 15% tax.

For instance, recently i purchased a used Pentium M 1.5 CPU, for US$50, from an ebayer in US. Customs in Canada charged me about CA$12 tax. So ridiculous!!

 

I've heard of cases where 15% customs + taxes, both PST and GST.

 

What do you mean 15% customs + tax? You mean like 30% in total?

 

Does anyone have any more info on this topic? Martin, were you able to find out any more?

 

I got charged CA$291.xx on a CA$2000 laptop. So it's only 15%.

 

You pay GST & PST (14% or 15% total depending on your province). There are no extra duties. I called the customs people to confirm.

 

This is great to know! I live in BC btw

Thanks!

 

in a lot of cases if it gets declared as used or gift, customs canada will forego applying the importation levy. i have heard from friends who bought from the US that if the merchandise is shipped by a relative/friend from the US instead of direct from the commercial seller and is declared as a used computer part or as a gift, chances are it may be judged as exempt. certainly if it is declared with its true value by a merchant expect taxation. but it seems that experiences vary, some are lucky others not. but hey that is part of the adventure of importation. but if ever one is taxed unless the machine has its worth in gold, the tax levied is no more than the GST+ and local PST.

 

Hmm so by importation levy do you mean duty? Not GST + PST?

And.. are you saying that if I buy a used laptop from the states and it's declared used or a gift, I might not be charged GST or PST???

Thanks!

 

in most cases yes importation levy is GST+PST. the revenue canada website gives a detail of how certain categories of importations have a different tiers of customs taxation. electronics is one of the categories (cf. http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/publications/tariff2004/table-e.html).

you can buy brand new machines and have the merchant declare it as used or gift. but i doubt whether commercial merchants would go that far. most would immediately declare in their websites that they do not do these kind of arrangements. they too have to protect their interests. however, a good number of ebay home-based or small scale legitimate sellers would be willing to make this arrangement. but this of course does not preclude the "possibility" that even though it may be declared as used or as a gift or undervalued it may still be subject to taxation.

remember taxation is computed based upon the declared value. so if a seller undervalues substantially the shipment declaration the taxation amount is also much less when compared to actual sale value. get the logic? so if you buy a notebook say for U$1K and the seller writes in the custom declaration form that it is only U$500 then the computation of the levy would be based on the declared value. now if an added condition is further furnished, say, that it is refurbished/used/ or a gift, you have a clear chance of having it exempted altogether. by the way, moreover, it seems that if the merchandise is sent using USPS instead of the private couriers like UPS, FedEx, DHL, you increase chances of bypassing customs importation levy altogether because of the sheer volume canada posts handles daily parcels coming from the US.

note carefully that what i said is not a sure fire thing but only raises your chances of at least not worrying about hefty levies. again, you wonder if it is worth it all because warranties are also highly localized. so US manfuacturer's warranties work only in the US and not in Canada unless specified. for that you would often need Int'l warranties. again, if something happens to the shipment enroute to the buyer, even though it is insured, the insurance is based on the declared value. imagine a horror scenario where you buy a U$2K gaming machine which was customs declared to be only $800, then meets an unfortunate mishandling by the post office, the mailman, or the courier, you are eligible only to get back the declared value which is $800. yikes indeed! well, that is simply the reality of profit oriented market capitalism and the provision of the law.

so in the end after all things have been carefully weighed...what is more important? savings derived from purchasing in the US or after sales service? both have their own value. hard really to make decisions. if after factoring everything (int'l warranties, importation levies, shipment expenses, base price of the machine) you still end up with substantial savings of at least $100, then go ahead import. but if your savings is a measely sum, don't risk it. buy locally and support the local economy.

another possibility is of course when you travel to the US, stay a little longer than usual so that you can buy your dream machine while in the US and enjoy the tax-free quota expendures you are entitled to for staying longer. or... ask non-Canadian friends/relatives who may be planning to come over to canada for a visit to buy it for you and bring it with them when they come to visit you and you'll just pay them back. as a tourist they are entitled to bring it across the border. non-Canadian students studying in Canada can also do this for you. they can always say that it is for their personal use. happy possibilities again...

 

Awesome eatonop, just awesome... thanks so much!

I think I might be buying a used laptop from the States so... cross your fingers for no tax!

 

sucks to live in Quebec

 

Hi,

I'm from Quebec also. If you buy from a store, there is a slim chance that they will accept to ship it as a gift.

Also keep in mind that there can be alot of consequences of doing so. For the seller, if the package is insured and is lost, he will get the value he put instead of the 2000$ laptop. For the buyer, if he gets bad luck and the package is checked, he may pay a very high price to get it and he will be checked everytime a package is sent to his house.

I find this thread to be very good. I'd like to hear more experience about people who bought laptops from US and how much they paid.

How much in tax? How much was duties? How much was brokerage fees? What type of shipping was it (company)?

 

speaking from the experience of someone i really know --a university grad student of mine..., this guy bought the barebone notebook, the ram modules, hd from different online stores and had it shipped to his family's address in the US. he then asked them to ship it to him in Canada. his brother used one of the big commercial couriers. he declared it as "used computer parts", which is what they are actually as the notebook is not assembled, and they are used because they were removed from original packaging and inspected by the brother before shipping. the package was delivered to his address in Canada and he paid no dues whatsoever. was he able to save a lot? definitely!

 

what about brokerage charged by ups? duties used to be at least $5 if shipped by usps but would often be random. i'm not sure what fedex/fedex charge for 'clearing the border' or if they do or if canada customs tacks on duties after that.

 

i asked him today about this, and he was absolutely certain that he paid no brokerage fees. he showed me the notice that came from the courier that came by mail a few days after he has received the shipment, and it said there clearly that the duties due is 0.00. lucky him. i am sure others may have had a different experience.