On 12 Apr 2001, at 13:00, sayeth Andrew Dacey <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> This is probably something other Canuck members have dealt with,
> receiving gear from the States.
>
> I won an auction for some macro flash gear (T-10, T-28, T Power
> Control) and the package arrived today. As soon as it arrived, they
> wanted a pretty hefty sum of money. I asked them what it was for
> (since I'd already paid in full for the gear). A small (but seems too
> high) chunk of that charge was the customs fee. I'm not going to even
> try to challenge that one. The other fee was good old HST (15 0n NS).
> So here's a couple questions:
>
> 1. I thought that for goods coming from out of province you only had
> to pay the federal (GST) portion of the tax, which would be 7%. By
> doing the math, there's no way that what they wanted to charge me was
> 70nless they've either converted the US value incorrectly or the
> shipper declared a much higher value on the items than what I paid.
No, Customs will collect the HST(15%) for the HST provinces, and in
other provinces, they often have a deal to collect the provincial
sales tax. Like Ontario.
Canada Post only charges $5 brokerage, as opposed to UPS, etc that
charge upwards of $20 to the receiver. But I think Fedex includes
brokerage in their express charges.
>
> 2. Does the tax apply for used goods? The box was clearly marked that
> the items were used.
Yes.
>
> So far, I haven't accepted the package. I figured it would be easier
> to contest the charges with Canada Post rather than try to get a
> refund from them. The mail carrier was very good about this, they just
> gave me the "we were here, you weren't" slip so I could pick up the
> package from their pick-up spot in my area (which strangely enough,
> isn't the main branch of the post office, which is a block away from
> my house but is instead the small post office in the drug store 4
> blocks away).
>
> Any advice here? Can I get around paying the tax or am I stuck?
>
If the amounts are wrong, you can protest it to the customs people
afterwards. I got a refund that way earlier, no argument, by mail.
The address is on the back of the customs assessment.
Canada Post often just passes things thru without any charges. I
broke up a $600 purchase into about 6 packages and had to pay on only
the $200 camera body. The legal limit is $20, but I've avoided taxes
on packages of more than $100 declared value. I suspect it varies
with the Post Office workload.
I also suggest using Global Priority Mail. The US rates are cheap for
the prepaid mailers ($4-7, if your item fits), and it probably has an
effectively higher customs limit. But it's uninsured and the tracking
is purely internal to the Post Office (it does have a barcode, but
you can't check progress.)
YMMV
Tom
-----------------------------------(no spam please)
Tom Trottier, President <Tom@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
http://abacurial.com ICQ:57647974
400 Slater St. Suite 415, Ottawa ON Canada K1R 7S7
+1 613 291-1168 fax:+1 613 594-5412 (877)247-8796
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