Customs(duty) taxes

[KidSupreme]

I just bought a Sony nw e507 mp3 player off [rfdlink=/forums/autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78]ebay[/rfdlink]. The seller is in the states. I paid $202 cdn for it. My question is how the customs tax is calculated. My friend said that you can get away from paying the taxes if you declare the item as a gift. Is that true?

[MTL-TechY]

[QUOTE=KidSupreme]I just bought a Sony nw e507 mp3 player off [rfdlink=/forums/autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78]ebay[/rfdlink]. The seller is in the states. I paid $202 cdn for it. My question is how the customs tax is calculated. My friend said that you can get away from paying the taxes if you declare the item as a gift. Is that true?[/QUOTE]

yes, but the individual gift must be 50$ or under, to be considered a gift and not being subject to any duties.

If you lie about it and claim its a gift under 50, the item may be seized by customs, or so i heard

[jerryhung]

$20 for commercial merchandise
$60 for Gift

tons of thread about this topic already

[me!]

[QUOTE=MTL-TechY]yes, but the individual gift must be 50$ or under, to be considered a gift and not being subject to any duties.

If you lie about it and claim its a gift under 50, the item may be seized by customs, or so i heard[/QUOTE]
yes, you heard it from me!

Had that happen on my mp3 player. There is no official 60$ rule for gifts or any amount for a gift. It is all upon the discretion of the customs agent. It could be $5 for all they care. If the agent has any reasonable expectation that the shipper is not being truthfull in the declaration, then he has, upon his discretion to refuse its entry into Canada. you can appeal this, but good luck.

I now specify to all [rfdlink=/forums/autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78]ebay[/rfdlink] sellers that I buy from to NOT MARK AS GIFT.

If you got it through before and had no problems, then it was the discretion of the agent, not because of some arbitrary cut off limit.

btw, mp3's are exempt from duties. (but not taxes)

[gambit_360]

I've never had anything refused entry into Canada because of an lower than declared value. Maybe that would happen if the difference was huge though. I always ask the seller to declare it at a lower but [B]reasonable[/B] value when shipping and I always get my package in the end.

If the package was flagged, I would simply have the item arbitrarily assigned a new value by the customs agent. For example, suppose I bought 5 games really cheap off [rfdlink=/forums/autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=78]eBay[/rfdlink] for $10. The customs agent opens it and decides that they aren't worth $10 and maybe re-declares it as $50. I end up paying more taxes but I just file for a reimbursement later if it was worth the effort.

To the OP, if you shipped it through USPS, you'll probably end up paying $5 fee + gov.taxes on declared value.

[jerryhung]

Sure there is official stuff about $60, visit CRA below
[url]http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/courier/postal/ind_duty_free-e.html[/url]

Should indeed make US Duty/Tax stuff sticky, like this thread suggested
[url]http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177821&highlight=custom+duty[/url]


I never heard of custom taking your item either
They'll just pick a value and charge you tax on it, you can try to get it back later.

It's like they don't take away your laptop at airport if you say it's old and they think it's new. They'll just say "oh, i give it a $1000 value and will charge you $150 tax for it"

[mrwinky]

I just had an issue with this, I bought a "Used ESQ watch" for my wife, cost was $110 US and I just got to the post office to pick it up and they want $65 Cdn for Duty and Tax. I almost fell over, I wanted to know is there anywhere I can dispute this? or get something back ?



Thanks winky