FAQ About Cross Border Shopping / CBSA

[parry]

If one is sent to a secondary inspection area with a yellow paper in hand:

1. What kind of info does yellow paper usually have? and How does the secondary border officer decide to use that Yellow paper further?

2. If the car is searched and within minutes you are waved clear. They say you are all set to go. What does that mean? Assuming they did not ask to pay any taxes on anything cuz nothing was found. Is the file flagged to get a secondary inspection everytime or?

3. When does it mean that your file is flagged for a secondary inspection everytime?

[cwb27]

If one is sent to a secondary inspection area with a yellow paper in hand:

1. What kind of info does yellow paper usually have? and How does the secondary border officer decide to use that Yellow paper further?

2. If the car is searched and within minutes you are waved clear. They say you are all set to go. What does that mean? Assuming they did not ask to pay any taxes on anything cuz nothing was found. Is the file flagged to get a secondary inspection everytime or?

3. When does it mean that your file is flagged for a secondary inspection everytime?

1 - Declaration information (i.e. what you answered the officer with, written in short form), there's other information as well in "coded form".

2 - If there were no issues, you're fine.

3 - Not sure what you mean? If you've had enforcement action against you/person in your vehicle (i.e. seizure), you're "flagged"

[naimc]

Hi I'm going on a vacation to the states for 10 days.

Q1. If I make online purchases prior to my trip and have items shipped to a US address so I receive them during my stay. Can I claim the goods under the 750$ tax and duty deduction on my return.

If Q2 is NO, then if I make the purchase from Canada ( so I can print the invoice) on the same day I enter the states ( technical I could have made the online purchase on day 1 from the US) then on return will the goods fall in the 750$ deduction.

Q3. Does the 750$ deduction also apply to my kids ?

Thank you.

[woobie]

Hi I'm going on a vacation to the states for 10 days.

Q1. If I make online purchases prior to my trip and have items shipped to a US address so I receive them during my stay. Can I claim the goods under the 750$ tax and duty deduction on my return.

If Q2 is NO, then if I make the purchase from Canada ( so I can print the invoice) on the same day I enter the states ( technical I could have made the online purchase on day 1 from the US) then on return will the goods fall in the 750$ deduction.

Q3. Does the 750$ deduction also apply to my kids ?

Thank you.

I do this all the time, yes you can use your duty free allowance for the item your ordering. Print out and bring your receipt from when you placed your order just in case they don't include a receipt in your package when they ship it.

And yes the $750 is per person EXCEPT when it comes to alcohol and tobacco, those allowance are only valid if the person is of legal drinking/smoking age.

[Cas77]

Has anyone crossed the border on Sept 11th before? Am I looking at a looong wait especially being the 10th anniversary?

[O1IN85]

Has anyone crossed the border on Sept 11th before? Am I looking at a looong wait especially being the 10th anniversary?

Do we really need to answer that question for you?

I do this all the time, yes you can use your duty free allowance for the item your ordering. Print out and bring your receipt from when you placed your order just in case they don't include a receipt in your package when they ship it.

by saying this, you mean if you're staying 7 days or more right?

[DrunkCanuck]

I referred to this thread within this forum as there appears to be much knowledge here about the CBSA. Here's my story ...

- Crossed over the Rainbow Bridge recently @ NF with wife and two small kids for a day at Darien Lake
- Had some boxes in the back of the SUV from work which I had forgotten about which contained router type devices for condo units
- Wife loaded up the truck and didn't say anything about it; off we went
- Crossed into the US without declaring as I had no idea the boxes were there
- Realized when we arrived @ Darien Lake boxes were there
- Long line at the border coming back (2hr wait); kids sleeping; no invoices, bills, docs with me showing the boxes were shipped to / originated from Ontario
- Wife and I decided best route to take was to declare nothing (as we had done coming into the US) and hope for the best
- Agent asked me to open rear; off to inspection we go
- Inspector was nice enough, however didn't quite believe my story at first; ordered us out of the truck; full search of vehicle
- Inspector found some unrelated paperwork that he thought was connected to the boxes being received in the US, he got very aggravated and demanded I present receipts, I advised he was looking at something unrelated, he calmed down
- Inspector suggested without any paperwork on the merchandize my vehicle would probably be impounded, after some dialog and my 4 & 7yr old making their bed on the pavement (it was now 2am), he suggested IF they could find the values of the merchandize on-line maybe we could work something out.
- Around 3am Inspector presented me with a statement to sign regarding the incident, and seizure-infraction billing for 25% of the value of goods based on what he found on-line (aprox $2,000)
- Agreed to sign statement and pay (I had to get my kids out of there, this was totally my fault and not fair to them at all.)

So here are my questions to the experts:
+ If I choose not to appeal for fear of repercussions from my employer when asking for the pertinent docs (those boxes should have been left in the office over the weekend), is this type of infraction at the level where I should now expect an intense inspection each time I enter and return to and from the US?
+ If I appeal and successfully win, will notes still remain on my file and therefore leave me in almost the same position (aside from retrieving my $2K?)

By the end of my dealings with the inspector, I was picking up a vibe from him that he realized this was all a big screw up on my part but with no intent. He encouraged me to appeal. Problem is the appeal may cost me more in the long run with my career than the $2K I'm already into this for. However, I'm loosing sleep over what will happen each time I need to travel for work now ... Will I be the guy in the group that will hold everyone up? Will I need to give myself an extra hour or more to plan for inspections on the way into the US?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

DAlex.

To make a long story short I got nabbed at the border for false decloration of the value of goods on an ipod video about 7 years ago and had to pay the 25% charge on it. Since then I have crossed the border over 3 dozen times and not once has my vehicle been searched or even a delay from the border agents (much to my suprise). I've had to declare and go in to pay duty but it has never been mentioned at the border crossing. I definately declare every last penny now as it was an embarresing situation and I don't want to be "flagged" again. I'm not really sure if I'm still in the system for it. Sometimes when your a broke student you do stupid things.
It sounds like you made an honest mistake so I wish you the same luck I had.

[c5davey]

Hope this hasn't been asked before in this thread but I was wondering if there are taxes on used electronics bought from ebay?

thanks

[calgaryhhr]

Hope this hasn't been asked before in this thread but I was wondering if there are taxes on used electronics bought from ebay?

thanks

I'd like to piggyback on this post and ask about taxes or duty on used auto parts and second hand clothes.

[InvisibleSoul]

Hope this hasn't been asked before in this thread but I was wondering if there are taxes on used electronics bought from ebay?

thanks

I'd like to piggyback on this post and ask about taxes or duty on used auto parts and second hand clothes.

Yes. It doesn't matter if the item is new or used. There is still duties and tax on them.

[Nythril]

Yes. It doesn't matter if the item is new or used. There is still duties and tax on them.

About 12 years back we went to value village in the states and bought a really nice used child's bunting bag ( really soft but extremely warm and well made ) for about 5 bucks. At the border coming into Canada we where assessed duty/custom fees of $35 dollars on the $5 dollar item. Used cloths are not ( or atleast then ) taxed as cloths but simply as items imported from country of origin and as such it had the higher levy on it ( based on country of manufacture ). Needless to say we gave the item to the customs officer and told them to keep it as we wouldn't pay the duty. If your buying used - make sure you have your duty free amount to rely on or your fees could be more then your cost ....

[Stock R]

Tried searching this thread and while the question had already been asked, there wasn't an answer. I'll try to break it down.

1)I travel to Country X for a week
2)While I'm there for > 7 days, buy something online from the US and ship it to my US mailing address,
3)Can I upon arrival back to Canada, declare the product(s) for form E24 as unaccompanied goods to follow?
4)And in the following week, drive down to my US mailing address at a later point to pick it up, then show E24 to apply for my exemption?

I tried looking online and on the CBSA website. There is mention of unaccompanied goods to follow that are being mailed/couriered directly to Canada, but no mention for cases where I am going to represent myself at a later point as the import agent which requires me to leave/return to Canada again.

If this is feasible and technically acceptible so I can save on some taxes for merchandise I'd like to purchase, is this something that most CBSA agents will understand and accept, or will they likely give me grief on it because it's a grey area?

[breale01]

I am not a CBSA employee, so I don't know the official answer, but thought I'd let you know that I have done exactly what you describe (only once and many years ago), but nevertheless successfully. Hope to hear from someone more official though, since I would like to try this again.

[PCDawg]

Does Canada border services know when you leave the country into the us if you drive? Plan on staying at least one night in the US but not sure if I will be they for 48 hours.

[walleye*guy]

Does Canada border services know when you leave the country into the us if you drive? Plan on staying at least one night in the US but not sure if I will be they for 48 hours.

Yes - not only do they share info with the US Border Security, they have cameras that take your plate info.