Cross Border Shopping Duty Paid Datapoints

Curious on the purpose of this thread.

It all depends on the officer and their interaction with you on that day, at that moment.

Do your shopping, tell the truth, what happens happens

I've crossed the border a fair amount. I've probably only exceeded my allowances a few times and seldom do largely because of one time about 9 years ago when we brought an extra handle of rum back driving when my daughter was an infant. She was crying and crying in the car and we were sent in to pay duty on the one extra bottle of rum. My recollection was that we were in the US for a week with two adults and we brought back two 1.5L bottles because they were like $16 each at the time. The hour delay at the border and the hassle was very much not worth it so I don't bother exceeding anymore for the most part.

I do go across for groceries on day trips fairly regularly and don't get any hassle at all on those, usually a single simple question and waved through.

hartzfizzo wrote: ↑ Curious on the purpose of this thread.

It all depends on the officer and their interaction with you on that day, at that moment.

Do your shopping, tell the truth, what happens happens

100% THIS

This thread serves no purpose … cuz one cannot use it as a baseline

It’s 100% up to the CBSA Officer doing the inspection on what determination they make each & every time … and for each and every person they see in person …

Source … I used to work for CBSA / Canada Customs

Part of the whole Customs ability to do their job is to appear somewhat random so as to keep those they encounter on their toes
And not have a pattern that can be determined by the user to skirt / con the system
BEST ADVICE …
Tell the truth
Always expect the maximum allowed Duty & Taxes under the law
And be pleasantly surprised if you pay less or are waived thru etc

And lying …
That’s just FRICKIN STUPID
Lol, like Customs has never seen it
Anything anyone tries … has been tried by someone else
They’ll happily throw the book at you
Fine - Confiscation - Penalty / Formal Charges
And list you as an Untrusted Traveller
So you spend years everytime you cross the Border in Secondary
Info that is BTW shared with CBP
Who can also make crossing the border a PITA
Or worse yet … just ban you from getting into the USA
As an Untrusted Traveller

But hey … lots of dicks think they know better
And to them … there seems to be no convincing of the facts

You get to decide which one you want to be usually in life long before you encounter the Customs Officer

dolfan1980 wrote: ↑ I've crossed the border a fair amount. I've probably only exceeded my allowances a few times and seldom do largely because of one time about 9 years ago when we brought an extra handle of rum back driving when my daughter was an infant. She was crying and crying in the car and we were sent in to pay duty on the one extra bottle of rum. My recollection was that we were in the US for a week with two adults and we brought back two 1.5L bottles because they were like $16 each at the time. The hour delay at the border and the hassle was very much not worth it so I don't bother exceeding anymore for the most part.

I do go across for groceries on day trips fairly regularly and don't get any hassle at all on those, usually a single simple question and waved through.

Im assuming these are less than 24 hour trips?
Im like an hour 30 mins or so from the traders joe In Vermont and I'm thinking of going there this weekend to buy groceries there

Casual wrote: ↑ Im assuming these are less than 24 hour trips?
Im like an hour 30 mins or so from the traders joe In Vermont and I'm thinking of going there this weekend to buy groceries there

The grocery ones are just across to Ogdensburg or Watertown from Ottawa. The booze issue I had was on the way back from an extended trip.

Casual wrote: ↑ Im assuming these are less than 24 hour trips?
Im like an hour 30 mins or so from the traders joe In Vermont and I'm thinking of going there this weekend to buy groceries there

Fresh groceries are tax exempt so there's really no incentive for them to pull you in as you wouldn't pay anything on them, prepared and packaged foods are subject to HST but for smaller amounts like an average grocery run you won't have an issue

Just check the CFIA website for up to date restrictions on poultry products as those are heavily restricted right now

Honestly I just claim what I buy, I don't care. I do plan to go during Easter and stay overnight 24hrs+

CorSter wrote: ↑ Fresh groceries are tax exempt so there's really no incentive for them to pull you in as you wouldn't pay anything on them, prepared and packaged foods are subject to HST but for smaller amounts like an average grocery run you won't have an issue

Just check the CFIA website for up to date restrictions on poultry products as those are heavily restricted right now

Good post

A lot of folks think Groceries … is everything they buy at a Grocery Store

Only FRESH & Canned / Jarred / Boxed FOOD STUFFS are Tax & Duty Exempt

Anything that’s taxable in Canada … usually means it doesn’t qualify as Groceries when crossing the border …

So … Cleaning Supplies, Laundry Detergent, Saran Wrap, Tin Foil, Paper Products = TP, PT, Kleenex etc

Also … there are indeed import restrictions on some FRESH Goods as well

https://inspection.canada.ca/food-safet ... 9630282362

I personally found that if you cross during afternoon ( when more officers are on duty) the probability of being sent to secondary is higher.

If you cross at night, u will likely be waived through.

khkchan wrote: ↑ I personally found that if you cross during afternoon ( when more officers are on duty) the probability of being sent to secondary is higher.

If you cross at night, u will likely be waived through.

Lol … someone else naive enough to think there’s a rhyme or reason to gaming the system

I’ve known guys on the line quite happy to send everyone into Secondary no matter the time of day or night.