Tech USA Shipping Question

[Jbird]

If I was to ship a Macbook Pro to the border in the USA to avoid taxation, what is the best, cheapest facility to ship it to for pickup?

[bhlombardy]

First of all, you cannot simply avoid paying tax by shipping it to the USA then picking it up and bringing it home. You need to declare the item when you return to Canada, showing proof of purchase, and they will in turn charge you tax on the amount, after dollar exchange.

Doing so is otherwise illegal, and getting caught WILL result in confiscation of the item (ie: the Macbook Pro) and a fine, without question. That's the least that can happen. If they wish, they can impound your vehicle, jail you, and cause you a whole heap of troubles (although not likely on your first offence).

The only way you can LEGALLY prevent paying HST/GST/PST is if the item was less than $800 (in Canadian funds) and IF you stayed for more than 48 hours in the USA before returning home.

If the single item is worth more than $800, then it doesn't matter how long you stay. Because it is a single item, you would still pay the tax on the entire amount. (and you can't spread the value of a single item across two people's declared value... so dont even consider taking a friend or two.)

Believe me, I do this all the time (shipping to a border town in Maine, and driving the short distance to pick up items) - I do this only to recieve items where the vendor cannot or will not ship into Canada, or would otherwise be too expensive to ship to Canada. But either way, you must show proof of purchase, and must delcare your goods when you return.

At BEST, what you'll save on are shipping costs to Canada... maybe brokerage fees depending on the carrier.

[Jbird]

First of all, you cannot simply avoid paying tax by shipping it to the USA then picking it up and bringing it home. You need to declare the item when you return to Canada, showing proof of purchase, and they will in turn charge you tax on the amount, after dollar exchange.

Doing so is otherwise illegal, and getting caught WILL result in confiscation of the item (ie: the Macbook Pro) and a fine, without question. That's the least that can happen. If they wish, they can impound your vehicle, jail you, and cause you a whole heap of troubles (although not likely on your first offence).

The only way you can LEGALLY prevent paying HST/GST/PST is if the item was less than $800 (in Canadian funds) and IF you stayed for more than 48 hours in the USA before returning home.

If the single item is worth more than $800, then it doesn't matter how long you stay. Because it is a single item, you would still pay the tax on the entire amount. (and you can't spread the value of a single item across two people's declared value... so dont even consider taking a friend or two.)

Believe me, I do this all the time (shipping to a border town in Maine, and driving the short distance to pick up items) - I do this only to recieve items where the vendor cannot or will not ship into Canada, or would otherwise be too expensive to ship to Canada. But either way, you must show proof of purchase, and must delcare your goods when you return.

At BEST, what you'll save on are shipping costs to Canada... maybe brokerage fees depending on the carrier.

Yeah, I understand, we would never break the law by not declaring an expensive item, I was just planning on doing it in order to make it easy to pickup the macbook on the way into the states, and claim it at the border to pay the tax on it, as I've been told you still come out on top with paying it if over your limit, as long as it is properly documented and declared. I realize that the limit does not allow me to purchase such an item as I am a frequent visitor to the United States and always abide by the rules set in place by our government when going into another country.

I also wanted to know this for future reference, as there are numerous items which don't ship to Canada which we would like to pick up at such a facility if available, like you said. Makes it easier, and cheaper.

[bhlombardy]

There are literally thousands of of these types of establishments peppered along border towns.

The tiny town of Calais, ME has at least 4 such businesses that I know of. And I'm sure Calais isn't unique.

Try looking at KINEK. They have independant agents in US border towns all along the US/Canadian border that should be able to help you. Typically their agents operate other businesses on site (like drug stores, hardware stores, etc) but they do also operate these drop-points.


I use an independant company, not affilated with Kinek, but I know that Kinek offers a more robust service within the network of their agents.

Here is a list of their locations (and proximity to where you are): https://www.kinek.com/shipping-to-the-border


If you ARE shipping to Calais, ME (which I doubt) also look at C&E Feeds.

[Jbird]

Thanks for the link, I will look into them, and yeah we would be shipping to Port Huron, MI, buy I found a facility on that website for there that seems quite reasonable for the packages that we may send in the future as well. Never realized there were so many border depots for people to ship stuff to, quite amazing.

[sarah_9]

Hello,

Try to find free shipping coupon code, this is the best possible method to control the cash flow though it will not help in saving tax.

Sarah_9

Sears Coupon Codes