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Thread: Shopping in USA - HST?!? :(

  1. #16
    Canadian Genius PurpleBunny89's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cabmonk View Post
    My friend( old old friend, haven't seen them in like 20 years lol damn I'm getting old) used to go to the US to buy tools for work. In the parking lot of the store he would take them all out of the packaging and put them in his tool box in the back of his van.
    Thats a little obvious though if ever stopped and searched as tools if they are used show wear and tear and if they are new ... well LOL.
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    Canadian Guru cabmonk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PurpleBunny89 View Post
    Thats a little obvious though if ever stopped and searched as tools if they are used show wear and tear and if they are new ... well LOL.
    I know..
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    Canadian Genius lilo0003's Avatar
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    just came back from two days in Erie Pa no taxes on clothes there. We spent about 700.00 including alcohol and declared it all. We don't even try to hide it on a same day trip, not a lesson I want to teach my kids. I get pulled aside about once every few years for being over but IMO it is worth it. I always factor in the added cost when I am buying something and if the duty/HST will make it not such a deal then I skip it.
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    Quote Originally Posted by FallenPixels View Post
    Normally you do not pay duty, we have a lot of agreements in place for cross border shopping so duty charges are usually for international (non US) shipments and importers bringing in a lot.
    People confuse paying HST at the border with duty

    When you return to Canada, duties and taxes are applicable on all purchases unless you qualify for a personal exemption. Personal exemptions allow you to bring goods of a certain value into the country without paying the regular duties. If you have been outside Canada for:


    • 24 hours or more, you can bring in CAN$200 worth of goods free of duty and tax;
      • If the goods you bring in are worth more than CAN$200 in total, you cannot claim this exemption. Instead you have to pay full applicable duties and taxes on all goods you bring in.

    • 48 hours or more, you can bring in CAN$800 worth of goods free of duty and tax;
    • 7 days or more, you can bring in CAN$800 worth of goods free of duty and tax. Goods may be in your possession at time of entry to Canada but are also permitted to follow entry to Canada (via courier, mail or delivery agency).

    Alcohol and Tobacco - Restrictions apply to the amount of alcohol and tobacco you can bring into Canada under your exemption. If you have been outside Canada for at least 48 hours and are of legal age, you can bring in these amounts of alcohol and tobacco products free of duty and tax as part of your personal exemption:

    Alcoholic beverages:


    • 1.14 L (40 oz.) of liquor; or
    • 1.5 L of wine; or
    • 24 X 355 ml (12 oz.) containers of beer.

    Tobacco products (all of the following):

    • 200 cigarettes
    • 50 cigars or cigarillos;
    • 200 tobacco sticks; and
    • 200 g (7 oz.) of manufactured tobacco.


    What if I'm away for only a few hours?

    If you don't qualify for a personal exemption, you can still bring back any amount of goods - except for restricted items - as long as you are willing to pay the duties and any provincial and territorial assessments that may apply.
    I thought 48 hours was $400? Or is that only if you fly? I was just away in December and I swore the customs form said $400 ... I could be wrong though ...

  5. #20
    Frosh Canuck crowsnest's Avatar
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    We travel from AB to MT every couple of weeks, sometimes more often and bring back multiple thousands of dollars of product each time.. building/renovation materials are much cheaper down there. The agents at our small border crossing know us very well by now, lol, and I have a pretty good understanding of the customs regulations. We end up having to pay GST each time (of course) but hardly ever duty - this is at the discretion of the agent however. If I go for 3 hours and buy $800 worth of clothes, most clothes are made in Asia and I would expect to pay a high duty rate, so I save those purchases for when I can be there overnight or longer. Once they waved me through with $700 of purchases and I had only been there an hour!! *should have bought a lottery ticket that day*

    Just declare EVERYTHING, to the penny!! I have seen them take apart a car and go through the contents looking for undelcared items, comparing the amount of dust/fingerprints on a laptop keyboard to see if its new or used.. not worth it to save a couple bucks of tax!! You can have your passport f.lagged, and then every time you cross the border expect it to take an hour or more of scrutiny. Friend of ours has a f.lagged passport, plus he has to cross back and forth often, huge hassle for him!!

    If you plan to make a big purchase, like appliances, find out the country of origin and call Canada customs and find out the duty rate if there is any, there is an 800 number on the website, I've called many times and the agents are generally very friendly and helpful.
    Last edited by crowsnest; Sun, Mar 17th, 2013 at 08:13 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chimmi View Post
    I thought 48 hours was $400? Or is that only if you fly? I was just away in December and I swore the customs form said $400 ... I could be wrong though ...
    I just looked it up and I am wrong - that must have been the old rate. Woohoo!!!! Thanks FP

  7. #22
    Trade Mod FallenPixels's Avatar
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    They changed it in the budget last year, not sure when it took effect though
    Oh and having nothing to declare is usually a sure sign that they will check your car
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  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by crowsnest View Post
    We travel from AB to MT every couple of weeks, sometimes more often and bring back multiple thousands of dollars of product each time.. building/renovation materials are much cheaper down there. The agents at our small border crossing know us very well by now, lol, and I have a pretty good understanding of the customs regulations. We end up having to pay GST each time (of course) but hardly ever duty - this is at the discretion of the agent however. If I go for 3 hours and buy $800 worth of clothes, most clothes are made in Asia and I would expect to pay a high duty rate, so I save those purchases for when I can be there overnight or longer. Once they waved me through with $700 of purchases and I had only been there an hour!! *should have bought a lottery ticket that day*

    Just declare EVERYTHING, to the penny!! I have seen them take apart a car and go through the contents looking for undelcared items, comparing the amount of dust/fingerprints on a laptop keyboard to see if its new or used.. not worth it to save a couple bucks of tax!! You can have your passport f.lagged, and then every time you cross the border expect it to take an hour or more of scrutiny. Friend of ours has a f.lagged passport, plus he has to cross back and forth often, huge hassle for him!!

    If you plan to make a big purchase, like appliances, find out the country of origin and call Canada customs and find out the duty rate if there is any, there is an 800 number on the website, I've called many times and the agents are generally very friendly and helpful.
    I saw some officers ripping cars apart when I was there! They took the mats out and they were looking under the carpet in the car. I imagined they suspected drugs or something :/ It looked too extreme to just be hiding something else like clothing or whatever.

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    Mastermind Shwa Girl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Baggravation View Post
    When I asked the lady at customs why I had to pay she said that you always have to pay. She told me it does not matter how long you stay, we are supposed to charge you taxes every single time. She said the more # of days you stay in the States the more money you're allowed you spend over there :/ I was there was less than 24 hrs so she the $$$ limit does not even apply to me. If you're less than 24 hrs you are 100% supposed to be charged. I think she said over 24 hrs and you wouldn't have to pay duty. I did some googling but everyone is saying something different. Next time, I'm just gonna be sneaky and put some of my clothes on and throw out the receipts LOL. We usually claim every single thing we bring over -_- silly of us I suppose but since we didn't know we'd get charged HST we thought nothing of it.
    Yes, less than 24 hours is important information to your rant.
    Did you Google Canada Customs?
    Were there any pamphlets on this topic at the border crossing when you went inside to pay?

  10. #25
    Must Coupon, Must Save :) SassyAshley's Avatar
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    I have never been searched coming back across the board **knock on wood** but they do look at you funny if you have been there a few days and have nothing to declare. In my case I was down there on business for 4 days and after going to 5 states and doing 40 to 50 hours of driving plus appoitments I wish I had the energy to shop but most of the time I just want to crash in the hotel so we can do it all again tomorrow.
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  11. #26
    CaToonie Safyre's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SassyAshley View Post
    I have never been searched coming back across the board **knock on wood** but they do look at you funny if you have been there a few days and have nothing to declare. In my case I was down there on business for 4 days and after going to 5 states and doing 40 to 50 hours of driving plus appoitments I wish I had the energy to shop but most of the time I just want to crash in the hotel so we can do it all again tomorrow.
    They also look at you funny if you only go over for an hour. Thats the one and only time we got pulled over. Crossed at Niagara Falls to check out the aquarium on the US side, it was boring, came back, and they made us pull over and searched our car. I think they thought we were drug dealers or something making a 'buy' lol
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  12. #27
    Canadian Genius lilo0003's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SassyAshley View Post
    I have never been searched coming back across the board **knock on wood** but they do look at you funny if you have been there a few days and have nothing to declare. In my case I was down there on business for 4 days and after going to 5 states and doing 40 to 50 hours of driving plus appoitments I wish I had the energy to shop but most of the time I just want to crash in the hotel so we can do it all again tomorrow.
    DH goes over twice a yr for a conference in Vegas and never spends anything, not even the alcohol as there is just no time. Each time they go through his luggage with a fine tooth comb (drives him crazy as he is a perfectionist with packing). I told him this yr to stop at the duty free .
    Friends don't let real friends pay full price.

  13. #28
    Junior Canuck lessthannat's Avatar
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    I go the the US quite often for shopping as well, and it is really hit or miss with the border agents. I never stay the full day, usually just 6-8 hours for shopping, I declare everything to the penny - do not need to get myself f.lagged or get my car torn apart. I would say 75% of the time I do not pay anything in duty (I usually spend in the hundreds) & I travel alone

    It's really the luck of the draw and I am amazed OP got away with it for that long before getting charged any taxes

  14. #29
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    These days, I always declare everything. I'm almost always in the car with my sister and I don't want the chance that either one of us could be denied entry to the states in the future. My sister travels a lot to the states for work and she would literally kick my butt if I did anything to jeopardize that.

    We always save money when we shop at the outlet malls in the states even with paying the hst at the border. Plus, we get all kinds of stuff you can't buy in Canada.

    That being said, when I was younger, I traveled a lot to the states to visit my ex's family and I used to just take the tags off everything and declare nothing. They cross daily (his mom lives in canada but worked in the states) and know the border agents at the small crossing so no one would hassle us.

  15. #30
    Contradiction in progress sweet sparrow's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Baggravation View Post
    When I asked the lady at customs why I had to pay she said that you always have to pay. She told me it does not matter how long you stay, we are supposed to charge you taxes every single time. She said the more # of days you stay in the States the more money you're allowed you spend over there :/ I was there was less than 24 hrs so she the $$$ limit does not even apply to me. If you're less than 24 hrs you are 100% supposed to be charged. I think she said over 24 hrs and you wouldn't have to pay duty. I did some googling but everyone is saying something different. Next time, I'm just gonna be sneaky and put some of my clothes on and throw out the receipts LOL. We usually claim every single thing we bring over -_- silly of us I suppose but since we didn't know we'd get charged HST we thought nothing of it.
    You always have to pay under 24 hours. It sort of depends how busy they are though. If they are too busy to process you, they may waive you through, but we've had to go to the customs office for payment at least two-thirds of the time. In my experience, it feels like if they would make less than $30 per car, they don't send you over. If you've never had to pay before, you've been super lucky.

    If you try and be sneaky and they find out, it's *big* trouble. I know people who've had their info marked in their system for not declaring everything at the border. They've been pulled over and had their cars searched every single time since. There are people who mail the receipts home from the US, or people who wear old clothes and toss them at the border after buying new ones. These are border guards who see this behaviour day in and day out. If you're wearing really new shoes, it's not too hard to suspect that they may have been purchased a few hours ago. Basically, they make it worth your while to wish you declared the full amount if you ever get caught. And if they think that you think they haven't got the common sense to suspect when you're pulling one over, they don't appreciate that either.

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