Question for the Canadians amongst us...

Triton

Triton

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A question for you all. I've got a fairly expensive sword that I have to ship to Canada. In the past when I've shipped other swords my customers often request that I don't put any insurance on the sword because they don't want to get smacked with high customs duties. However in this case it is MY sword and I want to make sure it is insured. The question is, do any of you know how much those customs duties are likely to be? I was going to insure the sword for 1500 dollars. Thanks!
 
Moved to Blade Discussion Forum. :)
 
Canadian Customs can be very tricky.
All I can give you is a general over view as I have never imported a sword.

Duty is rarely levied against merchandise manufactererd in USA.

So all the recipient will be charged is GST tax (7.5% )and sales tax ( if applicable. Varies by province /state )

There is a huge possibility that the sword will NEVER get to its destination.

To cover yourself, over insure and put onus on recipient to get full details from Canada customs before you ship.....

Also the UPS/Fedex people will slap surcharges on cross boarder shipments.

Make sure recipient understands all this before you 'go'.

I feel saddened as I write this. This is not how it should be.

Both parties need to know who pays for what and what happens when the sword vanishes.
 
GST is actually 7%, not 7.5%. What Province are you shipping the sword to? Unless it is Alberta (no sales tax), you are also going to pay a Provincial sales tax in addition to the GST. I think the minimum PST is 7%. That already totals to over $200.00.

There would be no duties on the sword because it was made in the US, but make sure that it is clearly marked on all invoicing that the sword was made in the US. The best procedure would be to include a Statement of Origin form, available from US Customs.

Depending on how you ship it, there could also be very large fees charged for doing the Customs clearance. UPS charges exorbitant fees for this service. Canada Post only charges $5.00.

I don't know if I would over-insure by much, if anything. Shipping companies will not pay you $10,000.00 just because an item is insured for that much. They will only pay you what you can prove the item was worth. Do make sure however that the sword is insured for its full value.
 
Keith Montgomery said:
GST is actually 7%, not 7.5%. What Province are you shipping the sword to? Unless it is Alberta (no sales tax), you are also going to pay a Provincial sales tax in addition to the GST. I think the minimum PST is 7%. That already totals to over $200.00.

There would be no duties on the sword because it was made in the US, but make sure that it is clearly marked on all invoicing that the sword was made in the US. The best procedure would be to include a Statement of Origin form, available from US Customs.

Depending on how you ship it, there could also be very large fees charged for doing the Customs clearance. UPS charges exorbitant fees for this service. Canada Post only charges $5.00.

I don't know if I would over-insure by much, if anything. Shipping companies will not pay you $10,000.00 just because an item is insured for that much. They will only pay you what you can prove the item was worth. Do make sure however that the sword is insured for its full value.
Click to expand...

Crap! Actually this sword was made in Canada. I bought it from a smith there in New Brunswick and have since sold it to someone else. He wants the original smith to make some add ons to it and so I'm shipping it back to the smith for him. How does that change the equation?
 
Something is wrong here.
GST and PST [except in Alta] are due on sales. This isn't a sale and therefor no taxes should be payable. They might not believe you, but the statute and regs should make provision for goods crossing the border without changing owneship.
By this logic, (ie, anything crossing the border is a "sale" attracting tax)if I sent my mother something of mine I'd have to pay taxes without any "disposition" or sale at all.
That's absurd.

Of course, the law is designed so that everyone can understand it. Here's something your child could understand in a second: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cm/cn118/cn118-e.pdf

http://www.pwgsc.gc.ca/sos/corporate/sm/pdf/chapter06annex10-e.pdf
Why do we put up with this?
 
Grrr so much for NAFTA. What a crock of crap. I'm still not sure what the government of Canada has done to deserve an extra 200 dollars.
 
Send it as a repair. Make sure that your Customs paperwork clearly states that it is being returned to the original maker to have work done on it and that it is not a sale. There should be no GST or PST applied.

If you are not confident that you will fill out the paperwork properly, you should invest in the help of a Customs Broker.
 
In my experience customs is really ugly! I've ended up paying over 20% customs on a training knife I had ordered from the states. It's a reason I don't buy online.
 
I spent ten years doing the importing and exporting for a company that I worked for a few years ago. Mistakes can cost you dearly. You have to know what you are doing, or you have to work with someone that does.
 
Hi..

Your customer is going to be Ass Raped by customs....

Where is is going ??

ttyle

Eric...
 
Almost sounds like it'd be cheaper to drive it there and back. Good luck with it.
 
Planterz said:
Almost sounds like it'd be cheaper to drive it there and back. Good luck with it.
Click to expand...

Nope, you'll still pay customs, and they might not like you carrying a weapon across the border with you.
 
Just an update, I finally broke down and called Canadian customs. It turns out that the guy I am shipping to will have to pay the duties but because he is passing it along to someone else in Denmark he will be refunded the money when he exports back out of the country. Yay! :)
 
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