OT Duty Question?

[shaycamp21]

I know there are certain items that you can bring back without paying duty--certain groceries (assuming you are just going to the US for the day). Does anyone know if that includes toiletries? From what I have found toiletries are SO MUCH cheaper in the US and now that I am expecting I would like to stock up on some baby products (baby shampoo, lotion, diaper rash cream etc..) now that our dollar is high, but I am wondering if these items are exempt from duty or if you have to pay? Does anyone know?

 

[lizabu]

I think it's pretty much the same idea as the things we pay tax on in this country. For example bread, milk, eggs...no. Soft drinks, chips, shampoo yes.

 

[rjan67]

This may help....

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/e604-eng.pdf

 

[cari12]

I find usually they do not even ask what we bought. We have NEXUS and go through and give a verbal declaration telling them how long we've been down, how much we spent and if we have any tobacco or alcohol. Then they just say "Have a nice day". And this is when we just go down for the day or if we spend a couple of days. We usually have all 4 of us in the car and so rarely, if ever, do we go over the personal exemption amount.

 

[monkey30]

The last time I went down for just a few hours they didn't care, just let us back through after we claimed our amount, we were over, wasn't a big deal.

However last summer, all they charged us duty on was the 4 extra cases of beer DH brought home! it really wasnt bad and was still cheaper then buying them here!

 

[candygirlIRE]

The last time I went down for just a few hours they didn't care, just let us back through after we claimed our amount, we were over, wasn't a big deal.

However last summer, all they charged us duty on was the 4 extra cases of beer DH brought home! it really wasnt bad and was still cheaper then buying them here!

Just curious how much $ that duty was (if you remember)? DH wants to bring back some of his precious Sam Adams this summer (they do the specialty ones there that we can't find up here)

Thanks!!

 

[minnie56]

There isn't duty..you might pay HST, but not duty so the charges are easy to figure if they do assess.

 

[ccudmore]

To back up the PP, rarely, if ever, is there duty charged if you're bringing things across for personal use. That's what the Free Trade Agreement is all about.

What you're being charged is the HST or GST (depending on which province you're crossing into). There are set limits about how much you can bring across without being charged taxes, based on how long you've been in the U.S. If you're just over for the day, expect to pay HST on most of what you're bringing back.

The one thing to watch out for is fresh produce and meat. Expect to not be able to bring those across the border. They'll most likely be taken and dumped in the trash.

 

[shaycamp21]

You are allowed to bring back fresh meat and produce (just not bring it into the US)...up to a certain amount if you see the link in to the gov't site on the second post. We have brought back chicken and declared it with no problem.

 

[dsneygirl]

To back up the PP, rarely, if ever, is there duty charged if you're bringing things across for personal use. That's what the Free Trade Agreement is all about.

Duty has nothing to do with "personal use" it's based on where it is manufactured. Anything made in US, Mexico, Chile and a few others that we have a Free Trade agreement with is Duty Free.

You will pay duty on things made in China, India, Sri Lanka etc regardless of end use. (personal or commercial)

 

[minnie56]

I know some items are supposedly dutiable, such as those from China..but I have bought so many items, electronic and otherwise made in China, declared what I have bought and still been waved through..
More often than not..I am not sent in to pay anything at all...so the occasional time I am..it's ok!

 

[photofreak]

toiletries, groceries, etc usually just has HST (if they don't let you just go thru ) but any tobacco and alcohol over your specificed limit does have duty... Otherwise wouldn't we all be there buying cheaper booze??? lol

 

[sbnorton]

Check out this link and go to the 3rd page for a quick reference guide to what sort of things are charged duty (depending on country of origin) and the % of duty. No duty charged on anything made in USA or Mexico due to NAFTA.

http://cbsa.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/e601-eng.pdf

 

[dancin Disney style]

We went over shopping yesterday and had Mr. Grumpy at the border when we came back. Anyway, we had spent $100 on groceries and $100 on clothes for my DD. He said that most of the grocery items we had were taxable....then glared at me. What I wanted to say was...'go ahead and tax me, I can't buy this stuff in Canada'. However, I just smiled and stayed quiet. He ended up letting us go.

I really don't care if I have to pay the tax. I go over to buy things that I can't buy here. Also, when we need any clothing or shoes we go over because there are several stores that I love that we don't have here. I can always find what I need and for a lot less money. I'm always honest about what I spent and about 99% of the time they let me through. That said I don't go over there and spend more than about $250 for the day either and usually there are 3 of us in the car.

 

[disneydreamgirl]

We went over on Friday night and back again on Saturday...normally wouldn't do that but the Memorial Day sales were pretty good. JC Penney was full of deals. We spent about $120 each day and were not charged duty. Our experience has been that if you have not purchased alcohol or tobacco in the US, it is unlikely that you will be pulled over with around $100 of goods. We also got some groceries (mainly milk) and gassed up a car each day at a savings of about $15 per fill-up.

 

[candielips]

We did a quick trip over to Buffalo on the May long wknd and we had a nice border agent coming back into Canada, so I thought I would ask about groceries. She said as long as they were necessities and not snack foods, you would not be taxed.
Also, you can only bring back $20 in dairy each (including yogurt, cheese, milk, butter). And you cannot bring back any produce.

 

[minnie56]

Odd....I brought all kinds of candy at Easter...Good and Plenty...Choc eggs etc ...declared and they didn't bat an eyelash..I think it depends which way the wind blows sometimes.

Of course-I DO consider those items necessities! LOL

 

[cabmom]

I came back on Sunday after having been there for 48 hrs. My friend and I bought 2 cases each of beer and we were let thru. We both expected to pay the extra $10/case. She was a great Agent!

 

[candielips]

Odd....I brought all kinds of candy at Easter...Good and Plenty...Choc eggs etc ...declared and they didn't bat an eyelash..I think it depends which way the wind blows sometimes.

Of course-I DO consider those items necessities! LOL

They usually don't care. I have only ever been asked to pay the HST on excess items once and we go over ALL the time and never stay over night.

You are right, it totally depends on the agent. This same agent said they had been being very flexible and letting people come back with beer and groceries when only over for a day, BUT were starting to a get a little stricter since the price of gas has risen.