Can anybody tell me what kind of fees I have to expect when I import stuff from other countries to Canada? Are there differences between imports from the US and those from other continents? I'm looking for some reliable numbers because I want to compare between Canadian and German fees. In Germany it's like this: 19% VAT on any video game / dvd / toy imports when the value of 22 Euros is exceeded. Fees below 5 Euro are not being charged (i.e. 19% of 26 Euro = 4,94 Euro => forget it, no charges!) For any item above 150 Euro of value (including shipping costs) you'll have to pay the actual 5% of custom duty, 24% in total. What's it like in Canada?
Going by my records, and don't quote me on this, usually when I've ordered stuff from the UK to Canada, I get charged the cost of the item plus shipping. No tax. I've only ever had tax online when I've bought at Canadian online shops. Now, you will get dinged by Canada customs though. Historically, unless the item is marked as a gift, you will be charged 13% tax of the value of the item, or cost of the item. There is also a nominal duty charge, but its best to think about it as just 13% on top of whatever you've bought. I find its actually quite fair. On a recent order of $500, I paid $120 in duty and taxes. Be warned though, avoid UPS. If there are custom charges, UPS will pay them, then tack on another 45 bucks for their broker fee. I bought one item for 10 bucks, and after UPS got done screwing me, it cost me $90. DHL is a little more expensive, but there's hardly any broker fees with them, and they're shipments always show up quick (Ordered some tires from Padiham, and had them to my door 2 days later) Just my nickel sense! Ryan
As said it's depends on the province it's heading to. Generally it's around 13%. It's Fed & Prov tax. So ****ing true. UPS can die in a pit of fire over this crap. You have no choice and they'll gadly hit you on taxes even if the tax is only $1-$2. They will smack you with a $30 fee which is then also subject to Fed/Prov tax as a service which throws on another $5+. So in the end you can end up paying far more on Brokerage & tax fee then the product you buy which is salt on an open wound since generally shipping via UPS is more expensive then other/better services (EMS). I generally tell people to send stuff to me by normal post and not UPS because when it gets picked up by CanadaPost their brokerage fee is generally around $5-$7 and that I can live with.
So it's basically just 13% on value+shipping costs when I'm importing something and I have to pick it up at the customs office? For instance, there's a bulky package declared with 200$ value plus 100$ shipping fees. All in all, including EVERYTHING, I'm charged 13% of 300$ = 39$ - correct? In Germany, it would be 24% (19% VAT + 5% customs fees) of 300$ = 72$
When importing you only pay Tax on the value of said goods (not shipping fees, any tax on that is subject to where it's being purchased from). So if you imported a package with a $200 declaired value, you will pay 13% on that 200. You won't have to go to customs to pick up your package. The customs fee is initially paid by the broker of a shipping company and they bill you the charge. For most shipping companies you are charged the fee on delivery (most take check or credit only). If your package has cleared customs already and you know there is a fee, you can always call the delivery company before it's delivered and pay for the fee over the phone by credit card. Dealing with imports in canada is a pretty painless process with exception to UPS over their insane fees. I've also had tons of experience with this since I import stuff all the time (from low end games to rather expensive arcade hardware).
Canada AFAIK has two tax rates, HST and GST depending on province. You are supposed to be charged tax on imports and they are pretty good at catching stuff at customs. Maximum is 15%.
