Is canadian gonna pay tariffs when buying stuff from BH.com? [Archive]

Costa

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 13:46

Doc:

You will pay no extra duties or tariffs.

You will pay GST and PST and a $5.00 handling charge. Taxes are calculated based on the shipper's declared value including shipping and handling fees. Your friendly neighbour post office outlet will relieve you of your money before handing over your lens.

Cheers,

Costa

PS There's no need to pay cash. No matter what your local outlet's policy is towards credit cards, at their own cash, for post office work they are required to accept a c/c payment.

DocFrankenstein

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 14:09

You will pay GST and PST and a $5.00 handling charge.
Am I paying canadian GST and PST which totals 15%? Or am I paying american taxes?

Sorry if it sounds too noobie like

Jon

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 14:17

Canadian. And they'll helpfully convert the US dollar figures on the invoice to Canadian before calculating it, too!

DocFrankenstein

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 14:22

What tax does the NY state charges? Will they charge me if I ship fedex? I heard fedex just ships and does not check what's in the package. :?

Jon

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 14:24

B&H doesn't charge NY tax when shipping out of New York. But even FedEx shipments have to clear customs and that's where you'll get it assessed.

DocFrankenstein

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 14:27

So if I have a friend in DC, I could order it on his address and not pay taxes?

Jon

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 14:28

Not until you try to get it into Canada, assuming you can get your credit card co. to OK a purchase shipped to the alternate address.

DocFrankenstein

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 14:32

Vinny454

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 14:37

B&H cannot charge you NY tax as you don't live there. You are correct on the Fedex thing (I used to work for them). Fedex only cares if the item is declared as dangerous goods. They just ship and do not open anything (they legally can't open it). Canada customs is going to be your road block and that is hit and miss. I ordered 2 items from the same US store 3 weeks apart. Customs nailed me for GST & PST plus handeling on one and the other came to my door no questions asked. It just depends if they flag your particular item.

Vince

Vinny454

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 14:45

Not until you try to get it into Canada, assuming you can get your credit card co. to OK a purchase shipped to the alternate address.
Oh for f sake! :evil: What if I take it out of the box and put in on my camera? :twisted:

And put all the manuals and whatnot in my trunk?

I really don't like paying taxes

If you are going to do drive down and pick it up. Do this. When you are entering the US, declare that you are bringing in expensive Camera equipment with you on vacation to your friends. If they ask the value include the price of the new lens. When you come back, it will be on record that you were carrying the equipment before you entered the US.

Important in case they search you: Mail the manuals and receipt and any thing else that may give you away. Send it registered mail. Do not carry them with you, they may find them.

Vince

Sendide

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 15:33

Or,
take a trip with an old familly member in your car (preferably a grandma), customs will take a quiq look to the car and then, NO questions asked :wink:
a friend of mine here in Vancouver BC, gets all his orders (computers, digital camera ..;) shipped to seattle and then drives and grab them , never a pb.

by the way , I get all my photography stuff from adorama.com or B&H. taxes (15% even on shipping charges) included and you're still a winner compared to local prices.one canadian serious competitor though (Henry's).

regards
Khalid

DocFrankenstein

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 15:47

DocFrankenstein

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 15:55

stuff from adorama.com or B&H. taxes (15% even on shipping charges) included
Whaaa? :shock: Do u mean BH site has the taxes included already? That's great!

one canadian serious competitor though (Henry's).
Meh. :roll:

Look at this:
Henry's 24-70 L 2040 + tax = 2250 CAD
http://www.henrys.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PageDisplay?dest=frames.jsp&currency=CAD&storeId=1 0001

BH photo:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=264304&is=USA
BH's 24-70 L is 1170 USD. Even with 15% tax, it's not even close to what henrys charges. I am amazed how they can stay in business. :shock:

Conk

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 17:12

I pm'ed you Doc. Also here is a link that is just what you are looking for.
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/publications/tariff2004/table-e.html

Furthermore, Do it right and don't mess around. Don't be doing any scams trying to get items through the border unclaimed. You'll just screw it up for yourself on future visits across the line.
Pay the pst, gst and customs charges.

Sendide

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 18:06

DccFrankeinstein,
if you get stuff from BH or adorama, fedex guy will ask you to pay custom taxes before delivering, fedex grings the custom fees bill and leaves a receit. you don't pay those taxes : no item delivery.
it's 15% of the total bill including 15%on the shipping charges + $C 5 handling
worth it though

Vinny454

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 18:46

B&H cannot charge you NY tax as you don't live there.
So if I walk in there, and show my maple leaf documents, they're not gonna chanrge the tax?

Or they won't charge it only if I order it out of the country/state?

Basically yes. On line they can not charge the tax to an out of state buyer

If you walk in off the street, they may charge you tax even with Canadian
Id (each store has there own policies and I don't know there's). But here is the catch 22. You can cliam to have the taxes you paid refunded from Customs Canada, but you have to declare the item and then pay Canadian taxes. Don't you love the system.

Your best bet is call B&H and find out their tax policies for out of state buyers for in store purchases. Then you can make a choice if it is better
to drive down or take your chances through customs and fed-ex, but the higher value items tend not to fall through the cracks as easily. You also have to determine if the customs charges will be more or less than the price of gas and time to go down and pick it up your self.

Vince

DocFrankenstein

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 19:15

Phil Hall

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 20:06

All of the major shippers charge Canadian txes and a customs broker fee..UPS FedX etc.

Have it shipped by International Priority or express mail You MAY get away with not paying the taxes and you can still track the package.

We do this when sending packages to our grandkids in Canada.

Phil Hall

Vinny454

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 20:12

The thing is that haven't been to NY yet. I'd like to spend some time there.

Even if I am not driving, the bus ticket is 170 canadian beavers. If the price difference is a 100 bucks I might just go for the sake of the trip.

In that case find out the best price you can in Canada tax incl and then
compare to B&H prices (even if they do charge you tax). Some of there items are very close in price after the exchange rate and others are a smoking deal. If your item is significantly lower priced at B&H then do it
while you are there and just throw it in your bag like you have always owned it. Customs will see your entire equipment bag and probably not even give it a second thought.

Vince

Persian-Rice

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 20:25

Doc............................

If you are an out of state/province buyer, it is illegal for them to charge you state tax/PST. Taxes don't apply when it comes to private purchases within the same country.

Now if I am getting this right, you will be charged PST once the product crosses the border, there should be no duties. I believe that they can not charge you duties on goods made within North America. I'm also pretty sure Photo/Camera equipment does not have duties as long as it is North American Made.

What you need to be careful is for UPS, never get it UPS ground. To play it safe, go with FedEx or National Mail service(Canada Post:Amazing, USPS:Garbage)UPS will charge you a massive Brokerage fee, much higher then our taxes if you work it out it can go as high as 35-40%.

I asked my friend, I think he said the New York sales tax is 8% or so, that pretty much killed my trip to NY, it will be cheaper to have it shipped. Plus, if you plan on going to NY, you will need to mail the boxes/manuals to your home, cuz if they catch with that stuff at the border, they will charge PST on top of the tax you paid in NY, which means you will get double taxed.

Best way is to get it mailed via FedEx..............

I asked my Mom about this stuff she works for the CRA, wasnt sure about duties, but she knew all the tax stuff................... Vinny, when you claim the taxes, they only return a very small portion, its not worth the time. As for the store policy deal, they wont pay for the tax portion from their own pockets, so you will be paying state tax, id or no id.

Cheers.

DocFrankenstein

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 22:49

Doc............................

If you are an out of state/province buyer, it is illegal for them to charge you state tax/PST. Taxes don't apply when it comes to private purchases within the same country.
Wouldn't they do the same thing as with international shipping? If you order it out of state, wouldn't they charge the tax when it's entering the new state? Inter-state customs or something?

Now if I am getting this right, you will be charged PST once the product crosses the border, there should be no duties. I believe that they can not charge you duties on goods made within North America. I'm also pretty sure Photo/Camera equipment does not have duties as long as it is North American Made.
PST is 8% ?

What you need to be careful is for UPS, never get it UPS ground. To play it safe, go with FedEx or National Mail service(Canada Post:Amazing, USPS:Garbage)UPS will charge you a massive Brokerage fee, much higher then our taxes if you work it out it can go as high as 35-40%.
I have heard quite a few scary stories about it from gun forums. One guy ordered a 800 dollar scope, got charged the tax and 450 brokerage fee.

Best way is to get it mailed via FedEx..............
Yeah, that's probably what I'm gonna do.

Vinny454

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 23:10

Vinny, when you claim the taxes, they only return a very small portion, its not worth the time. As for the store policy deal, they wont pay for the tax portion from their own pockets, so you will be paying state tax, id or no id.

Thanks for the info Persian-Rice, wasn't sure on that point.

Yes Doc, PST in Ont is 8% and GST is 7%.

What you need to be careful is for UPS, never get it UPS ground. To play it safe, go with FedEx or National Mail service(Canada Post:Amazing, USPS:Garbage)UPS will charge you a massive Brokerage fee, much higher then our taxes if you work it out it can go as high as 35-40%.

Persian-Rice is bang on there. I bought a laser bore sighter for my hunting rifle for $50 and ended up getting soaked an extra $100 between customs and UPS's brokerage fee's. NEVER UPS across borders.

My friend works at Fed-Ex (I used to also) and they are probably the better of the couriers, but pretty much a guarentee you will pay customs.
If you can wait a few extra day's, the cheapest way is US postal service.
You have a 50/50 chance of not getting charged customs (don't know why). Like I said earlier. Two golf clubs form the US, 3 weeks apart. Paid customs on one and not on the other.

I'm also pretty sure Photo/Camera equipment does not have duties as long as it is North American Made.
There is not much as far as consumer electronics that is made in US/Canada, and I don't know of any camera equipment that is.

Vince

drisley

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 23:26

I JUST went through this.

There is NO DUTY OR TARIFFS ON CAMERA LENSES, CAMERAS, OR THINGS LIKE LENS HOODS, BAGS, ETC (as long as the bags are made in the US)!

I 've order plenty of lenses from the states, and only been charged GST (although you should usually be charged PST too).

My last order from Adorama consisted of a lens, lens hood, teleconverter, and tamrac camera bag.
I shipped Fedex so there is no extra brokerage (only UPS charges an additional brokerage. DONT SHIP UPS!!).
When the items arrived, I was told there was $80 DUTY. Boy I was mad, because there is not supposed to be any duty on camera lenses.
Well, I called Canada Customs and what happened was that Fedex handlers mislabeled the items as "Photo Accessories" which would have duties. They said there is no duty on any camera or lenses from the states.
I called back Fedex, and they corrected the problem, and I ended up with no duty, just GST and PST.

For more info, call Canada Customs at 1-800-461-9999

Up until recently I was only ever charged GST. I think they are cracking down on this though, as mentioned I was charged GST and PST, and my friends who order from the states regularly are noticing this too. I guess it depends on the province.
Because of this, I may now have to rethink ordering from the states. My last order ended up costing me the same from Adorama (or even more at BH) as it would have cost ordering from Camera Canda.

Vinny454

9th of August 2004 (Mon), 23:42

There is NO DUTY OR TARIFFS ON CAMERA LENSES, CAMERAS, OR THINGS LIKE LENS HOODS, BAGS, ETC (as long as the bags are made in the US)!

Thanks for clearing that up. It's good to know.

Vince

drisley

10th of August 2004 (Tue), 00:47

Things to know (as told to me by Canada Customs, Canon, and experience).

1. No Duties On Cameras And Lenses (includes hoods, filters, teleconverters) From US.
2. No Duties On Camera Accessories Like Bags From US If Manufactured In US.
3. Only Pay GST And PST (although PST is sometimes overlooked)
4. Do NOT SHIP VIA UPS As They Charge GINORMOUS Brokerage Fees
5. Use Fedex Or US/Can Post As Fedex's Brokerage Is Included In the Shipping Fee, and Canada Post Only Charges a $5 Brokerage.
6. If You Have Any Doubts, Questions, Or Concerns Regarding A Specific Item, Call Canada Customs At 1-800-461-9999
.
.
7. Check Out Camera Canada (http://www.cameracanada.com). They Have Competitive Prices (much cheaper than Henry's), And Will Sometimes Match B&H or Adorama Prices. Their Shipping is MUCH Cheaper Than B&H or Adorama, And If You Dont Live In Ontario, You Will ONLY Pay GST, NO PST! I Would Have Been Better Off On My Last Order Shopping In Canada, But Camera Canada Didnt Have Stock At The Time.
.
.
8. Canon USA Warranties Are Valid In Canada (they are actually interchangeable as the warranty cards have both Canon USA and Canon Canada on them).

DocFrankenstein

10th of August 2004 (Tue), 01:08

I don't know what items you are looking at, but none of my "wish list" items are cheaper in canada. In fact, all of them are much more expensive:

550 EX flash
24-70 L
2x sigma extender...

Difference in prices vary from 500 to 80 bucks... I feel bad about it. wah! wah!
:lol:

drisley

10th of August 2004 (Tue), 01:32

Well, when I ordered my 70-200F4L from the States, I saved about $150 CDN over the cheapest place up here. However, they mistakenly didnt charge PST, so that helped.

Yes, the 24-70L is an example of a lens that is MUCH cheaper in the states. Definately go for it.

My last purchase was a 135F2L, Canon 1.4x Tcon, Lens Hood (for the 50mm F1.8), and Tamrac Velocity 9.

From Adorama, with shipping (Fedex ($65)), GST&PST, I paid $1926CDN.

From Camera Canada with shipping ($15), and ONLY GST, I would have paid around $1900 as well.

The killer was shipping and PST when buying from the states. While the products were much cheaper, the shipping and PST was over $200.
But as mentioned, with my 2 other lens orders from the US, I saved quite a lot of money! If you live in Ontario, then you have to pay PST from Camera Canada anyway.

Just for the heck of it, you should email Camera Canada with a quote you get from B&H. In my experience they will often do their best to match the price or atleast come close. If not, then order from B&H and you will have no problems. If you ever order from Adorama, make SURE you deal with Fred. He's the only guy there that knows what he's doing *l*

Persian-Rice

10th of August 2004 (Tue), 11:24

Camera Canada has some very good prices. I will probably end up driving there since its like an hour drive. I will also take my uncles PST exemption and getting charged gst and no shipping................

Seems like the cheapest way to do it. I guess I can call in advance and see if they will match prices too.

taskerc

10th of August 2004 (Tue), 14:11

Hi all, from a lurker in Ireland (formerly of Canada).

In Ireland, Couriers are almost virtual guarantee of Vat and/or Duty - VAT is 21% of declared value (which of course is always linked to insured value). USPS Priority/Registered activity gets routed through an intermediary and get sthe same (or worse) treatment. Canada Post Airmail/USPS Airmail generally arrives untouched, but most US/CAN shippers refuse to send via airmail post due to lack of tracking etc.

And the truly scary bit is that with all of this cost etc, I typically still save 35% or more over local best retail pricing .....

There's my rant for the day - thanks lads for a great discussion.

CRT

Persian-Rice

10th of August 2004 (Tue), 15:24

The problem is that Overseas shipments are subject to differnt duties and tarrifs.

Nafta removes duties from specific items. In any other case, If you live beyond the confines of North America you should buy local. It will still be a little more expensive since you need Japanese Domestics items and they are subject to higher import costs.

Cheers.

DocFrankenstein

10th of August 2004 (Tue), 16:15

my uncles PST exemption...
Who do I have to kill to get that? :wink: :lol:

Persian-Rice

10th of August 2004 (Tue), 17:03

You have to own a business. He owns a big leather goods manufacturing company so he uses it when he buys most of his hides. Good thing is, you can use it for other things too, as long as it is for resale, lol ya sure ok.

Ill send you a PM whenever I plan on making a trip to the place and maybe we can hookup and go together. Ill probably go like every couple months or so............... chances are i will go in September.......

cheers

DirtyHarry

10th of August 2004 (Tue), 17:28

wait a flaming second here guys!!

you telling me if i go into B&H in new york.....shake my Irish passport in front of the guy while paying for a lens or what-not, i wont pay there 8.6% tax???

you must be kidding? If its true, im cracking open a pint of guinness!! :D

DocFrankenstein

10th of August 2004 (Tue), 19:01

Ill send you a PM whenever I plan on making a trip to the place and maybe we can hookup and go together. Ill probably go like every couple months or so............... chances are i will go in September.......

cheers
If you mean going to NY, then I'm all up for it.

Persian-Rice

10th of August 2004 (Tue), 21:31

No not New York. I did my research, they will charge you tax no matter what you may think. IF you are from Canada that is like paying gst+pst. Then there is the hassle of mailing the box and manual to your home from the states.............. besides the fact the fuel costs are outragous.

If you have pst excemption form and live in southern Ontario, Camera Canada is a lot better of a choice, especially if they decide to match US prices.

drisley

11th of August 2004 (Wed), 01:44

I cant guarantee that CC will match BH prices, but they do try and dont laugh in your face like most camera retail shops here.
They DID actually match the price on a 70-200F2.8 when I asked. And other times they tried their best.
I was just looking at a sigma 15 f2.8 ex lens, and Camera Canada's price was already just as cheap as BH when you figure in shipping and taxes.