# question concerning duty



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

This may be a stupid question but I'm trying to determine how much american money to bring. 
I'm bringing a guitar back over the border and I want to bring cash for the duty and taxes. Who do I pay the duty to. Ther US side or the Canadian side? I'm assuming I pay the taxes to the Canadian side.


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## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

Yup. You'll pay taxes to the Canadian Customs and Revenue.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

They also accept debit and credit card.


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

You will pay HST plus $5.00 processing fee-make sure you have the invoice for amount you actually paid for the guitar.

Basically what you will save is shipping and the dreaded brokerage fee.

They will convert the US dollar invoice to Canadian and then charge the HST-13% and you can pay in Canadian $


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

i recently sold an american made guitar to a guy in the states...he drove up here to pick it up...i gave him a receipt and he drove it across the border...he e-mailed me when he got home to tell me that the border guards weren't even interested in the guitar and simply waved him through...

i thought there was some kind of rule pertaining to guitars...if they are made in north america...there are no duties to pay...anyone here know the latest rules and regulations...???...


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## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

Go here: Departmental Consolidation of the Customs Tariff 2010


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

hey there..i found this page and entered the word "guitar"...the results page states a 6 per cent duty...

Candian Duty Rate: Complete Database Search | Better Value in Dollar


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

guitarman2 said:


> Who do I pay the duty to. Ther US side or the Canadian side? I'm assuming I pay the taxes to the Canadian side.


Duty exists to compensate for the presumed loss in sales, exports, and jobs, that arise when goods come into the country, as opposed to leaving. Every nation hopes to export as much as it can, and bring more revenue into the country. So, when something leaves the US or Canada or anywhere else, the nation of origin is happy to see it go. When something comes into the country, the recipient/purchaser pays duty because buying something from outside your country means money walking across the border instead of remaining at home where it can circulate.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

just a "what if" scenario... what if you were driving across and never mentioned it? if they asked any questions you could always say something like "pshew! i meant to mention that, i must be tired from the long drive. thanks for the reminder"


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I know what you're thinking. "Does he _really_ enforce the law, or does he just act like he does?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But this being a customs officer, acting on behalf of one of the most powerful and lawyer-equipped agencies in the world, able to levy fines that would blow your savings account clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

They hear that a dozen times per day and don't fall for it.
They can fine you for failing to declare properly. 

I've found that honesty and a reasonable amount if respect gets me through every time. 

Declare your purchase. 
Roll down your window and the back window so they can talk to rear passengers or see that there are no passengers back there. 
Take off your sunglasses and look them in the eye. 
Answer as best you can and apologize if you don't understand the question at first. ( This is usually more important going IN to the U S than coming back into Canada)
Have your ID ready and offer it without being asked. 

It sounds like cowtowing but what it reallys means to them is that you know the drill and the rules and are ready to abide by them. 

More often than not, they recognize that this is making their job easier and they give you a break. 

I've come back across with mire than the exemption allowance and even with major purchases on the same day and they have let me through. 

Of course, if you're way over the limit you should expect to pay the taxes and duty. They're not asking for much more than what you'd expect to pay if you bought here at home. 

The one time I was pulled in to pay the customs officer inside seemed a little put out that I had a fistful of receipts with all kinds of different things. He said, "You know that duty and taxes will vary from item to item depending where it's made?"
I looked at him with a "So what can I divto change that?" and I said, "Okay. I don't know that but I declared things properly and now I'm here. I'm prepared to pay the taxes."
He just calculated what I think was the lowest he could on the whole amount and 60 bucks and 5 minutes later, I was on my way. 
I was happy to not be there anymore and he did his job. 
In the end, the purchases were still a deal.

And as someone mentioned above, don't try and lowball the value. They have expert appraisers on retainer and they'll call them if they think you are lowballing. Now you have to wait for the expert to show up and appraise the item... And you'll pay taxes and duty on the appraised value and maybe a fine if they think you were really trying put one over on them. 

Best story I ever heard was from a guy that was bringing back some antique silverware and they doubted the value he was declaring. So they called their expert.... And the guy's cell phone rang and he answered it right in front of the customs agent. 
He tried to tell them but he couldn't get a word in. 

So the next thing one might ask is "What if I'm travelling with my guitar?" There's a form you can get to declare that you own the item. You do thus BEFORE you travel and you'll need to be able to provide proof of purchase. I don't hear too much about that form any more but it's still an option to cover your butt from any hassle coming back in. If nothing else it can save some time.


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## six-string (Oct 7, 2009)

okay here's a few things from personal experience.
under NAFTA there is no duty payable on guitars built in Canada, USA or Mexico that are imported between those countries.
if the guitar is made elsewhere (Japan, Korea, China, UK etc) then you may be charged duties when importing to Canada.
you can expect to pay GST and PST when bringing just about anything into Canada that is over your limit. 
the following is from Canada Customs website:
•24 hours or more, you can bring in CAN$50 worth of goods free of duty and tax; 
◦If the goods you bring in are worth more than CAN$50 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$400 worth of goods free of duty and tax;
•7 days or more, you can bring in CAN$750 worth of goods free of duty and tax.

definitely have your receipt ready to show the Customs agent if they ask for it, because they can impound your goods if you don't.
some agents are easy going and some are very strict. it is the luck of the draw.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

mhammer said:


> I know what you're thinking. "Does he _really_ enforce the law, or does he just act like he does?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But this being a customs officer, acting on behalf of one of the most powerful and lawyer-equipped agencies in the world, able to levy fines that would blow your savings account clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?


don't forget that they have the ultimate power...they can freely execute a body cavity search...ouch...


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

I've physically brought a couple of new guitars bought in the USA (and made in the USA) across the border and all I've ever paid was the taxes (GST/PST). No duty, no $5 processing fee... Now, this is me actually going to the USA, picking the instrument up, and driving it back across.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Powdered Toast Man said:


> Now, this is me actually going to the USA, picking the instrument up, and driving it back across.


Yes, that is exactly what I am going to do.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Thank you to everyone for all the info.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

dodgechargerfan said:


> I've found that honesty and a reasonable amount if respect gets me through every time.
> 
> Declare your purchase.
> Roll down your window and the back window so they can talk to rear passengers or see that there are no passengers back there.
> ...


I follow the same practice - remove my sunglasses before rolling up, remove my hat, have all the doors unlocked, etc. I've never been searched even once. I have a buddy who is a border guard at CBSA and I mentioned this to him and he told me that's probably why - because I show respect and I'm prepared.

The other tool the agents have to check your declared values is the internet. I actually had a lousy situation once where I never got an invoice emailed to me from the company I bought from. I thought a print out would probably be in the box when I picked it up (oftentimes there is a copy with the packing slip). I picked up the guitar from the parcel service and no, there was no copy of the invoice with it. So, there I was with no receipts and a new guitar I had to bring back. I just decided to play it straight with customs and I told them exactly what happened. The CBSA agent just sat there and looked up my guitar on Musician's Frend and pulled a price right off there. It ended up being higher than I actually paid (on sale) but there wasn't much I could do to argue it. Lesson learned.


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