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how much tax do americans pay to import from canada?

post #1 of 6
8/1/06 at 11:50pm
Thread Starter 
hi, i am in negotiation for a pair of headphones that will ship from Canada to me in the US, assuming they are declared for full value (say $400) how much do i pay in tax when they are delivered USPS express? do i pay the mailman directly?
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post #2 of 6
8/2/06 at 4:52am
As long as the goods are mfd. in the US or Canada up to $1200 (me thinks) you pay $0. Just ask the seller to mark "mfd. in USA" under country or origin (thank free trade). On the flipside, Canadians pay duty fees and tax on anything over $20....consider yourself lucky.
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post #3 of 6
8/2/06 at 9:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by vinyl addict
As long as the goods are mfd. in the US or Canada up to $1200 (me thinks) you pay $0. Just ask the seller to mark "mfd. in USA" under country or origin (thank free trade). On the flipside, Canadians pay duty fees and tax on anything over $20....consider yourself lucky.
Really??? I never knew about the whole "mfd. in USA/Canada" thing... Seems like NAFTA works 1 way or something...
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post #4 of 6
2/20/11 at 8:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by vinyl addict View Post

As long as the goods are mfd. in the US or Canada up to $1200 (me thinks) you pay $0. Just ask the seller to mark "mfd. in USA" under country or origin (thank free trade). On the flipside, Canadians pay duty fees and tax on anything over $20....consider yourself lucky.


 

I know I'm bumping an old thread but is this true? (up to $1200, pay $0)

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post #5 of 6
2/20/11 at 9:00pm

Ebay has a guide for shipping goods between the U.S. and Canada although I couldn't say if it's up-to-date.

 

Since the U.S. doesn't have a VAT or a federal GST, there's no real expense other than the postage for shipping things into the U.S. If the value of the merchandise is under a defined limit (which is declared by the sender at the point of shipping), there is no duty charged. Check the link above for a breakdown of what passes under the duty-free threshold, because it varies depending on what's being shipped. The uppermost dollar value is $200 (and nowhere near $1,200, if the link above is correct), but in most cases you are more or less on the honor system regarding the actual value since the inspectors are not going to open most personal parcels.

 

When you're transporting goods into the US yourself (on your person or in your luggage), the duty-free threshold can be $800 or $1,600, but again there are conditions and exceptions. The U.S. government has a decent summary page about what qualifies as duty-free.

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post #6 of 6
2/20/11 at 10:26pm

How many times has any one had to pay duties on anything shipped (to and from the US and Canada)?  I've only been hit once, and if I remember correctly it was on something that was exempted from duties.  It was only a few dollars so I didn't feel like raising a dispute.

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