Fake sheepskin not included…
I’m taking the train (and bus) from Portland to the motherland and have been gaining bottles here and there along the way. I’ve never had to deal with Canada Customs with more than my generous 2-bottle duty-free limit, yet I’m fully aware of the possibility that I may have to pay 117% duty on the overage (plus other applicable taxes?). Part of me has a hard time believing that a person would impose those kinds of ridiculous fees on another human being. I’m surely not going to offer up any unprovoked information. I suppose we’ll see what happens, yet there’s a chance my haul might be a lot more hassle (and money) than it’s worth…
More to come.
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5 Responses:
April 27th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
I don’t want to be a stickler, but just for general knowledge I will indicate that it is an offence under the federal offence act not to declare goods crossing the border into Canada. Of course, one as a rational actor can make whatever decisions they feel are worth the risks. I am only the messenger.
The tax works such that you pay about 100% on the declared value of the goods. So if you had 8 bottles of wine, each of which was $10, you would declare 2 for free and then pay $60 + handling fee (I think around $5) for the rest.
Good luck.
April 27th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Thanks Shea,
It was interesting – I did declare the wine, as I forgot that you need to check off whether you exceed the limit on the customs form before hand and I obviously wouldn’t break the law by filling out a false declaration. The Customs officer asked me if I had anything to declare and I said…Yes, 3 liters of wine (above the 1.5 I’m allotted). He then asked me the next question quickly after I answered as though he didn’t hear me. Maybe it was 12:30AM and nobody felt like doing paperwork, or maybe not everyone pays duty and I happened to get a free pass? I’m not sure, but it was a great break for me.
April 28th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Nice, the officers have discretion so feel lucky that you had a nice one.
April 28th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Thanks Khristian. I’m on board with a new project in Gastown called l’Abattoir, which I’m really excited about. This likely wont open until July, so I’m going to have to keep busy in the coming months.