Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 7:26 am Posts: 159 Location: MB, Canada
I'm visiting Tuscon for the first time and I didn't really plan ahead. I ended up buying a few thousand dollars worth of stones and didn't think about what would happen when I bring them back to Canada. I checked using an online duty calculator and I'm going to get bent over by taxes. If I'm not mistaken I'm allowed to bring in $800/per person before duty then will be subject to 12% tax. Not much I can do about it now, I'm just going to have to suck it up and pay the taxes. The question I have is whether or not they're going to give me heat about claiming they're personal use and not business use. Currently I've sold a few stones through a local jeweler and given some away as gifts. I don't have a registered business name or even a website but eventually I will at some point in the future. Can someone with experience in bringing stones into Canada share their experiences?
Canadian customs are the worst (oops I mean BEST!) in the world. Nothing gets by them.
Very true. The only stone I have ever had get lost in the mail was one sent to Canada. It got as far as the Canadian Customes and then didn't get by them. I suspect one of them took it home.
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 7:26 am Posts: 159 Location: MB, Canada
So I'm back in Canada and I thought I'd share my experiences for any other Canadians about to come back from Tuscon.
Standing in line before going through Canadian customs I was nervous about customs officer giving me a hard time about a) the amount of raw materials I purchased being used for a small business and b) not having much in the way of receipts or proof of the purchase/value for many of my goods from the Tuscon show. I had been mostly honest on my declaration sheet. I didn't declare everything but I did declare way above the tax free limit. So I was surprised at how the customs officer didn't care at all. She basically waved us through like a third base coach waving a runner in to home plate. I'd like to think it's because it was a female CO and I'm just that charming. But it is more likely due to the plane landing at 1:00am and we were near the end of the pack of the two full planes that were being processed and everyone just wanted to get out of there. I suppose the few hundred I owed in taxes wasn't worth the paper work at 2:00am.
Good luck to my fellow Canadians coming home from Tuscon!
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