Canadian Import Advice Help - Tax was 200%!

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elvishrunes

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 19, 2017
278
500
I found this info. I wonder if this applies also to US Citizens. I would not mind bringing a tin along the next time I visit the Maritimes. I will be careful however, as my brother and I spent around 2.5 hours at customs and border patrol driving into NB once after making a joke about having an avocado in the vehicle, which was then set aside and completely unpacked, cleared and searched while we both sat in separate rooms...Nice fellows, but not to be messed with. It seems like staying under 200 grams will go a long way. Do First Nations get any sort of break on traditional use grounds?

Stamped Tobacco Products – Personal exemption amounts​

If you wish to import cigarettes, manufactured tobacco and tobacco sticks duty free as part of your personal exemption, the packages must be stamped "duty paid Canada droit acquitté". You will find tobacco products sold at duty-free stores marked this way.

If you have been away from Canada for 48 hours or more, you may import all of the following amounts of cigars and stamped tobacco into Canada free of duty and taxes.

ProductAmount
Cigarettes200 cigarettes
Cigars50 cigars
Tobacco200 grams (7 ounces) of manufactured tobacco
Tobacco sticks200 tobacco sticks
Yes just come with 4 or less tins no worries, you’re not high on their list of targets, lol. I’m surprised you were searched that is pretty rare,,, Even more tins would be ok if you declared, but I woulndt bother unless you needed the smoke.
 

BayouGhost

Lurker
Apr 10, 2024
35
176
PA, USA
Yes just come with 4 or less tins no worries, you’re not high on their list of targets, lol. I’m surprised you were searched that is pretty rare,,, Even more tins would be ok if you declared, but I woulndt bother unless you needed the smoke.
This was right after 9-11 and we were two dudes with beards crossing at St. John with no hotel reservation or itinerary. Things have lightened up significantly since. It was a great trip up to PEI and NS with some excellent trout fishing along the Cabot Trail. We even got lost and accidentally ended up crossing the causeway to Oak Island. I keep that part of the world as secret as I can because it is one of my favorite places.
 

elvishrunes

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 19, 2017
278
500
This was right after 9-11 and we were two dudes with beards crossing at St. John with no hotel reservation or itinerary. Things have lightened up significantly since. It was a great trip up to PEI and NS with some excellent trout fishing along the Cabot Trail. We even got lost and accidentally ended up crossing the causeway to Oak Island. I keep that part of the world as secret as I can because it is one of my favorite places.
Sounds nice…. Yes I’m a fisherman too, they‘d be brook trout there, a really pretty tasty fish.
 

Pipeoff

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 22, 2021
869
1,499
Western New York
If you are healthy, government-controlled healthcare is great.

As with anything else, there is no free lunch. Somebody pays. In a private system, the insurance companies take a big cut of it. In a government system, the politics, inefficiencies, graft and corruption take a big cut.

But ask yourself this: If government healthcare is so great, wouldn’t we be better off if they also controlled housing, energy, the food supply, weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs and cat clinics?
 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,055
14,684
The Arm of Orion
Socialized med care has never worked in any country. Long wait for appointments, can’t pick quality Dr. Every hypochondriac and his grandmother gets in line. Only folks with big bucks can get around the system !
Sometimes not even them. I know of two rich people who couldn't get surgery the one, and the other who was mistreated during her emergency.

Socialised medicare Suxialised deathcare doesn't work, unless the purpose is to kill people, which it does stupendously.
 
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Pipeoff

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 22, 2021
869
1,499
Western New York
Back on subject: Recently made a swap of tobac from US to Canada. I wanted to do it according to customs rules. Called CDN customs to see if the 200gm limit applied to person to person from US. After a long wait a recording that sounded like a person from China required that I pick out a letter to redirect, no luck. The US customs declaration form requires everything but blood type. The CDN part of the trade advised to send in a soft pack list hobby supplies, low value and gift. Both packs made it through, maybe just luck or Customs just like to fondle soft packs. I have always considered pipe smoking my hobby.
 
Apr 6, 2024
24
35
31
Marchand, Manitoba, Canada
Am I to understand that it is harder for person to send tobacco from the states to me that it is for me to receive it?
Back on subject: Recently made a swap of tobac from US to Canada. I wanted to do it according to customs rules. Called CDN customs to see if the 200gm limit applied to person to person from US. After a long wait a recording that sounded like a person from China required that I pick out a letter to redirect, no luck. The US customs declaration form requires everything but blood type. The CDN part of the trade advised to send in a soft pack list hobby supplies, low value and gift. Both packs made it through, maybe just luck or Customs just like to fondle soft packs. I have always considered pipe smoking my hobby.
 

Pip'n'Piper

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 4, 2022
104
1,181
Complainin

Complaining about the symptoms and not seeking to identify the cause is dysfunctional.
Whose complaining? How are you a symptom of my vote? Dysfunctional is watching a Jordan Peterson video and assuming you know all aspects of another countries politics and then telling people from that country their dysfunctional for how they vote… on a pipe tobacco forum. Really appreciate the ignore feature on this website.
 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,821
16,298
SE PA USA
Whose complaining? How are you a symptom of my vote? Dysfunctional is watching a Jordan Peterson video and assuming you know all aspects of another countries politics and then telling people from that country their dysfunctional for how they vote… on a pipe tobacco forum. Really appreciate the ignore feature on this website.
Cognitive Disonance is so entertaining.
 

BayouGhost

Lurker
Apr 10, 2024
35
176
PA, USA
Listening to people on my side of the line criticize our Canadian cousins for the politics of their government makes me cringe every time. While people have a right to voice their opinion, the broken record episode gets old after a while. There always has to be one or two people passive aggressively teaching some sort of "lesson" in a way that does not at all respond to the original post or question making the rest of us from down here seem like jerks. Do what you want, but it just does not seem tactful or constructive (to me). You are free to disagree entirely. That is just my opinion. I personally am interested in this post because I do travel to Canada frequently and wanted to know the ins-and outs of bringing in tobacco. Otherwise, there would be no reason for me to hover around and troll people unless I was very bored.
 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,821
16,298
SE PA USA
Listening to people on my side of the line criticize our Canadian cousins for the politics of their government makes me cringe every time. While people have a right to voice their opinion, the broken record episode gets old after a while. There always has to be one or two people passive aggressively teaching some sort of "lesson" in a way that does not at all respond to the original post or question making the rest of us from down here seem like jerks. Do what you want, but it just does not seem tactful or constructive (to me). You are free to disagree entirely. That is just my opinion. I personally am interested in this post because I do travel to Canada frequently and wanted to know the ins-and outs of bringing in tobacco. Otherwise, there would be no reason for me to hover around and troll people unless I was very bored.
Disfunction is endemic to all political systems. I was clear about that. And to complain about that disfunction without examining the cause is just an exercise in futility, no matter where you live. A political border is not a barrier to political discussion. If it was, Canadians would keep their complaints to themselves, and vis a versa. That ain’t gonna happen, nor should it.
 

sparker69

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 25, 2022
648
2,803
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Just posting my answer to @StPatrickPiper : (the calculation for online purchasing of tobacco from Canada)(Oh - and I haven't posted the duty for cigars - which is MUCH higher - but CBSA can give you that as well).

This is the calculation, but you're going to have to call CBSA to get the precisions for Manitoba.
Column 6 is the duty, for Quebec, calculated at $9.90/50g. Column 8 is the GST at 5% (on the cost - calculate the cost on your bill - in Canadian funds, not including the shipping). The BIG piece/main culprit - the PST - Provincial Sales Tax - for Quebec is $0.23/g. The handling fee is $9.95 - so ordering more can be advantageous (within limits unless you have an very deep wallet) because this fee does not change.

It's the provincial tax and not the federal the takes the big piece of the pie. The GST, calculated on the cost and not quantity is peanuts. You pay the bill and if your E14 form doesn't match the calculations - contest it with the detailed calculations and you will get a refund of the overcharge. You can even call CBSA to confirm before you send your stuff - the bill, with the form on the envelope.

Two orders ago, I got charged close to $50 over - because my shipment passed through Ontario - which has a much higher provincial sales tax on tobacco than Quebec. I contested the amount with my bill, the E14 form attached to the envelope and a detailed calculation that I included. It took three or four months - it doesn't move that fast - but the money came back.

You should never pay more than what you'd pay in your home province. At the worst, you're going to pay the same as you'd pay at your local brick & mortar. If you're upset about that, let your province know. The federal has nothing to do with it. It's provinces who have the monopoly on tobacco and alcohol - they're the ones taking the big piece of the pie.

Hope this helps.

Shawn.
(I'll post this for the whole group since a couple people asked).