GST charged by Canada Customs for US orders?

[sit.happens]

Hey everybody,

I've been vaping for about 2 years now. Haven't been on the forums for a while. But something came up that I thought I'd better post about to get some feedback.

My question is for Canadians that purchase their supplies through madvapes in the US. I've been using madvapes for close to 2 years, and ever since they offered the speedy FedEx option, I choose that as my shipping option.

All my previous purchases with the company have been a simple one bill transaction. My latest purchases from MadVapes went though perfectly with speedy delivery. But a few days later I received a bill from FedEx for $13.78 for GST levied by Canada Customs. Never had that before. Has anybody else received a bill like this?

I called FedEx, they told me that the GST bill was always in place and was nothing new. If thats the case, I wonder why did I not receive a bill from them in the past?

I also heard something along the lines that if a company doesn't have a retail location in your home province, GST cannot be collected. Unless the laws changed?

Anybody else in my situation? Received an extra bill from FedEx?

 

[Dusty_D]

Puts hand up. I've had that happen twice. Both times from MadVapes via FedEx going back maybe 6 months or so. And yes, it shows up like a month down the road.

 

[chagrin]

I haven't ordered from madvapes, but I believe everything coming into the country is taxable after a certain amount ($20 ?) and gifts are $60 I believe. Ebay and other sellers will sometimes mark the item as a gift and/or state a lower value on the customs form to avoid the fees.


GST/HST - Imported goods


Shorter explanation; Importing by Mail

 

[sit.happens]

Thanks for the links chagrin

Come to think of it, I did place a fairly large order.

Good thing I got some perspective before filling out the FedEx "Dispute Notification Form" That might of opened up a bigger can of worms.


I still think its a tax grab, but I think I'll just pay the $13 bucks.

I guess NAFTA doesn't apply to the little guy.

 

[Battlelance]

NAFTA only has an effect on DUTY charged on products manufactured in the U.S. or Canada, it has no impact on sales tax.

 

[martinc]

yeah,somehow if you go with UPS/FEDEX/PUROLATOR/ETC,you get broker fees and/or tax

 

[fourtytwo]

I don't really mind taxes that much. It's those broker fees that I hate. Some of the couriers charge less to the vendors for international parcels and then make it, and more, back by charging huge broker fees to the recipient. I now refuse to buy anything from the USA unless they can ship USPS.

 

[Battlelance]

Well, the major couriers charge you a brokerage fee to cover the cost of filing import documents - you know, typing your name, package description and contents and country of manufacture and faxing it somewhere. Oh wait, they don't type it - its automated. Well, the paper it was printed on was worth the brokerage fee... right?

Anyway, if you are getting a package sent by fedex or UPS, you can call them with the tracking number and tell them you're refusing brokerage service and will self clear. Simply head to your local CBSA (canada border services agency) with all the package details, including country of origin, contents and value of said contents and they will charge you any applicable duty/taxes and provide you with clearance documents, which you can then send to UPS. Its a pain in the ..., but it is WAY cheaper than paying the couriers.

Oh, and I should mention, fedex express shipping includes brokerage, so there are no additional charges. Purolator, when shipping to the U.S., includes brokerage fees in the shipping (which are pretty negligible compared to UPS). Also, when importing via Purolator, any package with a value under $200 CAD will have brokerage paid by purolator at no cost to you. I guess the bottom line is to avoid UPS like the plague.

 

[Toronto_Mike]

It happened to me, a couple of years ago. I called Fed-Ex and disputed it with customer service. I was stern that I was not going to pay their outrageous brokerage fee which was more than the declared price of the item. They told me that they would flag my address from any future shipments. Bunch of hogwash! I received other shipments without question.

Just recently, I got hit again, they've lowered their fees but out of spite, I'm ignoring the bill. We see what happens.

 

[wood]

This happened to me when I sent my ali'i in for repair . Not even a purchase . I already owned it and just neded it fixed and I was charged 13$ at my door

Sent from my Nexus S

 

[ChellyNelly]

As Martin said, anything but USPS tends to incur brokerage and taxes much more frequently. I stick to USPS and haven't had any issues in hundreds of packages *knock on wood!*

 

[Eileithia]

It all depends on who is listed as the importer of record. If the vendor/manufacturer lists them selves as the importer of record, they are charged any duties/taxes when the shipment is cleared. Most smaller companies will list YOU as the importer of record, in which case you end up assuming the cost of the duties/taxes.

On the GST/HST note, it shouldn't be charged unless they have a retail location in the province you live in. You could fight it, but for the small dollar amount, it usually isn't worth it.