Custom Charges On Safety Equipment?

[Over-Talk]

Contact http://www.flightsuits.com/ their invoice and packing label have some sort of "Safety Product" stamp on them that lists which part of NAFTA the helmet is covered by.

You may be able to use this info to claim a refund from the Govt.

If you find out, please post it here.

[cap]

When having any article sent from the States marked as a "Gift", one has done themselves a disservice because they have not DECLARED A VALUE for that "Gift" and that leaves it up to Customs & Immigration and/or the Customs Broker to declare a value on it themselves. This you do not want them to do for the obvious reasons, so make particularly sure that the person sending it declares a VALUE. When doing so they may 'fudge' that value, but they shouldn't get too ridiculous in their declaration on paper. Also ensure that any official receipts or documentation concerning same from the seller is not enclosed with the 'gift'. Have that sent to you by mail and the item sent being the ONLY item enclosed in a box or wrapped or whatever.

 

So have anything sent to you from a the US marked as a 'Gift', but don't forget that value declaration. I've had all manner of items sent to me for over 4 decades by American relatives, including a mother who retired there and have had no problem to date. Once you declare that value, then they have to argue the point by mail if they don't agree and they ain't inclined to do so unless they are 100% sure and they got 'bigger eggs to fry' than something like a helmet.

[212wrench]

This is the continuing story of Revenue Canada compensating for the lose of revenues by NAFTA by finding other ways to make it up. The fines for trying to beat the system are considerable for the same reason they need to make money that they lost by the elimination of duties.

[Guest sharky]

Here's a helpful link....

 

(I don't agree with it, I'm just posting it, is all :down: )

 

Importing Non-Commercial Goods by Mail

 

You don’t have to pay duties and taxes if your mail item is:

 

a gift worth $60 or less; or

worth $20 or less.

Mail items that are gifts worth $60 or less

 

A gift sent by a friend or family member abroad to a person in Canada is exempt from duties and taxes as long as the gift is worth $60 or less. Alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and advertising material do not qualify for the gift exemption.

 

The declaration should clearly identify the goods as a gift and should include a gift card or tag to avoid any misunderstanding. For gifts worth more than $60, you have to pay duties and taxes on the amount over the $60 exemption.

 

For example, if you receive a gift from overseas worth $100, only $60 of the gift's value qualifies for the gift exemption. You will have to pay duties and taxes on the remaining portion of the value, in this case $40.

[SonOfStan]

In the past I have gotten around paying Duty buy getting the sender to mark the package as a warranty return item. Not all retailers are cool with this but is worth asking to save a lot of hassle.

 

Good Luck.

[cap]

I may have contributed to fostering a misunderstanding on this subject and I believe I should clarify just in case I'm correct.

 

1) You do in fact pay taxes on any item over $60. The value that is put on that imported helmet would not be $60 or less because you aren't dealing with people that are completely unknowledgeable or stupid. That helmet can 'acquire' a value of $1250 though, when in fact the true value might be $2000 for example. Point being that you are are generating undue attention by declaring such a value because you are not dealing with 'aviation helmet experts' and there are a wide range of values amongst helmets. Chances of that being interdicted are slim to none because in their eyes that value approximates reality in their eyes and warrants no further attention.

 

2) IF you have your article impounded because of a wrong declaration of value, you WILL NOT be subject to any fine whatsoever. At that point you simply declare the actual value from either end and produce proof of same simply stating that an honest mistake was made.....end of story.

Having such an event happen does not put you on some Homeland Security Watch List nor do they then consider you as being in the same class as some drug smuggler.

[Zach]

The last time I brought a helicopter helmet accross the US border into Canada (BC specifically) I was dinged GST and PST.

 

I finally found an official publication that says that PST does not apply to personal safety equipment. Apparently GST still applies.

 

http://worksafebc.com/news_room/news_relea.../ppe_exempt.pdf

[Cole]

Let me throw you a hypothetical, if you already own the helmet and send it to be repaired in the states it will not be charged a duty either way. So if the helmet that has been repaired or upgraded with say the avionics package at no cost... well, 0.00x0.13 is still 0.00

 

So if you owned the helmet when it went into the country, from say, france, and it was repaired cost free in the states then you would not pay any duty done on the free repair in the states.