[sdiy] Shipping PCB's overseas -- Canada

[Colin Hinz]

On Thu, 22 Jan 2004, greg montalbano wrote:

> At 09:31 PM 1/21/04 -0700, Doug wrote:
> >Hi Charlie,
> >
> >Shipping to Canada is best done by regular post (USPS).
> >
> >Take care,
> >Doug
> >______________________
> >The Electronic Peasant
>
> Yes, it is -- but be aware that putting an insured value on a USPS package
> going into Canada will make the receiver liable for a customs charge -- I
> sent some repaired P600 circuit boards to Canada, insured for several
> hundred, and the recipient was charged $90 customs fee.

The thing is, everything coming into Canada is subject to a "Goods and
Services Tax" (GST, similar to VAT). This is imposed at the federal
level, and there are provincial taxes heaped upon that. Here in Ontario
the total damage is 15%.

Thus, when returning repair goods to Canada, it would be a good
idea to include an invoice which includes the amount charged for
the repair, as well as a phrase like "goods shipped from Canada
for repair and return". Thus, the owner will still have to pay the
tax, but only on your invoiced amount. (And if the owner still gets
invoiced for the total, he/she can send the paperwork to the tax
collectors for a refund on the excess charged -- I've had to do
this because after all customs inspectors can't be expected to
actually READ all the paperwork, but I eventually did get a
refund cheque.)

There's a $20 minimum value for tax charged, though I think it's
an unofficial figure -- I've never seen it published anywhere in
a government document. At any rate, I sure envy our neighbours to
the south, who can apparently import anything up to US$400 without
having to deal with any of this silliness.

- Colin Hinz
  Toronto, Canada