Quote:
Originally Posted by lazypucker
So if I purchase a luxury watch on an oversea trip I will only be charged 5% + 5% when I bring it back to Canada?
That will be a very good deal if I were to get a watch in duty free shops or in Europe where they will refund you the VAT.
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I'm not sure if certain duty free items from an airport in Europe will actually have even more favorable tax rates due to trade agreements with those countries and Canada. If you buy something duty free, you have to declare it, but when asked to pay, ask if there's a difference in rate if purchased in a duty free store vs a random store in the specific country.
I don't know about now, but I recall getting a very annoyed and snarky remark from a CBSA agent about how I wasted his time by declaring a duty free good acquired from CUSMA countries. One look at the duty free bag and a response of "yes" from a question of, "That's what you declared?" and he told me to go through and not waste his time.
People lying on duty declarations... the risk isn't even worth it.
Oddly enough, the last time I was so ready to declare duties on our way back into Canada and pay what was fair for duties and taxes... somehow there was no question about it. Typically our entire family returns to Canada with like $100-200 in souvenirs and other random things and never exceed the limit.
Also, if you leave Canada with a luxury watch and you don't have the receipt on you at all times/can't easily look it up, definitely consider registering it via the identification service at the CBSA office (free). It'll save a bunch of time and headache if you have a specific good that the CBSA officers love inquiring about.