Questions about Duty Free goods from Montana

[Cecil Terwilliger]

A buddy of mine is going to Montana for the weekend and I want some duty free Marlboros.

I have a few questions maybe you people could answer.

1) How much will a carton be at a duty free store in Montana? I paid ~$30USD when I bought smokes at Duty Free on the way back from Vegas. Similar price? Not afraid my friend is going to rip me off, I just want to give him enough $$.

2) Where are Duty Free shops? Right at the boarder? Just inside? At the nearest border town? If someone was going to Montana from Cgy, driving of course, where would be the best Duty Free shop to stop at on the way back?

3) Anything they need to do when declaring on the way back? Just tell the border guy they bought some duty free smokes?

4)What about alcohol? Is it worth getting some good Scotch, Bourbon, Vodka etc?

About the only thing I know is that it is 200 cigs per person and 1L of alcohol.

[Sliver]

*border

[Cecil Terwilliger]

*dick

[Temporary_User]

1) don't know the cost. The price should be comparable to other duty frees though
2) Typically they're just before you reach the border
3) Yep just tell the agent and possibly show receipts.
4) It is a 40 per person that has stayed over 24hrs. It is worth it.

[hockeycop]

One thing to note is that duty free does not really mean duty free. The way the DF system is set up, is you pick up Canadian products on the way out of Canada, and then it is DF on the way back. If you buy it on the US side, then it's the same as buying it at a US gas station. Still super cheap though.

Also, the most expensive thing you might pay is Alberta Health Tax (Sin Taxes). I know it is about $10 per can of chew... Would imagine it is similar for a pack of smokes. If you cross back into another province, then they can not charge you the Health Tax. There is no exemption for Health Taxes, but they likely wont charge you if within your duty exemption.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by hockeycop

One thing to note is that duty free does not really mean duty free. The way the DF system is set up, is you pick up Canadian products on the way out of Canada, and then it is DF on the way back. If you buy it on the US side, then it's the same as buying it at a US gas station. Still super cheap though.

Also, the most expensive thing you might pay is Alberta Health Tax (Sin Taxes). I know it is about $10 per can of chew... Would imagine it is similar for a pack of smokes. If you cross back into another province, then they can not charge you the Health Tax. There is no exemption for Health Taxes, but they likely wont charge you if within your duty exemption.

Im confused on this part. $10 tax on a can of chew? That would be like twice as much tax as the price you bought it for in the states. $10 per carton, or whatever chew is sold in, would make sense.

Is this a mandatory tax? Ive never paid it when flying back into alberta.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

2) Where are Duty Free shops? Right at the boarder? Just inside? At the nearest border town? If someone was going to Montana from Cgy, driving of course, where would be the best Duty Free shop to stop at?

3) Anything they need to do when declaring on the way back? Just tell the boarder guy they bought some duty free smokes?

4)What about alcohol? Is it worth getting some good Scotch, Bourbon, Vodka etc?

2) I assume he's coming up via Great Falls. In that case he'll be on highway 15. If he follows that north all the way to the border, there is a duty free right at the border crossing. I just drove that way this summer. If I'm not mistaken he'll have to go into the duty free store before he drives to the crossing point where you answer questions from the guards.

3) You declare your purchased items right at the point of crossing. I don't know what the exemption limits are, so it's best he ask the clerk at the duty free as they'll surely know how much he can take.

4) They have all of the spirits you listed. I'm not very familiar with Canadian liquor prices, but my impression is that they're higher than US prices. As compared to US prices, I've not found the duty free much cheaper, if any, for things like scotch and vodka. People often tell me that cigs at duty free are consistently and significantly cheaper than US prices; I wouldn't know as I don't smoke.

[hockeycop]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Im confused on this part. $10 tax on a can of chew? That would be like twice as much tax as the price you bought it for in the states. $10 per carton, or whatever chew is sold in, would make sense.

Is this a mandatory tax? Ive never paid it when flying back into alberta.

Yup, somewhere around $10 per can. That's how the cans in Canada come to cost $22 now.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by hockeycop

Yup, somewhere around $10 per can. That's how the cans in Canada come to cost $22 now.

Oh ok. Didn't know cans of chew were that much.

[DemolitionCat]

Duty free??! Huge scam. There's nothing you can buy at a duty free shop that you can't get at the equivalent shop someplace else except for whining about state sales tax. Why not just quit smoking unless you love cancer?

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by DemolitionCat

Duty free??! Huge scam. There's nothing you can buy at a duty free shop that you can't get at the equivalent shop someplace else except for whining about state sales tax. Why not just quit smoking unless you love cancer?

Except a carton of smokes is $90CDN in Cgy and about $30USD from duty free.

And yes, I do love cancer, especially when its only $3 per pack.

[Temporary_User]

I want cancer and I want it on the cheap god dammit!

[Byrns]

A friend of mine used to get Indian Reserve cigarettes in Chinatown for cheap... (this was in Edmonton though).

[blankall]

Buying booze is definitely worth it at duty free. I would take the opportunity to buy an expensive bottle of booze for $50 at duty free. That same bottle will cost you anywhere from $80 to $150 in a liquer store here.

If you just want to get drunk you can get a 40 for about $12-$15 depending on brand. I recommend bourbon. As that is still quite expensive here, but will be dirt cheap at a duty free store. Plus it tastes great.

[anyonebutedmonton]

Buy some booze, it is more than worth it.

Funny story, I went to whitefish for my bachelor party and after four nights of heavy drinking most of the boys were way to hung over to buy booze on the way home. So I took their allotment and picked up a few 40's and a 24 pack of beer. A week later they wished they had stocked up a bit.

I bought a 40 of absolute for $17 and I think the gin was something like 18 or 19. Definitely buy liquor as opposed to beer as the markup is way higher on it here.

[Temporary_User]

Originally Posted by anyonebutedmonton

Funny story, I went to whitefish for my bachelor party and after four nights of heavy drinking most of the boys were way to hung over to buy booze on the way home. So I took their allotment and picked up a few 40's and a 24 pack of beer. A week later they wished they had stocked up a bit.

I bought a 40 of absolute for $17 and I think the gin was something like 18 or 19. Definitely buy liquor as opposed to beer as the markup is way higher on it here.

Jokes on you man, you're the one that ended up married.

[anyonebutedmonton]

Originally Posted by Temporary_User

Jokes on you man, you're the one that ended up married.

Touche!

[algernon]

I'm so mad I didn't bring any alcohol back from the states. There were 6 of us too and no one else used up there available amounts. I could have brought 6 cartons of smokes and 6L of booze. I only brought one carton of Marlboro lights.