[drutgat]

Hi,
My cousin in the UK has offered to give me a guitar which I have played, and really love (Elitist Casino), and I have a couple of questions about the likelihood of importing it, and any potential costs (other than shipping).
1. I think the guitar has a Rosewood fingerboard. As a 'controlled' (or is it banned now?) wood, is it possible to import, and if it is possible, would I pay an extra duty because of the Rosewood?

2. Would Canada Customs consider this to be the same as a sale, even though it is a gift? i.e., would they charge duty on me 'importing' the guitar? If so, is there any way of roughly estimating how much that duty would be?

3. Are there any other factors I should be taking into account in considering this?

Thanks for any replies.

 

[Latole]

Any item mailed to Canada may be subject to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and/or duty.

Importing by mail or courier - Paying duty and/or taxes on imported goods

Any item mailed to Canada may be subject to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and/or duty.

www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca

__

Estimate duty and taxes;
Estimate duty and taxes

No choice for musical instruments !

 

[Latole]

CUSTOMS TARIFF - SCHEDULE

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2013/01-99/ch92-2013-eng.pdf

 

[Derek_T]

Yes you’d have to pay sales taxes even if it’s a gift on top of that you might have additional duties based on trade agreement between UK and Canada.

If your cousin were to sell the guitar and send you the money as a gift though I think it would not be considered as taxable income and you would save on shipping. But of course being gifted a guitar is more meaningful than a bag of cash.

 

[knight_yyz]

Any gift over 20 CDN is taxable

 

[terminalvertigo]

Best move here IMO is to ship the guitar well, with a minimal declared value.. you might pay a bit, but also might slip through.

 

[ZeroGravity]

Yes you’d have to pay sales taxes even if it’s a gift on top of that you might have additional duties based on trade agreement between UK and Canada.

A point of clarification on duties, they are not based on the country where the item is being purchased or shipped from. They are based on the country of origin/manufacture. If the item is "Made in China" but shipped from the UK then it is subject to "Chinese" duties, not UK duties. This prevents high-tariff countries from getting around them by going through low-tariff ones.

 

[Derek_T]

A point of clarification on duties, they are not based on the country where the item is being purchased or shipped from. They are based on the country of origin/manufacture. If the item is "Made in China" but shipped from the UK then it is subject to "Chinese" duties, not UK duties. This prevents high-tariff countries from getting around them by going through low-tariff ones.

Agree, but people who bought Gibson from Japan sellers on Reverb reported paying an additional 5% import duty fees (on top of sales taxes) even though Gibson are manufactured in the US.

 

[tomee2]

Duties, taxes, broker fees... they're all different.

Rosewood can shipped, just dont mention Brazil

 

[ZeroGravity]

Agree, but people who bought Gibson from Japan sellers on Reverb reported paying an additional 5% import duty fees (on top of sales taxes) even though Gibson are manufactured in the US.

That sounds like someone pulling a fast one if tax/duties are collected as part of the checkout, someone charging fees and hiding it under "duties" or sloppy work by customs agents. I would see a case for requesting a refund.

 

[drutgat]

Any item mailed to Canada may be subject to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and/or duty.

Importing by mail or courier - Paying duty and/or taxes on imported goods

Any item mailed to Canada may be subject to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and/or duty.

www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca

__

Estimate duty and taxes;
Estimate duty and taxes

No choice for musical instruments !

Latole, many many thanks for this response, and the links.

I really appreciate it.

 

[drutgat]

Yes you’d have to pay sales taxes even if it’s a gift on top of that you might have additional duties based on trade agreement between UK and Canada.

If your cousin were to sell the guitar and send you the money as a gift though I think it would not be considered as taxable income and you would save on shipping. But of course being gifted a guitar is more meaningful than a bag of cash.

Thanks, Derek_T.

Good idea, but the as you say, the guitar is more meaningful than a bag of cash - it has sentimental value to me over its cash value (and it is a really nice guitar, too!).

 

[drutgat]

Thanks for your replies knight_yyz, terminalvertigo, ZeroGravity, and tomee2.