Quote:
Originally Posted by cwatkins
It's been un-official for years. We've been bringing back stuff over the border for 2 or 3 years and usually the limit is around $200 per person for under 24 hrs.
I.E. If I buy a $550 home theatre equipment and bring it back, as long as there was 3 people in the car, no taxes, no duty. Just a thank you, have a nice day.
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Each border crossing has its own "declared overage" level dependant on a number of factors including staffing levels, traffic and other operational considerations. In other words, if you declare within a certain amount above the amount you are able to bring back duty free, the CBSA inspector will still waive you through. This is due to the fact that it simply isn't viable to collect small amounts of taxes when you've got a serious backlog of people waiting to cross the border. Policy wise, it encourages people to make honest declarations. There is actually no hard and fast number - only a guideline - because the individual CBSA inspector you deal with retains the discretion to impose duties/taxes or conduct a secondary search for any other reason under the Customs Act such as non-declaration of goods or immigration concerns.
For Peace Arch/Douglas and Pac Hwy/Truck the amount is usually around $200 per person. So even if you only hop across to pick up a package, you aren't legally entitled to any amount duty free (since you have to be away for a minimum of 24 hrs), but you'll still get through if you declare under $200. If there's a staffing shortage and a huge border wait, you may be able to get away with up to $300 or more of declared overage. Smaller crossings like Pt. Roberts generally have much lower declared overage amounts.