Avoiding Sales Tax in Canada

The only problem with buying the computer in the states is, 1) you'll pay for local sales tax, and then 2) you will be hit with GST and PST on your way back across the border. It's going to be pretty difficult to avoid that, especially if you are traveling by air.

polysicks said:

I've been waiting for the BTS deal to get a new MBP assuming I could sell the printer and Ipod and save some money.


Having just done the math it's depressing. If I get the base MBP+iWork+$99 Printer+8G Touch it will come out to $1527 before tax. $1756 with tax.

If I get just the base MBP and iWork it'll be $1210 w/out tax and $1391 w/tax.

Assuming, conservatively, I can sell the printer for $70 and Touch for $180 I would have been better off not getting them at all, as it'd only knock the price down to ~$1500.

I don't imagine reputable/reliable resellers are willing to declare shipments as gifts to avoid duty fees.

I'm in Nova Scotia, not sure sales tax status in Maine or New Hampshire but I've been considering taking a trip through those parts this summer. I'll be in San Diego in November, but not sure I'm interested in waiting that long.

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It's possible I missed it, but you also get the money back from apple for the ipod and the touch. I can see how the tax is a bit higher, but where is all the rest of the extra cost coming from? You get $250 back from selling them, plus the $100 printer rebate and the cost of the ipod from Apple.

mistashizzle said:

It's possible I missed it, but you also get the money back from apple for the ipod and the touch. I can see how the tax is a bit higher, but where is all the rest of the extra cost coming from? You get $250 back from selling them, plus the $100 printer rebate and the cost of the ipod from Apple.

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+1
you'll buy everything at once and then they'll send you the rebates for the ipod and the printer (total $300) later
so even if you sell those for $250, you'll make $250 (or it will lower the cost of your macbook pro by $250)

Here's a tale from 2007, when I still lived in Toronto:

It was time to upgrade from my iBook to a shiny new MacBook. At the time, the Canadian dollar was actually worth a few cents more than the US dollar. I drove down to Buffalo, NY to visit some relatives, and decided to buy my MacBook while I was there. As much as it killed me to do so, I tossed the box and packaging into a dumpster, stuck the booklet and accessories deep into the trunk, and put the new MacBook into the empty laptop bag that I brought with me.

At the border, they asked the reason for my visit, and I told them I was visiting relatives in the Buffalo area (which was true). They told me to have a nice day, and that was it.

I figured that I saved around $300 due to the difference in price between Canada and the US, the favorable exchange rate, and the amount that I saved on the sales tax.

Perhaps my tale will be helpful to you....

Surely said:

Here's a tale from 2007, when I still lived in Toronto:

It was time to upgrade from my iBook to a shiny new MacBook. At the time, the Canadian dollar was actually worth a few cents more than the US dollar. I drove down to Buffalo, NY to visit some relatives, and decided to buy my MacBook while I was there. As much as it killed me to do so, I tossed the box and packaging into a dumpster, stuck the booklet and accessories deep into the trunk, and put the new MacBook into the empty laptop bag that I brought with me.

At the border, they asked the reason for my visit, and I told them I was visiting relatives in the Buffalo area (which was true). They told me to have a nice day, and that was it.

I figured that I saved around $300 due to the difference in price between Canada and the US, the favorable exchange rate, and the amount that I saved on the sales tax.

Perhaps my tale will be helpful to you....

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Of course you do realize that's illegal… right?

jW

Mal said:

Of course you do realize that's illegal… right?

jW

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Meh.

Sue me in the World Court.

polysicks said:

I'm in Nova Scotia, not sure sales tax status in Maine or New Hampshire but I've been considering taking a trip through those parts this summer.

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New Hampshire has no sales tax. Just stop by a place like Systems Plus computers in Hanover or Lebanon (you've always wanted to see Dartmouth College, right?) and pick up your computer. Ditch the box before driving back across the border.

Surely said:

Meh.

Sue me in the World Court.

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More to the point, if you get CAUGHT doing this, best case you end up paying the taxes anyway, worst case can involve fines, jail time, and confiscation of the vehicle used to "smuggle goods across the border". Plus you get red-flagged in the system and get hassled every time you cross the border in the future.

I haven't personally experienced any of this, but there are threads at RedFlagDeals.com with thousands of posts including some from border crossing employees who will tell you they've seen it all. Don't think the "throw away the box" trick is new to them.

Risk it if you like, enjoy it if you make it through, but to me the savings of a few bucks in taxes isn't worth the risk.

Now, if you want a legitimate way to "likely" beat the taxes, get yourself on a weekend coach bus tour. My dad went on a guided tour to NYC some years ago and bought an expensive camera from B&H. We're talking $2500 USD. He declared its value truthfully, on the little card, but I guess they either averaged it out with the dozens of other people on the tour bus who spent way below the exemption limits, or decided it wasn't worth the hassle to stop an entire tour bus to make one guy pay taxes... they waved the bus through without a hassle.

Never got "caught", never had a problem during the 2-3x/year we went over a 20-30 year period.

So.... meh.