Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Could This Be For Real!?
- Thread starter MaCamZa
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Err... Thanks? But im just gonna buy it from Apple Store in the UK to save all the hassle.
Probably the smartest thing to do!
If you bought it from Canada,
This is basically what your totals (and hassle scenario) would look like:
iPhone 4 16gb, CAD $659
Ontario Sales Tax of 13% inclusive: CAD 744.67
Thus, for CAD 744.67, your friend will have the iPhone 4 in his hands to bring back to the UK for you.
Since, he is leaving the country and does not intend to bring the item back, he can apply for a refund of the GST/HST upon departure:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/gst-tps/rbts/vstrs/frms-eng.html
After completing the paperwork, he will get a refund of CAD 85.67
Now your friend boards the plane to LHR, and gets in to the UK. Lawfully, he should declare that he is bringing in a good of value greater than the free exemption, which he plans on leaving back in the UK. The free allowance is around 300 pounds (484.331 CAD).
He will have to pay VAT on the difference between the value of the good and free allowance:
659 CAD = 408.192 GBP
408.192 GBP - 300 GBP (free allowance) = 108.192 GBP
108.192 GBP * 17.5% VAT = 18.9336 GBP
So net cost of the phone (assuming your Canadian GST/HST refund application is accepted) would be 408.192 GBP + 18.9336 GB = 428.1256 GBP ~ 428.13 GBP
Cost of iPhone 4 16GB at the UK Apple Store 499 GBP incl. VAT
Net savings = 499.00 GBP - 428.13 GBP = 70.87 GBP
The value of the time, hassle, and inconvenience that could potentially be caused by undertaking this process = priceless
Hence the earlier advice from several, just get it from the UK.
Wow, way to scare a person who was trying to save some money. I'd like to see any Custom Duty Officer trying to charge VAT to a Canadian citizen bringing an iPhone into the country. How can they prove that you are leaving it behind? And the perfect explanation for a brand new boxed iPhone would be "I bought it on the way to the airport for my personal use and will activate it once I get to iTunes". If your relative takes it out of the box then it will be even easier. No-one ever stops you to check your phone and to see whether it was activated or not. I travel with all sorts of electrical goods and even brought a brand new boxed iPad into the UK and they never asked a single question. And I have been stopped before for a spot check and they never asked me where I bought my laptop, camera, iPhone, Blackberry etc.
You could be unlucky if you are British returning back to Britain with purchased unboxed goods but if you are a Canadian citizen, I don't see how they can even begin to try and charge you VAT. It's just not worth the hassle for them.
You could be unlucky if you are British returning back to Britain with purchased unboxed goods but if you are a Canadian citizen, I don't see how they can even begin to try and charge you VAT. It's just not worth the hassle for them.
Not disagreeing with you here, but if this is the case, why haven't we seen a "full unlock" of US AT&T locked iPhones, I mean you can do a software unlock via jailbreak, but why hasn't anyone figured out how to do the same kind of unlock in the US that carriers like Vodaphone (as per an earlier post) are doing in other countries. There must be some manufacturing difference for this, right?
Nopes. When the iPhone is officially unlocked the UUID of the phone is registered as unlocked at Apple servers. When you activate the phone in iTunes your phones UUID is sent to Apple, compared with a list of unlocked phones on their servers, and if there is a match, bingo! Your phone is unlocked.
All AT&T has do do, and does, is never allow Apple to add an UUID belonging to a phone sold by AT&T to the list of unlocked phones.
Yeah, after making my post I did some reading up on how the locking system works. It's a "simple" yet deviously secure system, if only there was a way to "sneak" the IMEI # onto Apple's unlock list.... I know there isn't, but we can have our wishful thoughts, right?
You do know the Apple stores here in Canada still have line ups... how will he be getting you this phone? it takes 3-4 weeks if he gets it off the web site, so if he's leaving in a month you should be good. I just got my iPhone 4 in the mail now and I've wanted one since it came out.