Canadian customs are thiefs!!!

[roninseb]

Here is a little rant that will hopefully warn other Canadians into being more careful and also taking action against those thief’s.

So here we go.

I ordered a new Kesa and a set of Samue from Japan a couple of weeks ago and it was shipped last Wednesday. The package got to my house yesterday. When the delivery guy came to my place surprise surprise!!!! He was asking for 122$ worth of taxes and duty. What the heck is this how can a package worth 300$ be taxed nearly half its price especially that those are just cotton made items and also the big fact that the box was never opened or inspected by the custom's agency so this shows how random they can be. I have received tons of packages over the years and usually the taxes are fair and make sense.

So I called one of my friends who is now retired and used to work for customs Canada and he started laughing telling me this was a classical case of what they call the Christmas rush. Most of the year they were slacking off either not asking for duties on packages or just underevaluating them and now before the end of they year they just fire at will so that they can meet their yearly targets. The main idea behind this is the fact that since this is around Christmas most people will not refuse the package and just pay up.

All I have to say to all of you is the following.

If possible ask your sender to put a very low value on the package or if you get billed for 122$ out of 300$ for cotton items just refuse the package. I was told that this makes a lot of administrative troubles for them so if lots of people do it then this might get them to just do their job properly.

[gendzwil]

$122 for $300 sounds like the standard duty rates for cotton. They are high to promote Canadian production of cotton clothing, although it's hard to get those materials and I doubt there'd be much money in it.

If you want to protest the evaluation, there is a process to do it and it does work if they've made a mistake (I've gotten refunds). In this case I think they've done it by the rules. They're not thieves, they're just enforcing the law.

Many of the budogu companies will declare the value low, maybe you need to switch suppliers.

[roninseb]

122$ for 300$ I still cannot think this makes sense for those types of goods. What I feel is the problem with the Canadian duty agency is that they are so random. I got a Shinken in that was valued at 1800$ and got taxed for 200$ so how come they will tax 122$ on 300$. Maybe they try to protect the Canadian industry to this I totally agree but this does not make sense when we all know that they should taxe the big importers and not individuals who are trying to buy what they cannot get in Canada.

[Shitoryu Dude]

Protectionism is bad for everyone, and you have a classic case of just how bad it can be.

I'd refuse the package and call the people you ordered from and explain to them that you were being jacked around and see what they could do about it.

[gendzwil]

122$ for 300$ I still cannot think this makes sense for those types of goods. What I feel is the problem with the Canadian duty agency is that they are so random. I got a Shinken in that was valued at 1800$ and got taxed for 200$ so how come they will tax 122$ on 300$. Maybe they try to protect the Canadian industry to this I totally agree but this does not make sense when we all know that they should taxe the big importers and not individuals who are trying to buy what they cannot get in Canada.

It's not random, although the customs guys do make mistakes. The duty rates are based on country of origin and types of goods. Some countries (eg NAFTA) get preferential rates, but you'll always get hit for the GST. Duties I presume are based on what we are protecting here.

If you want the gory details, google "Canada tariff" and you can download an 1800 page PDF.

Cotton apparel gets typically 17%, I note that swords are 7% (surprised to find they had a category). I can't figure out how either of your charges worked out given those numbers but then maybe I'm reading the tariff wrong or maybe there were preferential rates. Also you get dinged for brokerage fees depending on your carrier and those can be ridiculous, for example UPS ground typically charges $40, so it's possible to pay more in brokerage fees than the goods are worth.

[BC]

Canadian customs aren't the only ones who charge for imports. My parents are moving to Mexico next year, and we've already been told that we are not to send them any goods. If we want to give them physical gifts, we have to bring them with us when we visit, otherwise they will be charged a small fortune for anything they receive. And you should see how much it is going to cost them to move their own belongings with them!

[Shitoryu Dude]

Mexican Officials = corrupt

do they know who to bribe and how much?