| Lintan |
Pravus wrote:For Canadians getting hit with duty, Contact your MP and complain! That $20 exemption is the lowest of all the G20 nations and hasn't changed since the 90's. For comparison the reverse, an American buying from Canada, they have a $800 exemption at the border.
Now if the new NAFTA negotiation get passed there is a US requirement that our exemption would be increased and I believe they amount requested is $600.
Who knows what is going to happen to duties if NAFTA ends.
If you're looking to change the system, there's one other thing you might want to be aware of. I'm not an expert on Canada tax by any means, but I have been looking around a bit on this topic, and found this troubling.
The section of the mail manual I quoted before also says this: "Any item mailed into Canada is potentially subject to duty and/or taxes with few exceptions. Visit the CBSA website at cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/menu-eng.html for more information on mail imports. The CBSA collects provincial sales taxes (PST) on most taxable imports valued at over $20CAD entering Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. The CBSA also collects Harmonized Sales Taxes (HST) on most taxable imports entering Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Ontario."
If you go to that CBSA website, you'll find a sidebar linking to Determining duty and taxes owed. That page describes the $20 exemption: "Under the provisions of the Postal Imports Remission Order, if someone mails you an item worth CAN$20 or less, there is no duty or tax payable." It then goes on to provide a list of "Items that do not qualify for the CAN$20 exemption":
Canada Border Service Agency wrote:...• tobacco;
• books;
• periodicals;
• magazines;
• alcoholic
I was reading on someone comment on another forum
--To avoid this in the future look for retailers that factor in taxes/duties in the checkout process (so nobody charges you the handling fee).It's fulfilled by Amazon & On Ebay look for their global fulfillment program by Pitney Bowes. Barnes and Noble also charges sales tax to Canadians therefore no brokerage fees.
Again you'll get charged the taxes upon checkout so no brokerage fees.
--
Would that be something Paizo would be able to look into? As An original Dragon magazine and day 1 Charter Subscriber AP I been happy getting books from Pazio for years and only in the last 12 month have I been hit with the Broker Fee at least 6 times ranging from $15 - $30 each time. That cost + shipping and handling nearly wipe out the benifine of being a subscriber and saving %20-30% discount off of the cover price. At this point the only saving grace is the FREE PDF I get with the subscriptions.
Subtotal (4 items) $66.76
You've saved $16.20 off suggested retail—that's a 20% discount!
CBSA brokerage Handling fees $15
Shipping & Handling $19.65
Order Total $101.41
cost at my local hobby store would be about
$66.76 + $16.20 = 82.96 + taxes
Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber