Question in title, it's my first time going to Canada and I was planning on bringing back some whiskey from Canada
Thanks in advance
Thanks in advance
Will the end of Canada's de minimis exemption require customs declarations on the Adirondack and Maple Leaf?
- Thread starter Meadowlark1203
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You were and are technically always required to declare any alcohol, even amounts within the exemption. Even if not asked specifically about alcohol.
So declare it and let them figure out if any duty is due on it now. Other than a possible duty assessment on exempt quantities, nothing has changed regardless declaring alcohol.
So declare it and let them figure out if any duty is due on it now. Other than a possible duty assessment on exempt quantities, nothing has changed regardless declaring alcohol.
Ah thanks for the heads up, I appreciate it
But there is probably an allowance before duty is applied, if entering the U.S. from other countries holds true for entry from Canada. Worth checking that, and worth checking what the duty would be if you exceed the limit. Is Canadian that good? I just think of Seagram’s 7.
There always has been a duty free exemption for spirits of 1 liter. However, with the new blanket tariff of 25% with no apparent exemptions, that the 1 liter remains duty free is questionable now. The conditions after the imposition of the tariffs is what I think @Meadowlark1203 was asking about. The answer is
for now.In any case, the requirement has always been for any amount of liquor to be declared, even amounts within the exemption. So declare it and see what they say.
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This is just as big a question for Canadians as well - particularly those of us in the US who usually like to take home the allowed quantity of California wine or Kentucky bourbon when returning. The jury seems to be out on whether the similar reverse exemption is still in effect. The situation is made worse by the complete removal of all American spirits in several provinces at any price. 
At least you'll be paying any Duty in Canadian currency! (which no doubt is sinking like the Peso against the Greenback!)This is just as big a question for Canadians as well - particularly those of us in the US who usually like to take home the allowed quantity of California wine or Kentucky bourbon when returning. The jury seems to be out on whether the similar reverse exemption is still in effect. The situation is made worse by the complete removal of all American spirits in several provinces at any price.
When I passed through Niagara Falls, NY on the Maple Leaf last September, I had a little more than a liter of assorted booze. I showed it all to the CBP agent and asked about paying any duty. He said that they didn't have the ability to collect duty at the site, and just waved me through. I also had some 5-year old aged Canadian cheddar and turkey pepperoni snacks (in sealed packages). I showed them as well, and the customs agent didn't seem to care at all, but his drug dog sure seemed interested in the pepperoni bites.
Perhaps there's a difference between a duty-free exemption for travelers returning to the US vs. commercial importers/exporters, who will be paying the tariffs on the stuff they're shipping across by the truckload or trainload.
Perhaps there's a difference between a duty-free exemption for travelers returning to the US vs. commercial importers/exporters, who will be paying the tariffs on the stuff they're shipping across by the truckload or trainload.
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Qapla
Engineer
Do you mean they ship by the truckload/trainload or they will now have to pay tariffs in the truckload/trainload amount of cash needed just to cross
I think tariffs are on goods brought in by importers, not necessarily the occasional tourist bringing in a favourite beverage for personal use. But that “not necessarily” is wide open to interpretation. My advice would normally be to bring in what you like up to the limit, but perhaps right now I would stick to what you can get in the U.S., unless the Canadian stuff is very special. I have found that liquor tends to be cheaper in the U.S. anyway. 
It's been delayed 30 days. But these are so poorly written no one knows what they really mean.
BCL
Engineer
My understanding is that personal use items aren't subject to any kind of general importation tariffs that commercial importers must pay. Any duty over the duty free limit is supposed to be taxed at a flat rate regardless of where the item is from. However, there was supposed to be an exemption (via NAFTA) for goods made in the US, Canada, or Mexico, although who knows what's going now with all the chaos.
Also - I'd like to know exactly what this means, because it doesn't make much sense.
In brief, for both alcohol and cigarettes, the quantities eligible for duty-free treatment may be included in your $800 or $1,600 returning resident personal exemption, just as any other purchase should be. But unlike other kinds of merchandise, amounts beyond those discussed here as being duty-free are taxed, even if you have not exceeded, or even met, your personal exemption. For example, your exemption is $800 and you bring back three liters of wine and nothing else, two of those liters will be dutiable and IR taxed. Federal law prohibits business-to-private consumer shipping of alcoholic beverages by mail within the United States.
That being said, there are two definitions for "duty free". One is the limits where duties aren't required to enter a country. The other is "duty free" shops where the items supposedly aren't subject to any taxes as long as they're packaged to be taken out of the country. I don't know how much of a bargain that is any more. I rode on the Washington State Ferries ride from BC to Washington, and their duty free shop was apparently only open for about 10 minutes. I don't think they had a single paying customer and what I saw didn't look like a bargain.
