For the canadians

[Canadian_Kilt]

Hey everyone. For the canadians that have bought kilts from the online makers outside of canada - what is your experience with tariffs when you receive them?

The maker I'm dealing with claims that it's not likely I'll pay any duty (of course .. because that explains why his prices are so cheap). The CCRA website tells me I'll be paying 18% (confirmed by a friend of mine that regularly buys things out of country). And the guy at a local shop who I'm also considering tells me I'll be paying 22% (of course .. because that explains why his price is so much higher).

I think the online site is probably right to a degree - I have bought items and not been charged any duty on them .. but I think it was only due to something being missed (or cleverly labelled)... but if the local guy is correct, I really would be better off buying from him - I still pay a bit more but he's here, I can see what I'm getting, and I can hold him accountable if something goes wrong. Even at 18% this might be the case .. although the premium goes up.

Can you tell me what your experiences have been?

[RockyR]

If you order online, ask the company to label the goods as "items being returned to owner" and mark the value at $0. That usually saves the customer from incurring customs fees.

[Big Dave]

I found that the only time I get charged, is during Christmas time. Last year I made the mistake to order a couple kilts and a sporran (all from different companies) Canada Post and the DHL charged me to get my items. I found that if I don't order anything during the Holidays, I don't get charged. It's not alot of money, but it's annoying to have to pay again for something I just payed shipping on.

[Canadian_Kilt]

Hmm .. but then what effect does that have on insurance? Can I insure something when I've said it's value is $0?

[Canadian_Kilt]

I found that the only time I get charged, is during Christmas time. Last year I made the mistake to order a couple kilts and a sporran (all from different companies) Canada Post and the DHL charged me to get my items. I found that if I don't order anything during the Holidays, I don't get charged. It's not alot of money, but it's annoying to have to pay again for something I just payed shipping on.

Well i'm looking at about a $1500 order here .. so in this case the difference could be significant.

[Colin]

I ordered a jacket from scottishkilts.net and paid about $35 in duty (paid on delivery). My kilt from them cost me around $40 in duty (billed later). Now both of these came via UPS, a company that acts as their own broker and can add their fee to the duties. The sealskin sporran I ordered from scottishkilts.net came via post (Parcel Force ) and took a few more days to arrive, but I paid $0 in duties or taxes.

There are tricks that some companies can do (listing the wholesale price rather than retail, or using a courier that doesn't broker themselves). Just be wary of Fed EX, DHL, and even UPS to some extend. Yes, they are reliable, but you'll pay way more.

[The Wizard of BC]

Shipping across the US/Canadian border is not difficult to work with.
First avoid courier services of any kind. (UPS FedEX) Stick to the postal service. Courier services have the right to act as their own import brokerage. As they make a percentage of the duties it is in their favor to charge the maximum duty applicable.
Second ask the shipper to include a NAFTA statement promenently displayed on the outside of the package.


About the NAFTA Certificate of Origin

The NAFTA Certificate of Origin is used by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, including Puerto Rico, to determine if goods imported into their countries receive reduced or eliminated duty as specified by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

For those forms that are completed online, this application is designed for goods whose origin is the U.S. or Puerto Rico only.

The NAFTA Certificate of Origin must be attached to an Invoice if the shipment is valued at greater than:
• $1,000 USD and is being sent to a Mexican destination from Canada or the U.S.
• $1,600 (Canadian dollars) and is being sent to a Canadian destination from Mexico or the U.S.
• $2,500 USD and is being sent to a U.S. destination from Canada or Mexico.


Shipments valued at less than the above amounts do not require a NAFTA Certificate of Origin. Instead, the customer should type the following statement on the shipment’s invoice:

"I hereby certify that the good covered by this shipment qualifies as an originating good for purposes of preferential tariff treatment under the NAFTA."

For purposes of obtaining preferential tariff treatment, this document must be completed legibly and in full by the exporter and be in the possession of the importer at the time the declaration is made. This document may also be completed voluntarily by the producer for use by the exporter. Please print or type.


There is also a $200.00 personal exemption on all cross border shipments. You just have to insure the shipper uses your personal/home address and not send it to a company address.

I now include on all my shipping documentation the country of origin and fabric content information. This seems to suffice in most cases.

I do not advocate 'fudging' documentation(I include this legal statement for any and all customs agents which may be lurking here) although I have been known to declare the value of my shipments under the $200.00 personal exemption limit.

[Sylvain]

I ordered from Scotland and had to pay 18%, plus GST and PST.

[Wompet]

I'm not lurking, I'm a member! Sheesh!
As someone who deals with this sort of thing (and the UPS and FedEx customs brokers) daily, I second everything Steve said above.

• Get the NAFTA Certificate of Origin
• Ship by US Postal Service/Canada Post. It will take longer, but the broker/carrier won't be charging you an exorbitant fee. Also, if Canadian Customs is like our International Mail Branch, they're not going to be worried about a package of clothes. There are too many packages and too little time to tax clothes when there are higher ticket items to find.
• Post your kiltmaker's name. Maybe one of your fellow Canadians has dealt with him before, and could give you feedback from personal experience.

And one last word on FedEx - .
Sorry, I needed to get that out of my system - they've been again.

I almost forgot - NAFTA will apply only if you're using a US kiltmaker (obviously).
In the case where NAFTA doesn't apply, you can find which applicable tariff will have you pay the least, and have the kiltmaker put that tariff on the invoice. I have a link for the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule around here somewhere; I've never looked for the Canadian version but I'm sure it can be found ...

[Canadian_Kilt]

Thanks for the advice all. Admittedly I'm generally a 'play by the rules' type of guy. I'm not really interested in having vendors mislabel packages to try and avoid a fee I should be paying. If it's labelled and valued properly and gets bypassed, well that's their loss.

Anyways taking into account the Duty, the price at my local shop is only marginally more than the online shops I've talked to. I've decided that premium is worth having it handled locally. I will definately be buying accessories online in the future though so this advice is great. Thanks for your input!