Can you purchase cupboards in the US and bring them duty-free to Canada?

Answer 1

Carrying things, you intend to leave in Canada, across the US border into Canada, almost invariably requires payment of the provincial sales tax/value added taxfor your destination province. Note that collecting sales tax as opposed to import duty is the principal objective. Canada (like all countries) can also get very quirky about certain classes of goods: and manufactured wooden articles (cupboards) is almost certainly one of them. If you are a Canadian resident or even a US visitor on the way to a summer camp, you may be even asked to pay Provincial Sales Tax on US-purchased groceries and car repairs performed in the US. Your car will also be inspected for new US Tires with an eye to collecting Sales Tax. The Canadian Customs Officers (often attractive women) are by-the-book professionals: and clearly lack the sometimes thug-like quality of their US counterparts . All Canadian customs wants to do is to collect the Provincial Sales Tax for your destination - for which they get a handsome commission. Import duties between Canada and the US have largely been eliminated. If Canadian customs catch you fibbing: you will be permanently lodged in their doo-doo book and scrutinized on every trip into the future. Canada takes Sales Tax (in some Provinces call Value Added Tax or Harmonized Provincial Sales Tax very very seriously: it is a principal source of Provincial revenue. If you plan to take something highly desirable and portable into Canada (like professional grade video cameras): be prepared to have to put up a bond guaranteeing that you will re-export the item. Your importing the item may even be noted in your passport. Professional photographers and cinematographers who plan to do material professional work in Canada over a number of days, under certain circumstances, may have to pay a fractional import duty on the value of the equipment. The way this works is that you will be asked to pay a percentage, say 10%, of the full duty. Once again - do not fib to these guys. They are very very easy to work with - and will cut you every slack permitted by regulations: but they do not take kindly to deception. Two other things: # # 1 - do not try to import used bedding (like mattresses) into Canada; # 2 - carrying a lot of liquor into Canada is fruitless.