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| What can I bring home? |
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| Courtesy of The Travel People Inc. Applewood Village Shopping Centre 1077 North Service Road Unit 16 Mississauga, On. Canada (905) 273-7000 www.travel-people.com Personal Exemptions When you return to Canada from abroad, you may qualify for a personal exemption. Personal exemptions allow you to bring goods of a certain value into the country without paying duties. The term duties includes duty, excise taxes, and the goods and services tax (GST). It does not include provincial or territorial sales tax. However, we have working relationships with some provinces and territories that allow us to collect provincial or territorial taxes, levies, and fees on their behalf. Except for restricted items, you can bring back any amount of goods, as long as you are willing to pay the duties and any provincial or territorial assessments that apply. This rule applies even if you do not qualify for any kind of personal exemption. To find out whether or not the goods you are bringing back exceed your personal exemption, make sure to convert all foreign - currency amounts into Canadian dollars at the appropriate rate of exchange. Note All amounts quoted in this brochure are in Canadian dollars. What are the exemptions? (Prior to June 1995) After an absence of 24 hours or more Any number of times a year, you can claim goods (except tobacco products and alcoholic beverages) worth up to $20 in total. You may have to make a written declaration. If the goods you bring in are worth more than $20 in total, you cannot claim this exemption. Instead, you have to pay duties on the full value. After an absence of 48 hours or more Any number of times a year, you can claim goods worth up to $100 in total. You may have to make a written declaration. After an absence of seven days or more Once every calendar year, you can claim goods worth up to $300 in total. You will have to make a written declaration. To calculate the number of days you are absent, do not include the date you leave Canada but include the date you return. It is dates that matter, not times. For example, we consider you to have been absent seven days if you left Friday the 7th and returned Friday the 14th. New Personal Exemptions for Canadian Residents (As of June 1995) Your duty - free and tax - free personal exemptions have increased. For this reason, the personal exemptions should read as follows: Minimum absence Old exemption New exemption 24 hours $ 20 $ 50 48 hours $100 $200 7 days $300* $500* *once a year *anytime **You can now claim the $500 exemption anytime you have been absent from Canada for at least 7 days. Before, you could claim this exemption only once in each calendar year. Who is eligible for these exemptions? You are eligible for a personal exemption if you are: - a Canadian resident returning from a trip abroad; - a former resident of Canada returning to live in this country; or - a temporary resident of Canada. Even young children and infants are entitled to a personal exemption. As a parent or guardian, you can make the customs declaration for the child, as long as the goods you are declaring are for the child's use. Do you spend part of the year outside Canada? If you spend part of the year in another country for health reasons or pleasure, that country usually considers you to be a visitor. As such, you continue to be a resident of Canada for customs purposes. This means you are only entitled to the same exemptions as other Canadians. When you import foreign goods or vehicles for your personal use in Canada (even temporarily), you have to meet all the import requirements and pay all duties you owe. What conditions apply to your personal exemptions? You cannot combine your personal exemptions with another person's or transfer them to someone else. In addition, you cannot combine your 48 - hour ($100) and your yearly ($300) exemption for a total exemption of $400. Also, if you use only part of your $300 yearly exemption, you cannot use the balance for a trip you take later in the same year. In general, the goods you include in your personal exemption have to be for your personal or household use, souvenirs of your trip, or gifts. Goods you bring in for commercial use, or on behalf of another person, do not qualify for the exemption and are subject to full duties. In all cases, goods you include in the $20 or $100 exemption have to accompany you. With the exception of alcohol and tobacco, goods you claim under the $300 exemption may follow you by mail or other means. Tobacco and alcohol You can include alcoholic beverages and tobacco products in your 48 - hour ($100) or yearly ($300) exemption, but not in your 24 - hour ($20) exemption. All tobacco products and alcoholic beverages have to accompany you in your hand or checked luggage. The following conditions apply: Tobacco products If you meet the age requirements set by the province or territory where you enter Canada, you can include up to 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars or cigarillos, 400 tobacco sticks, and 400 grams of manufactured tobacco. If you bring in more than the free allowance, you will have to pay the duties that apply. In some cases, provincial or territorial limits and assessments may also apply. Alcoholic beverages If you meet the age requirements set by the province or territory where you enter Canada, you can include up to 1.14 litres (40 ounces) of wine or liquor, or 24 x 355 ml (12 - ounce) cans or bottles (8.5 litres) of beer or ale. You can bring in more than the free allowance of alcohol except in the Northwest Territories. However, the quantities have to be within the limit the province or territory sets and, in most cases, you have to bring the alcoholic beverage with you. If you bring in more than the free allowance, the cost may be high, since you will have to pay both customs and provincial or territorial assessments. For more information, check with the appropriate provincial or territorial liquor control authority before you leave Canada. Note We classify coolers according to the type of alcohol they contain. For example, we consider beer coolers to be beer and wine coolers to be wine. We apply the quantity limits accordingly. We do not classify beer or wine that contains 0.5% alcohol by volume or less as an alcoholic beverage. As a result, no quantity limits apply. Gifts Under certain conditions, while you are abroad, you can send gifts duty - free and tax - free to friends in Canada. Each gift has to be worth $60 or less and cannot be an alcoholic beverage, a tobacco product, or advertising matter. If a gift is worth more than $60, the recipient will have to pay regular duties on the excess amount. It is always a good idea to include a gift card to avoid any misunderstanding. While gifts you send from abroad do not count as part of your personal exemption, gifts you bring back do. Prizes and awards In most cases, you have to pay regular duties on prizes and awards you receive outside Canada. For more information, contact your nearest Revenue Canada customs office. Paying Duties Making a full declaration and paying any duties you owe is a simple and straightforward process. You can use cash, travellers' cheques, or, if you have the proper identification, you can write personal cheques for amounts of $500 or less. We also accept VISA and MasterCard at most customs locations. Special duty rate After any trip abroad of 48 hours or longer, you are entitled to a special duty rate on goods worth up to $300 more than your personal exemption. This special rate applies only to goods that accompany you, and does not apply to alcohol or tobacco products. The special duty rate for goods not eligible under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), when combined with the GST, works out to about 15%. For example, if you are eligible for the $300 exemption and you bring back $600 worth of goods, the following duties apply: - On the first $300, the rate is 0%. - On the next $300, the rate is about 15% or $45. The special duty rate is lower for goods eligible under NAFTA, which came into effect on January 1, 1994. |
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