How do I get furniture across the Canadian border?

June 1, 2007 5:44 PM

Does anyone have experience bringing goods ($1000+) across the Canadian border into the US?

I am a US citizen and want to buy furniture in Toronto and bring it into the US. I am wondering what the cost would be (say for something that is $1000) and is this going to be a hassle? Would it be cheaper and/or easier to have it shipped? Are there shipping companies that do this professionally?

posted by hazyspring to Travel & Transportation around Canada (9 answers total)

If you stay in Canada 48 hours, you can bring back USD800 of stuff for your own use duty-free, once per month. After that, the tax is IIRC 10%. So you'd owe USD20 in tax on a USD1000 piece of furniture.

The only other hassle should be physically moving the furniture. I suspect it's easier to deal with this yourself if at all possible.

If you live in Canada and are moving back to the US, things will be different.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:13 PM on June 1, 2007

Moving to Canada from the States with a 3 month old vehicle, ended up paying the GST on the as new price -- at 6 months -IFRC it changes ...
posted by acro at 6:30 PM on June 1, 2007

If it was made in Canada you wouldn't pay anything at all (NAFTA and all that).

Trucking companies handle this kind of stuff all the time though you would have to pay brokerage charges.
posted by Mitheral at 7:44 PM on June 1, 2007

NAFTA doesn't mean there are no taxes, just no duty; it applies to companies, not individuals, and there are all kinds of exceptions even then (think softwood lumber).
posted by acro at 7:56 PM on June 1, 2007

On big ticket items, over $50CA I think, you can get back some of the sales tax that you pay in Canada, by filling out a form when you cross the border -- remember to do this in your case!

There are shipping companies that go cross-border. IME (though shipping from US to Canada) they charge pretty hefty fees to do this.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:19 PM on June 1, 2007

It's the sales tax in the state you will be entering that you may have to pay.
posted by acro at 8:21 PM on June 1, 2007

On big ticket items, over $50CA I think, you can get back some of the sales tax that you pay in Canada, by filling out a form when you cross the border -- remember to do this in your case!

This is no longer possible.
posted by oaf at 6:26 AM on June 2, 2007

It's the sales tax in the state you will be entering that you may have to pay.

Almost certainly not. Some states theoretically charge "use taxes" on stuff, but:

(1) They're nearly unenforceable in most states, which rely entirely on you to tell them how much you owe.
(2) You can normally deduct sales taxes paid elsewhere, so unless you can find a state with sales taxes over 15%, you won't owe.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:16 AM on June 2, 2007

Scratch that last.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:19 AM on June 2, 2007