Posted by: rasheed
Would appreciate some help from those knowledgeable with the whole duty and tax thing. I tried searching the forums, but the new search function on the forum sucks. I also tried searching CBSA's site for info, but that's a big headache too.
Just got the delivery notification from Canada Post that my Bike-Discount purchase is at the post office waiting to get picked up. There's a $37.54 customs amount due on it. Judging by the customs estimator on CBSA's site, it looks like that amount was calculated on the entire order. My purchase consists of two bike chains, a set of handlebars, a suspension pump, and a mini pump.
I've seen it mentioned several times here that bike parts are duty (and tax?) exempt. Is that Canada-wide or does it depend on what province you're in (I'm in Ontario). Are the two pumps I ordered considered bike parts or are they under some other classification?
You need to see what the $37.54 is for. People often just say 'customs' and assume its duty. There will be a $9.95 handling fee for Canada Post to accept and process your order. That leaves you with about $27 to account for. What taxes are charged on bike parts and accessories in Ontario? In BC, you would (should) pay GST on the bike parts and GST and PST on the non bike parts (in your case the two pumps). Bike parts should be duty free, except for complete bikes or wheelsets. Accessories are NOT necessarily duty free, so those pumps could be dutiable possibly.
See page 22 (87-20) from CBSA website (from 2013, cant find anything newer):
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2013/01-99/ch87-2013-eng.pdf