Shipping large speakers to Canada from US

Thanks all for your responses. I was fairly sure that with
NAFTA there was no duty, as didn't pay any when I bought the speakers. I never really had thought about taxes, so thanks for that. I would think that any declaration of value that is reasonable would not be questioned.
Thanks again.

Coryc - whle interesting info it does not apply in this instance as we are talking about Canadian speakers traveling from the US back to Canada. If it were the other direction and the speakers were headed south of the 49th parallel then your info could apply although as Jeff indicates with NAFTA there should be no duty...

Coryc:

I haven't checked the website (poor homework on my part), but with NAFTA, there should be no duty, only the sales tax.

Sharri, do your buyer a favour and keep the declared value low! Buyer will pay around 15% on declared value.

Jeff

US Customs website says that they will collect a duty based on declared value. First $400 is exempt. The next $1000 (up to $1400) will have a duty of 1.5%. Anything over $1400 will have a different rate depending on location. The exemption can be doubled to $800 if you travel with a US buddy.

Rqd:
Never thought about having the buyer at the border. Brilliant!
Jeff

Sharri - while not an expert I agree with Fyneplace and you should expect to pay the taxes upon arrival at Canada Customs. If you were a freight company as opposed to an individual you would be "allowed in" without paying but a record or file would be initiated with the requirement for you to collect the appropriate taxes from the buyer and then you would remit them to the govenment(s). Our governments never assume that you will pay up after the fact but collect all they can up front and you have chase them for a refund if they deem it applicable!

If the buyer could meet you there it may alleviate some of the issues as well as your out of pocket cost...

Sharri:
My best bet on this, if you are delivering yourself, is that you will have to pay the GST and PST taxes at the border. Get a receipt and recover the cost from you buyer. Do advise your buyer ahead of time of this possibility, however. Other than this, there should be no major problem at all.
Good luck
Jeff

RGD,
Are the taxes to be paid at time of entry into Canada, or do I just take some kind of tax form to the buyer?

You should not have a problem. The buyer on the other hand will have to probably pay taxes (GST 7% & PST 8% depending on the Province)on the US amount converted into Canadian dollars. No duty as the product was manufactured in Canada.

Based on my own experience sending Canadian products back into Canada, there should be no issues at all. If you ship the speakers, you will have to provide a customs declaration, but on the declaration write clearly that the speakers were made in Canada (Canadian customs will know the various speaker manufacturers in Canada).

If you decide to personally deliver the speakers, then take your original purchase invoice or bill-of-sale with you and show it to the Canadian customs officials. There is no problem with re-importing a Canadian product into Canada.