13 Nov
1999
13 Nov
'99
7:01 a.m.
No Duty. I move machines from the US to Canada and Canada to the US.. You
pay DEPENDING on how honest you are.
You may have to pay State tax on the purchase price when bringing it across
the border. Be sure to say it is for your PERSONAL hobby. Get a receipt from
the place you are purchasing the mini from.
If you..,,, well.... ummm, some people.. might do this:
Go to the customs office BEFORE they pick up their equipment. They bring a
small dead case with a tag that has the "model # and serial number" of the
mini. They get customs to give them a green card for the unit so it can
re-enter the country free of charge. You get the idea....
or
They write you a receipt for $50 calling it old computer junk..
It's hardly worth while if you are paying small $$$$ for it.
Make sure you know the country of origin.
If you tell customs this is a business transaction and you don't have an
Import/Export License nor valid paper work you will probably end up LEAVING
it there... (after they beat you up ;-) )
To avoid hassles I got my import/export license and am my own Broker... no
headaches other than having to wait in line with the truckers.
john
http://www.pdp8.com/
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Smith <eric(a)brouhaha.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, November 13, 1999 4:57 PM
Subject: Re: Whoohoo! Fortune Telling...
Roger Merchberger <zmerch(a)30below.com> wrote
about moving big iron
from Canada to the US:
and what problems I might have with Customs on
the
return trip (but I know a lot of Customs agents, so I should be able to
swing anything provided it's not illegal... :-)
I don't know any Customs agents, but I need to move a large machine from
Vancouver BC into the US soon. What sort of experience should I expect?
If asked to describe it, what should I say? Will I have to pay duties
on it?
13 Nov
13 Nov
7:47 a.m.
"John B" <dylanb(a)sympatico.ca> wrote:
No Duty. I move machines from the US to Canada and
Canada to the US.. You
pay DEPENDING on how honest you are.
You may have to pay State tax on the purchase price when bringing it across
the border. Be sure to say it is for your PERSONAL hobby. Get a receipt from
the place you are purchasing the mini from.
Is there a problem if I am getting the machine for free? Should I pay
$1 for it instead, and get a receipt for that amount?
9:08 a.m.
aaaaa
John B wrote:
No Duty. I move machines from the US to Canada and
Canada to the US.. You
pay DEPENDING on how honest you are.
Jerome Fine replies:
It also depends on how old and how dirty the hardware is. About 3 months
ago, I went to Detroit to pick up some old VT100 terminals. For some
reason, there were coated with coal dust - or something that looked like it.
I had about 6 in the back seat and when customs looked at them, I suspect
that that they were loath to even touch them because of all the dirt. Since I
had not paid anything for them, there was no duty or GST in going from
the US to Canada.
You may have to pay State tax on the purchase price
when bringing it across
the border. Be sure to say it is for your PERSONAL hobby. Get a receipt from
the place you are purchasing the mini from.
Another time I went to Buffalo and the charge was $US10.00 which the fellow
surprised me by actually asking for it. Not that it was not worth that much (BA123
with RD53 and TK50), but usually when the price is that low, no one actually cares.
At the border, they did not even care about the invoice, the main factor was the date
on the power supply - 1985 which made it so old that the customs guy could hardly
believe it. So again, I was waived through without any duties or GST.
It would seem that anything more than about 10 years old is OK, PLUS the suggestion
that you get a receipt (also have a phone number that they can check to verify that
the amount was correct) is excellent. As long as the value is $CAN20.00 or less, I
understand Canada does not charge duties or GST. That may have changed since
I last crossed the border since I understand that they also collect Ontario PST.
If that boosts the total to an amount customs figures is reasonable, then the threshold
minimum value may now be lower than $CAN20.00.
I don't know how the US handles things, but on low values, it is probably similar.
Does anyone have any specific experience or examples?
Sincerely yours,
Jerome Fine
18 Nov
18 Nov
4:19 a.m.
New subject: Whoohoo! Fortune Telling... (Customs)
> You may have to pay State tax on the purchase
price when bringing it across
> the border. Be sure to say it is for your PERSONAL hobby. Get a receipt from
> the place you are purchasing the mini from.
Another time I went to Buffalo and the charge was
$US10.00 which the fellow
surprised me by actually asking for it. Not that it was not worth that much (BA123
with RD53 and TK50), but usually when the price is that low, no one actually cares.
At the border, they did not even care about the invoice, the main factor was the date
on the power supply - 1985 which made it so old that the customs guy could hardly
believe it. So again, I was waived through without any duties or GST.
Well, at least over here age is no term within this calculation.
It's all about the right duty class number - and there are ZILLIONS
(well ok, a little less, but it is a book of more than 3000 pages
with several dozend numbers per page ... and you have to find the
exact type - of course almost all lead to two or three simplyfied
charges, but you have to have it - for example, is a radio module
(to be used on a radio reciver card) a radio, a PC component, an
electronic component, a comunication device or ... or ... or.
At the moment I have this problems with the customs in Bremen, about
my small pile of stuff from my last US visit ... 20 Boxes with some
eq, from a coco2 up to an RK05J... And the officers hate to look for
these numbers ...
Gruss
H.
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Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK
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3 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
dylanb＠sympatico.ca -
eric＠brouhaha.com -
Hans.Franke＠mch20.sbs.de -
jhfine＠idirect.com