How much duty would one pay on a $40 dollar bottle of scotch in Canada?
Saw a great deal on 2 bottles of Single malts for $80 bucks last night at ORD, but I didn't get it because Canada customs allows only 1 bottle to be brought in duty free. Does anyone know how much would I have paid for the second bottle at YYZ had I purchased it? The woman at the duty free was telling me it shouldn't be no more than 5 bucks, but for some reason I didn't buy that story.
> I brought in two bottles of wine over my exemption a few
> weeks ago - declared at $20, got nailed for $13 a bottle
> in duty/taxes.
That's interesting.
A few months ago I did some internet searching and asked in various forums how much Canada Customs charges for alchohol that exceeds your personal limit. Canada Customs does not seem to publish duty rates for alchohol anywhere.
Some second-hand reports was that the duty rate beyond your personal limit was something like $1 per ounce, meaning the typical 40 ouncer (1.14 liter) bottle would set you back $40 in duty, and it didn't matter if it was wine or liquor and it didn't matter what you paid for it.
I would imagine that Canada Customs mostly doesn't bother with the rare situation of someone bringing in 1 extra bottle above their limit, maybe even two. I've done it, and have never been asked to pay.
The duty one pays at Customs is different between each province. For Ontario, it's approx. 59.9% provincial tax plus the 5% gst. There is no actual 'duty' for the item, it's just outrageous provinical tax. But that's for a spirit. Wines/beer are signifigantly less, however still expensive.
The 59.9% is determined through a pro-rating system between literage and price. So for example, you're bringing back a litre bottle of 10 dollar rum from Jamacia, it would still cost about 40 dollars in taxes owed if over your exemption.
There is a loophole though, and it's not well known. You only have to pay provincial tax if you're arriving in the province in which you live. So if you live in Alberta but are going through customs in Toronto, declare all your alcohol since you will only be paying the 5% GST. Now mind you... you're 'supposed' to go to your own liquor board when arriving in your province and pay the taxes there...
If anyone else has any customs/immigration questions, feel free to ask... I'm somewhat of an 'expert' you could say
For a $40 bottle of Scotch, a resident of Ontario will be paying $46 dollars on top of it, which comes out to $86 in total !! yikes!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phrantic
The duty one pays at Customs is different between each province. For Ontario, it's approx. 59.9% provincial tax plus the 5% gst. There is no actual 'duty' for the item, it's just outrageous provinical tax. But that's for a spirit. Wines/beer are signifigantly less, however still expensive.
The 59.9% is determined through a pro-rating system between literage and price. So for example, you're bringing back a litre bottle of 10 dollar rum from Jamacia, it would still cost about 40 dollars in taxes owed if over your exemption.
There is a loophole though, and it's not well known. You only have to pay provincial tax if you're arriving in the province in which you live. So if you live in Alberta but are going through customs in Toronto, declare all your alcohol since you will only be paying the 5% GST. Now mind you... you're 'supposed' to go to your own liquor board when arriving in your province and pay the taxes there...
If anyone else has any customs/immigration questions, feel free to ask... I'm somewhat of an 'expert' you could say
