dbuster44

It seems quite obvious to me that among the 1st world, Canada harasses her own citizens and residents returning from overseas trips over duty for items purchased/acquired abroad more than any other country.

For all reports and news out there that I have heard and read on custom agents giving the 3rd degree treatment on and/or busting their fellow countrymen/women for incorrect (or nonexistent) $ declaration amounts, roughly 90% involves CBSA cases.

Every country has importation laws and payable duty regulations along with consequential penalties for untruthful declarations and there are citizens who deliberately falsify their declarations for duty evasions.....I get that and I am a law biding citizen who will do everything I can to make sure I am not in violation of the rules and regulations. But why is it I rarely experience/hear stories about someone returning home and getting hassled by US, Australia nor UK customs over duty for the stuff they bought during the trip. On the other hand, there are countless stories documented (google is your best friend if you want to read them) on Canadians being harassed, fined and/or had their foreign purchases confiscated by their own border guards on duty issues. For the CBP, Australian or British customs to really fret over duties in most cases, they have to be blatantly obvious and highly material such as back in 1999 when Jeb Bush's wife was penalized by US customs over the $19,000 worth of clothing and jewelry she purchased in Paris and under-declared them or when UK customs went after George Clooney and his then fiancee over a Ł415,000 ring they failed to declare. But oh my are the CBSA officers often like hyenas on carcasses the moment they smell something that is dutiable. I remember someone on the AC forum stated that a member of his family or friend was levied duties on a half-drunk water bottle simply because he had nothing to declare on his return trip back Canada.

As a dual citizen myself, Canada (by birth) and US (through naturalization), I have been subject to heavy questionings and even brought over to secondary on both sides of the border a few times. However during the encounters with the CBP, they seldom ask me about stuff I bought during my trip and if they do, it is usually a quick question or two and they don't pursue the issue further after I have truthfully answered with a simple response. Usually it is more of an agriculture, travel from a high risk country, etc type of questionings that they like to ask in details. But coming back to Canada, the barrage of questions on how many stuff I bought, how many gifts, where did I buy this, that, these, those,........you really didn't buy much across the border (officer's incredulous tone)...blah, blah, blah....I get from the CBSA continues to stack up.

Two days ago coming back through the Douglas crossing, the young lady in the booth asked me how much stuff I bought while I was in Washington State in addition to the number of days I was away, what I did there, etc. When I told her I only bought one T-shirt worth around $18 CAD, both her eye balls literally popped and inflated into the size of a golf ball.

Officer (yelling): "Are you trying to underestimate my intelligence??!! No one goes to the States for 3 days and buys only $18 worth of goods to bring back home!"
Me: "Mam, the main purpose of my trip down there was to visit a friend/old colleague for his birthday as I stated earlier. Shopping wasn't really on my agenda and that T-shirt was all I got."

Unsatisfied, she sent me to secondary. There, a young male officer pretty much asked me the same questions the booth officer asked earlier. I just stood my ground, knowing I have nothing to hide, gave him the receipt I had for that T-shirt and just allowed him to do whatever he wants. It was a quick, look into the seats and trunk inspection as well as opening the backpack I had in the back seat that contained clothing I am ready to toss into the laundry once I get back home. But once he found nothing to levy duties on me, disappointment was clearly written all over his face and slammed the door of my trunk before letting me go.

I have watched tons of border security episodes filmed in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and UK. CBSA officers by far are the most aggressive when it comes to questioning and pursuing duty taxes from travelers returning home on those TV shows. The American, Aussie, Kiwi and English border guards seem to have far bigger issues and threats to worry about than trying to ding every cent/pence worth of duty from grandpa over the sweater he bought in Norway. There wasn't one non-Canadian episode where a traveler being filmed was hounded over duties, let lone being fined and/or had his/her shopping goods confiscated by customs because he/she forgot, failed or deliberately lied on the price tag value of goods acquired abroad.

Why do Canadians get scrutinized the most over duty by their own customs? Are we the most dishonest when it comes to declaring the $ amount of the stuff we bought internationally? Look I'm not saying we're the only country that penalizes it's own citizens on this subject matter. But as I said earlier, we have far more stories and incidents compared to the other 3-4 countries stated in this post on this topic.

gglave

Not obvious to me at all.

I'm Canadian. I travel to the USA approximately 20 times per year. I almost never get hassled coming back - Certainly not since I was a goofy university student.

I *always* truthfully and accurately declare what I have and the value. If I exceed my limits I'm asked a couple of more questions and sent on my way.

I suspect most of the problems are experienced by people replying "few bottles of wine and some clothes" as opposed to "3 bottles of wine from California and three shirts, total value $135 Canadian."

Be concise, be precise, make eye contact, tell the truth and you'll be on your way.

drwilliams

Having grown up in a border town, with a parent who was a border guard, I must agree with the OP.

Border guards are extremely focused on taxes. It is why they always ask about alcohol and tobacco, they are the highest taxed.

The government of Canada has used border crossings as a money grab for decades.

YVR Cockroach

In my experience, there's been a huge de-emphasis on collecting duty and taxes in the last decade. Been across and have been allowed through with hundreds of dollars in declared auto parts, untaxed, for < 1 hr visits. Still discouraging alcohol and tobacco on short visits for the most part, I am certain.

tentseller

This has been my experience as well, proper eye contact, accurate declaration of over allowance purchases(auto part being a major purchase most of the time) and waived through.

But I know of people who was caught under/fail to declare and has been secondaries when passport swiped or plates scanned at land crossing getting the full secondary welcome since.

YZF_Elite

It's sadly a reflection as to both how high our taxes are and how uncompetitive we are in comparison to our American colleagues. I doubt it' much more than simple protectionism.

dbuster44

This was an example of constant nagging to milk duty out of someone who did not owe: http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna...customs-at-YLW

I never put $0 on my declarations, even when I have nothing to declare precisely to avoid raising eyebrows such as the case example above. So much for truthful declaration!

BTW, the TV series involving the CBSA has been cancelled so there will be no new episodes: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/06..._10446286.html

Though the producers of the show are now filming the work and actions of the CBP:

YVR Cockroach

More like taken off air because it was found to violate privacy by the federal privacy commissioner.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...lled-1.3632468

SurlyJoe

I go through the land crossing to YVR pretty much monthly via Nexus. Each time I declare in detail, items between $25 and $250 (no alcohol or tobacco). I haven't been asked to pay duty a single time since they started with the verbal declarations.

mapleg

I go to the USA many times and bring back nothing. I am sure hundreds of thousands of people do that every year, if not millions.

As for her comment about underestimating her intelligence, the proper reply is "I am sure I could never underestimate your intelligence". Let the harpy ponder that one for a while. She will never figure it out.


I will admit one other country you don't want to fool around with at customs. Don't enter Hong Kong with over 20 cigarettes.

eigenvector

I have gone over the border at Sumas to go hiking for the day in WA many times and returned with nothing but the post-hike meal being digested in my stomach. Never had any issues. The Peace Arch on the other hand always has a barrage of questions, especially the one time they thought I was importing a car (it was a one-way rental).

mapleg

You might be right about their overzealous nature. I no longer live in BC, but when I did I would cross at Aldergrove--never a problem

Peace Arch-they once charged me duty on a 20.00 pair of cheap running shoes. It was absolutely pathetic how far they would grovel down for a few shekels of tax.

emma69

I have had nothing but positive interactions with Canadian customs - I often bring back more than my allowance, and, touch wood, they have never asked me to go and pay duty on the excess (I am talking 3 or 4 bottles of alcohol, not 30 or 40 mind you). I had one agent who was incredibly impressed with me for declaring some cheese, which was within certain exemption guidelines - I had printed out the relevant section about the amount (weight) and value and he admitted that he was astonished I knew about this exemption to the usual 'no meat, no dairy' rule, and secondly that I was being honest enough to declare it!

The worst experiences I have had were with their US counterparts who have often fixated on whether I am bringing commercial goods in (I am not). The UK also has its moments - if you are coming in the 'regular' way, green, blue and red channels, it isn't too bad, as you rarely interact with an agent. However if they decide they are doing a swoop (looking for a something particular on which they have had a tip) or spot check (often on a particular flight where they think people may be bringing in items they should not) then they are far more nosy than your average Canadian agent. I've had my bag searched more times in UK airports (checking for contraband) than in Canadian airports.

mapleg

Wow. You have better luck than me. I once took 2 bottles of wine back (1.5 litres, so equivalent of 4 regular bottles) and this was with 2 adults. I am talking on sale at the supermarket jug wine here. They crabbed out at me at the border and said 3 choices.

1. Pay all duty (and it was quite a lot--believe it made the wine cost 2.5x what I had paid at least )
2. Dump it out (this was at a land crossing)
3. Go back to grocery store and get refund

Told them to do whatever they wanted as I was not going back nor was I going to pay duty. Their compromise was to seize one bottle and let me have the other.

MapleLeafss

I'm a Canadian who has lived in the U.S. for 11 years. I cross back into Canada 8-10 times per year (at YYZ and YTZ) and I can't recall a single interaction with a Canadian customs agent that lasted over 30 seconds (and I declare $0.00 99% of the time). With the machines at YYZ now I would say my average is 10-15 seconds. I find the Canadian agents way nicer and easier to deal with than their American counterparts (at YYZ, JFK and EWR). If you want a fun experience, try applying for a TN visa at YYZ preclearance on Christmas Day....