Tax on Camera after shipping?

Question

Next month I will go on business to Toronto. I have a plan to buy a camera , but I'm wondering some problems:

- If I ship the camera from USA to Toronto, will I have to pay the taxes for this camera ?

- If paying a tax, what's the percentage ???

Please response as soon as possible,thanks a lot.

Answer 1

You will have to ask someone in your area.

In the States, a very few states require sales tax to be paid, although in most cases no state tax is charged.  When doing an international transaction, I would be more concerned about import duties than any local taxes.

Answer 2

You've got answers about taxes. Beyond that consider the warranty. It may not be valid if the camera was shipped from the U.S. to Canada and then you take it back with you.

Answer 3

I don't know the specifics, but I think it works this way:

1. When you receive an item purchased abroad in Toronto, Canadian government will impose the importation tax on it, which you will have to pay.

2. When you are returning to US (I assume you're from US), you can claim your taxes back by filling in the appropriate paperwork when crossing the border (ask in duty free shops, they should know where to do it). You obviously need to present the receipts for all taxes paid. There's some minimum amount of taxes you need to get in order to be eligible for refund, but I think for camera it will do. By the way you can get same kind of refund for anything else purchased in Canada that you are taking back to the US (or maybe not even taking back - I'm not sure here, but definitely for things you are taking back).

3. Once you're back in the states, technically in many states you need to pay the tax on the item you brought from abroad (or another state), called "Sales and use tax". This is something you will need to declare on your tax return for the state next April. By the way same applies to most things you buy online from other states.

At least that's how the laws are written. As far as your ability to actually do these things, you may want to check with Canadian authorities for #2... And #3... Well... that's the law in many states. How many residents of those states actually abide by it and actually declare things they bought online - is another big question that I am not even going to try discussing here.....

Hope this helps somewhat, sorry I can't offer more details on this.

LEM.