IMO......... one of the reasons the government does not collect taxes is because it would be the kibosh on international sales. That could do some notable damage to the CPO. Since ultimately fewer would buy internationally any longer if they were to tax every item over $20, there is nothing to gain by doing so and a lot to lose in the long run.
The only way the government makes any money on imports is by charging duty and tax. So if they are not charging these (although they could) then they don't make any money anyway.
Charge on every item over $20 = money in government pocket
pierre at one point mentioned that it is possible these low value imports are being ignored is that the labour cost to process them is higher than the duty and fees. That makes sense. Why spend a dollar to collect 50 cents?
Same with Canada Post, which charges the importer $9.95 to process imports. But if it costs them more, both in labour and in the cost of returning refused parcels, why bother?
CP also has the further problem that most parcels seem to be delivered by contractors, not employees. These contractors may or may not vet their employees to the Canada Post standard.
Further, an imported product is one which was not made and sold in Canada. So fewer jobs, payroll taxes, income taxes, etc. While I am not a protectionist, this is something to consider.
The answer in my opinion is to raise the value under which no tax or duty is collected to match that of cross-border shoppers. I believe that is now $200.
15% of $20 is a negligible $3-- probably not worth collecting.
15% of $200 is $30-- the cost of collecting is probably much lower.
As a side effect, the number high-value products imported privately, because for the most part these are private imports, would drop and the purchase made in Canada from Canadian online and B&M businesses, which pay taxes to the Canadian governments.
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