eBay

momcqueen · ‎09-02-2018

https://globalnews.ca/news/4413587/canada-duty-free-limits-nafta/?utm_source=Article&utm_medium=Edit...

I found this to be a well-balanced piece that thoroughly considered all sides of the discussion.

marnotom! · ‎09-02-2018

It's not a bad piece, but it doesn't really make a distinction between duty and taxes (the comments section reveals a lot of posters confused on this point) and it doesn't note that even though the United States has a US$800 duty-free limit, casual imports valued below that amount are still technically subject to use tax (i.e. equivalent of state sales tax) charges in 40-odd states.

femmefan1946 · ‎09-03-2018

still technically subject to use tax

But imports are handled by federal workers and I understand there is no mechanism for them to collect and remit state taxes, unlike Canada where the federal GST is interwoven with provincial taxes.

marnotom! · ‎09-03-2018

Which is why I used the term "technically".

If Canada is forced into raising its de minimis and sometime down the line US states are given more teeth in collecting use tax or internet tax on casual imports, it puts Canada on an uneven footing with the US as there may not be a mechanism for Canada to do likewise.

reallynicestamps · ‎09-03-2018

I don't think so.

If the Canadian de minimis was raised to $1000Cdn/~$800USD today, then a Canadian importing a $100Cdn item from the USA, would pay no duty but would pay up to $15 in sales taxes plus the shipper's service fee.

An American importing a $100Cdn item would pay nothing, since there is no duty applicable and state taxes are unenforced.

This is an advantage to the Canadian exporter.

If US couriers (UPS, FedEx) were required to collect state taxes, and allowed to charge a service fee, the advantage to Canadian exporters would lessen.

If the US border officers were authorized to assess the state taxes and USPS carriers authorized to collect them ( as CBSA and Canada Post do), the advantage would be even less.

It would be interesting to watch the arguments among proponents of 'state's rights' over this. On the one hand, giving authority to federal officials. On the other, money.

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-03-2018

@reallynicestamps wrote:
I don't think so.
If the Canadian de minimis was raised to $1000Cdn/~$800USD today, then a Canadian importing a $100Cdn item from the USA, would pay no duty but would pay up to $15 in sales taxes plus the shipper's service fee.
An American importing a $100Cdn item would pay nothing, since there is no duty applicable and state taxes are unenforced.

Wouldn't that depend on how they set it up? Right now if an item under $20C is purchased internationally there is no tax or duty collected at all. It's possible that if they raised that number that the same rules would apply. Or...they could do as some countries do and set up different levels. For example, they could collect gst/hst on items between $50 and $200 and then collect gst/hst and duty on items over $200.

marnotom! · ‎09-03-2018

@reallynicestamps wrote:

I don't think so.
If the Canadian de minimis was raised to $1000Cdn/~$800USD today, then a Canadian importing a $100Cdn item from the USA, would pay no duty but would pay up to $15 in sales taxes plus the shipper's service fee.
An American importing a $100Cdn item would pay nothing, since there is no duty applicable and state taxes are unenforced.

This is an advantage to the Canadian exporter.

If US couriers (UPS, FedEx) were required to collect state taxes, and allowed to charge a service fee, the advantage to Canadian exporters would lessen.

If the US border officers were authorized to assess the state taxes and USPS carriers authorized to collect them ( as CBSA and Canada Post do), the advantage would be even less.

Which is the point I was trying to make in my post, obviously not that well.

momcqueen · ‎09-04-2018

... and then there’s this article. Do your blood pressure a favour and skip the comments at the end....

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2018/09/02/ebay-closely-watches-north-american-trade-talks/

femmefan1946 · ‎09-04-2018

There's a guy on dotCOM who seems convinced that ePacket rates are a conspiracy between the UPU (which he always points out is a United Nations agency) and eBay.

Ignoring details like, it actually is a service contracted between China Post and several Western postal services (including USPS ,Canada Post, and the Royal Mail).

But but but..... United Nations!

(And possibly George Soros! And her emails!)