PAX merch and border crossings: " My sir, what large hands you have."

bubblegumnex

Hey guys, I didn't know if I should slap this thread in the PAX subjection, so I slapped it her just to be safe.

Anyway, my question is about bring stuff from PAX ( and the State for that matter) over the Canadian border. I heard stuff about tariffs and such. What are they exactly? thanks guys.

Trus

I wouldn't worry about having to pay duty/tariffs on anything you might bring back from PAX, which I would assume would be shirts and other general gamer stuff. Generally duties apply to expensive items.

Aridhol

It's extremely unlikely that shirts would be identified as a duty item. It's incredibly easy to say "thats my luggage".
Other stuff not so much but you get a certain dollar amount per day in the US that you can bring back. That should cover whatever you purchase.

Kate of Lokys

The information you are looking for is here.

Specifically, this part:

After each absence of 24 hours or more
You can claim up to CAN$50 worth of goods without paying any duties. This is your personal exemption. You must have the goods with you when you arrive and you cannot include tobacco products or alcoholic beverages in this exemption. If the goods you bring in are worth more than CAN$50 in total, you cannot claim this exemption. Instead you have to pay full duties on all goods you bring in.

After each absence of 48 hours or more
You can claim up to CAN$400 worth of goods without paying any duties. You must have the goods with you when you arrive. Although you can include some tobacco products and alcoholic beverages, a partial exemption may apply to cigarettes, tobacco products or manufactured tobacco. See the section called "Alcohol and tobacco" for more details.

So, if you're gone for at least two days, you are legally allowed to bring back up to $400 worth of stuff from the US without paying any sort of tariff or tax. That applies to anything you might pick up at PAX: t-shirts, posters, games, CDs, electronics, whatever.

A lot of people advocate just lying about stuff to try to avoid any potential trouble, but that has always struck me as a very stupid idea. Most people suck at lying, so when the border guard asks them "Anything to declare?", they get all nervous and flustered and start stammering "Um, no, nothing, I mean, a couple of t-shirts, but no it's all stuff I brought with me from Canada nothing to declare!" And even if you're as smooth as Danny Ocean, lying is stupid because telling the truth is legal anyway. Just tell the border guard "I bought about $150 worth of merchandise from a convention - just some t-shirts, a couple of posters, and a few comic books."

If you're within the legal limits anyway, it is always better to just be up-front about things. And if you're going to be in the US for at least 48 hours, I guarantee you will be within the legal limit unless you are made entirely of fat sacks of disposable income.

Pheezer

Also, never lie about what you're returning with. Asides from being a rather serious felony, you can usually get a good bit of leniency from border guards. If you admit to having $457 worth of shit and your one duty free bottle of liquor, they're somewhat unlikely to ask you to pull over so that they can go through your receipts. Now, if you'd lied and they figured you were, they'll go through your car and come up with some tally of their own and give you a fine on top of things. It's at best a couple of hours of your life you'll never get back. Don't fuck around at the border at all.

But yeah, $400 and 40 ounces of booze and a carton (10 packs) of cigarettes are all yours to return with, duty free. And trust me, it's a SIGNIFICANT discount on the booze and smokes to get it free of all taxes.