The last time I dealt with an organisation as petty as this was the lot is South Africa and even they have moved with the times.

Just had a shirt replaced by Charles Tyrwhitt in London and lo and behold been charged $ 20 dollars in tax and duties for the privelidge!!!! Never mind that I have already paid for the same shirt when it first arrived !!!!!

If anything will make me pack up and leave Maple leaf country it is the money grabbing at the border and the stupis taxation to fly in and out of Toronto.

I have lost track the number of times I order stuff from the US whilst living in the UK and not once did I get charged for it, however over here if you order a $2 item bet you you will pay $3 dollars in taxes and duties.

I think you mean "not once did I get caught"....you were just lucky that British customs did not stop any of your parcels and require you to pay taxes.

Agreed, used to bring in quite a lot of stuff from the US to the UK. It was a rare event indeed if I did not get caned for duty/vat etc on each occasion!

Used to get got for it all the time in the UK. Canada is no different.

And how would Canada Customs know this?

There are no customs tariffs in Canada that charge 150% duty. 6-20% maybe but I suspect you are confusing HST/GST for taxes. Technically if you buy from the UK you needn't pay the VAT so complaining about the HST/GST is a bit rich. It's lower than UK VAT!

Did you declare to CBSA that you were returning goods to the manufacturer and would be reimporting them? Or did you just assume that you'd get away with it?

The problem people often have with customs is that they will estimate how much something is worth then tax based on that.
I bought a video on ebay for £5 and it was stopped by UK customs (coming from america) and they valued it at £60. So I ended up paying over double the price of the vid in duties.
I've also had inlaws in Canada who were charged duty on kids clothes we'd sent from the UK and US. They had to pay as customs thought they were worth more than was stated on the customs tag we'd filled out.

I don't know maybe the lable from the supplier stating "exchange item - charge = 0" may have given the game away especially as it was stuck on the front of the box!
Don't get me wrong guys, having an absolute blast here and the day I posted was not a good day, and yes maybe as someone above stated I was lucky in the UK and possibly in SA as well, but when I recently looked to book a flight between TO and Palm Springs the taxation charged was far in excess of the ticket !!
Ah well onwards and upwards Merry Christmas to all

The thieving dirty bastards.

When sending something for return, or receiving a replacement in order to avoid duty one should mark the customs description appropriately as ether warranty return or replacement under warranty, with zero commercial value.

Of course, if you dont know that and they cant be bothered to do it right, then things like this will happen...but if they did and you got dinged for the taxes then challenge them over it. I imagine they have a lot of boxes to deal with, and a lot of temps working for them at this time of year, and mistakes will happen.

I like canada revenue and the post office to be honest, they very seldom bother to pick up the duty and taxes that they should, and when they do there is only a $6 brokerage charge which is way more civilised than the highway men in brown.

I have never in 13 years had Customs here guestimate a value different than the value it was declared at.

I guess that could have given them a clue.

Technically, it depends on what tariff code the item is entered at customs. If it is coded as a shirt under chapter 62 then duty is automatic. If it is an item sent for repair and returned it should have been coded under chapter 98 and it would have been duty free. If it is a replacement item you do have to pay duty again as it will be the first time it has been imported into Canada.

Customs will use whatever code is on the paperwork unless this is obviously wrong. They usually do the same for value, but as $0 is obviously wrong they are entitled to assess a fair market price.

As iaink has also mentioned, there is a cost to processing goods through customs. For small parcels UPS are infamous for their charges but Canada Post only charge $6. That will show up as customs brokerage rather than customs duty.

I have to say I can't complain about canadian customs and excise. We cross border shop at least twice a month, I always expect to pay duty and do not take for granted that because I haven't paid I won't be charged. So far (touch wood) they have always let us go through. We do not lie and show reciepts if asked and always honest on amount we spend, we do not smoke or drink so never bring that back.
BUT in UK we too were charged for a broken returned item and it said on package it was a repaired returned item and NO CHARGE,,,they made us pay 50 bucks duty on an item we had owned for 2 yrs and had brought back legally (under our duty free limit) boy I was hopping mad, they said prove you paid duty first time, said we didn't have too as it was within our duty free limit...nope they would not back down. We got charged 30 quid on a 28 dollar item. Yeah figure that as well, again I complained, said it is a ring worth more, said prove it! They just blew me off.....so for me UK are worse tax collecters then here.