do first-time settlers have to pay excise taxes??
Jan 9th 2002, 12:54 pm
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Hi,
I will be landing in May and I have a question concerning the excise taxes on the car
that I will be importing... I made a research on this newsgroup, but answers to this
question vary and sometimes are contradictory.
As a first-time settler, do I have to pay the excise taxes if my car has air
conditioning and weighs more than 2,007 kg (excessive weight tax)? What exactly is
the gas-guzzler tax? I called the customs and was told that I will have to pay these
taxes, but I am not sure if this is correct. I got wrong answers from them before.
Also, does anyone know if parts for my Mitsubishi Diamante 92' can be easily found in
Canada. I heard that some models are not made for Canadian market. Is this particular
car well marketed in Canada?
The car itself has about 130K miles on it. Can it cause any problems?
The last question I have is about car insurance. Will my mife's and my experience as
a driver in our home countries and US be taken into account by Canadian insurance
companies for a discounted price on our Canadian insurance policy?
And, btw, we are moving to Ontario (probably Toronto area)
Thank you very much guys. I will appreciate your ideas.
Vlad
I will be landing in May and I have a question concerning the excise taxes on the car
that I will be importing... I made a research on this newsgroup, but answers to this
question vary and sometimes are contradictory.
As a first-time settler, do I have to pay the excise taxes if my car has air
conditioning and weighs more than 2,007 kg (excessive weight tax)? What exactly is
the gas-guzzler tax? I called the customs and was told that I will have to pay these
taxes, but I am not sure if this is correct. I got wrong answers from them before.
Also, does anyone know if parts for my Mitsubishi Diamante 92' can be easily found in
Canada. I heard that some models are not made for Canadian market. Is this particular
car well marketed in Canada?
The car itself has about 130K miles on it. Can it cause any problems?
The last question I have is about car insurance. Will my mife's and my experience as
a driver in our home countries and US be taken into account by Canadian insurance
companies for a discounted price on our Canadian insurance policy?
And, btw, we are moving to Ontario (probably Toronto area)
Thank you very much guys. I will appreciate your ideas.
Vlad
Jan 9th 2002, 9:38 pm
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
I don't know about your specific car model, but as far as my research & experience
goes, you only need to pay $182 flat fee and no excise or GST (Goods Sales Tax)
1. At the border customs will hand you Form-1
2. Form-2 arrives to your address in 10 days.
3. Get out-of-province and Federal inspection done.
4. Carry these docs to a vehicle registry outlet (CAA is one for members)
While getting insurance, US history is good enough. Get a letter called "Loss of
History" from your insurance firm in US. This letter is free of cost. You need this
letter while shopping for insurance.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
goes, you only need to pay $182 flat fee and no excise or GST (Goods Sales Tax)
1. At the border customs will hand you Form-1
2. Form-2 arrives to your address in 10 days.
3. Get out-of-province and Federal inspection done.
4. Carry these docs to a vehicle registry outlet (CAA is one for members)
While getting insurance, US history is good enough. Get a letter called "Loss of
History" from your insurance firm in US. This letter is free of cost. You need this
letter while shopping for insurance.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Jan 10th 2002, 12:50 am
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
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No. Those taxes are not levied on cars brought in as settler's effects.
Stephen
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No. Those taxes are not levied on cars brought in as settler's effects.
Stephen
Jan 11th 2002, 3:50 am
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
"Vlad" wrote:
> . . . we are moving to Ontario (probably Toronto area)
> . . . . As a first-time settler, do I have to pay the excise taxes if my
> car has air conditioning and weighs more than 2,007 kg (excessive weight
> tax)? . . .
If you are moving to Canada for the first time, you should be able to import your car
without paying any duty or taxes, under the "settlers' effects" exemption.
You will still have to pay the RIV processing fee, though. And keep in mind that
anything you import as settlers' effects can't be sold (or even given away) in Canada
for a full year after the date on which it clears Customs.
> I called the customs and was told that I will have to pay these taxes, . . .
Unless you were explicitly told that the vehicle was not eligible to be counted as
settlers' effects, I would not trust their answer.
If you want to try calling Customs again, make very sure they under- stand that you
are a first-time settler and intend to import your possessions as settlers' effects.
If they still insist that you'll have to pay duty and taxes on the car, ask them to
explain exactly why they believe it isn't covered under the exemption for settlers'
effects. (I can't imagine why they would say such a thing, BTW.)
> Also, does anyone know if parts for my Mitsubishi Diamante 92' can be easily
> found in Canada. I heard that some models are not made for Canadian market. Is
> this particular car well marketed in Canada?
Careful! Even if people tell you that there are lots of '92 Mitsu- bishi Diamantes
sold in Canada, that does NOT necessarily mean that you won't have problems getting
parts for your car. A given make, model, and year (sold in the US) is NOT necessarily
identical to the same make, model, and year (sold in Canada).
We had lots of problems, for example, getting parts for our '84 Honda Accord. The
Canadian-model '84 Accord was a very different car (completely different engine, for
example), and the dealers' parts departments had absolutely no information about US
models. Several times, I had to phone a Honda dealer in the US, get the part number,
and then have my local dealer special-order the part (sight unseen) by its number.
The only kind of answer I would trust would be from someone else who had imported a
'92 Diamante to Canada from the US.
> The car itself has about 130K miles on it. Can it cause any problems?
Unless the car is in very good mechanical condition, you might want to think twice
before spending the money necessary to transport it.
The main reason, in my view, why a US-model vehicle would be a good thing to bring
with you to Canada would be if your car has NOT been driven in an area with lots of
road salt (for ice and snow). When my wife and I moved to Ontario from California
some years ago and brought our '84 Honda Accord with us, the car was considered to be
significantly more valuable in Ontario than other '84 Honda Accords, precisely
because our car had no rust damage. Of course, you'll need to take very good care of
the car once you've moved, or else you'll lose this advantage pretty quickly. :-{
> The last question I have is about car insurance. Will my wife's and my
> experience as a driver in our home countries and the US be taken into account
> by Canadian insurance companies for a discounted price on our Canadian
> insurance policy?
Your US driving experience, at least, probably will help you. Not only for insurance
purposes, but also when you try to exchange your current driver's licence for a new
one in Canada. Ontario, for instance, has a "graduated licensing" program, under
which new drivers get restricted licences and have to work up to a full licence. If
you can show that you've been licensed in the US for several years, this will help
you greatly. (I don't know all the details about this from first-hand experience,
since graduated licensing was introduced in Ontario after we moved there.)
The best situation would be if your current insurance is with a company that also
does business in the province you're moving to. State Farm, for instance, exists in
Ontario; when we immigrated, it was trivial for us to transfer our (State Farm) auto
insurance.
Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.richw.org
*NOTE: I've lived in both Canada and the US and have dual citizenship.
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.
> . . . we are moving to Ontario (probably Toronto area)
> . . . . As a first-time settler, do I have to pay the excise taxes if my
> car has air conditioning and weighs more than 2,007 kg (excessive weight
> tax)? . . .
If you are moving to Canada for the first time, you should be able to import your car
without paying any duty or taxes, under the "settlers' effects" exemption.
You will still have to pay the RIV processing fee, though. And keep in mind that
anything you import as settlers' effects can't be sold (or even given away) in Canada
for a full year after the date on which it clears Customs.
> I called the customs and was told that I will have to pay these taxes, . . .
Unless you were explicitly told that the vehicle was not eligible to be counted as
settlers' effects, I would not trust their answer.
If you want to try calling Customs again, make very sure they under- stand that you
are a first-time settler and intend to import your possessions as settlers' effects.
If they still insist that you'll have to pay duty and taxes on the car, ask them to
explain exactly why they believe it isn't covered under the exemption for settlers'
effects. (I can't imagine why they would say such a thing, BTW.)
> Also, does anyone know if parts for my Mitsubishi Diamante 92' can be easily
> found in Canada. I heard that some models are not made for Canadian market. Is
> this particular car well marketed in Canada?
Careful! Even if people tell you that there are lots of '92 Mitsu- bishi Diamantes
sold in Canada, that does NOT necessarily mean that you won't have problems getting
parts for your car. A given make, model, and year (sold in the US) is NOT necessarily
identical to the same make, model, and year (sold in Canada).
We had lots of problems, for example, getting parts for our '84 Honda Accord. The
Canadian-model '84 Accord was a very different car (completely different engine, for
example), and the dealers' parts departments had absolutely no information about US
models. Several times, I had to phone a Honda dealer in the US, get the part number,
and then have my local dealer special-order the part (sight unseen) by its number.
The only kind of answer I would trust would be from someone else who had imported a
'92 Diamante to Canada from the US.
> The car itself has about 130K miles on it. Can it cause any problems?
Unless the car is in very good mechanical condition, you might want to think twice
before spending the money necessary to transport it.
The main reason, in my view, why a US-model vehicle would be a good thing to bring
with you to Canada would be if your car has NOT been driven in an area with lots of
road salt (for ice and snow). When my wife and I moved to Ontario from California
some years ago and brought our '84 Honda Accord with us, the car was considered to be
significantly more valuable in Ontario than other '84 Honda Accords, precisely
because our car had no rust damage. Of course, you'll need to take very good care of
the car once you've moved, or else you'll lose this advantage pretty quickly. :-{
> The last question I have is about car insurance. Will my wife's and my
> experience as a driver in our home countries and the US be taken into account
> by Canadian insurance companies for a discounted price on our Canadian
> insurance policy?
Your US driving experience, at least, probably will help you. Not only for insurance
purposes, but also when you try to exchange your current driver's licence for a new
one in Canada. Ontario, for instance, has a "graduated licensing" program, under
which new drivers get restricted licences and have to work up to a full licence. If
you can show that you've been licensed in the US for several years, this will help
you greatly. (I don't know all the details about this from first-hand experience,
since graduated licensing was introduced in Ontario after we moved there.)
The best situation would be if your current insurance is with a company that also
does business in the province you're moving to. State Farm, for instance, exists in
Ontario; when we immigrated, it was trivial for us to transfer our (State Farm) auto
insurance.
Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.richw.org
*NOTE: I've lived in both Canada and the US and have dual citizenship.
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.
Jan 11th 2002, 5:55 pm
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Rich,
Thanks a lot for your detailed reply to my message. I appreciate it. I have just one
mpore question to ask you and anyone else who may know about it:
>
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What will happen if I sell my car within the first year? Will I be required to pay
all the taxes (GST and all kinds of excise taxes) or does it trigger some other
consequences?
Thanks again
Vlad
Thanks a lot for your detailed reply to my message. I appreciate it. I have just one
mpore question to ask you and anyone else who may know about it:
>
>
>
>
>
>
What will happen if I sell my car within the first year? Will I be required to pay
all the taxes (GST and all kinds of excise taxes) or does it trigger some other
consequences?
Thanks again
Vlad
Jan 12th 2002, 1:55 am
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
"Vlad" wrote:
> What will happen if I sell my car within the first year?
My understanding is that if anything imported as settlers' effects is sold or given
away in Canada within the first year, you will immediately become liable for any
taxes and/or customs duties which you would have had to pay originally (if you had
not claimed the exemption for settlers' effects).
Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.richw.org
*NOTE: I've lived in both Canada and the US and have dual citizenship.
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.
> What will happen if I sell my car within the first year?
My understanding is that if anything imported as settlers' effects is sold or given
away in Canada within the first year, you will immediately become liable for any
taxes and/or customs duties which you would have had to pay originally (if you had
not claimed the exemption for settlers' effects).
Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.richw.org
*NOTE: I've lived in both Canada and the US and have dual citizenship.
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.
