Hi all,

My wonderful parents recently bought me a lovely new laptop!

The frustrating thing is that they bought it directly from the manufacturer in the UK and I am in Canada. If I get them to mail it to me, will I be taxed on delivery? Or is it different because it is a gift?

How does this work so I know what to expect?

You will likley be charged sales tax and duty (which could be up to 20% duty, plus GST & PST or HST, depending on province), does not matter that it is a gift or not. You may want to get your parents to send the sales receipt with itor directly to you to prove the value, otherwise CBSA on behalf of CRA may make their own determination, regardless of the declared value on the package.

Yes, you will probably be charged tax & duty as mentioned in the previous reply. My OH's mother decided to buy us a touch screen computer as a Christmas gift. However, she didn't tell us she was planning on doing this (they are cheaper to buy here in Canada!!), and bought it in the UK, shipping it over to Canada. It cost her a fortune to send, and cost me $500 in tax and duty Makes no difference if it's a gift as you still get charged on any amount over $50 value (I think it's $50, but I could be wrong!). The postie wouldn't accept cash or cheque either - had to be credit card!!

Hi
If you get them to bring it over for you...you won't be charged duty .....on their next visit or as an excuse for a visit?
lol
Stef

So long as they don't bring it in the box and make it look like is is personal use. If CBSA figure it is not being taken out of the country after they leave then duty and taxes apply. Visitors exemption applies only to goods they will take home when they leave. Same gift rules apply as if sent by mail or delivered personally.

Thanks to all of you for the excellent replies! Very useful. I'm probably not going to take the risk and get them to bring it with them (minus box!) in the fall as they will be visiting anyway

I guess my shiny new lappy will have to stay shiny for another few months!

I think that's best. One more thing. Make sure they know how to turn it on. Occasionally the airport security people will ask that you do that.

I sent my 12 mth old laptop to my daughter in Toronto from the US. Unfortunately I put the replacement value on the insurance form and that's the figure the duty was based on. She had to pay the duty upon delivery...it was a couple of hundred dollars.

One thing to consider...I sent my laptop because my daughter was a new student at the time and needed a replacement laptop pronto. She'd just moved to Toronto to attend uni...she had a new laptop but it died. Neither Staples or the manufacturers in Canada would honour the warranty...she had to mail it back to the US.