Customs?

[mo]

Heres an unorthodox question... Arent computer components supposed to be duty free from the US to canada? Anyone know?

I want to order my motherboard, and ram from the US but I donot wish to pay the customs fees and broker fees etc... It wouldnt be worth it.

[pHaestus]

duty free?

hahahahaha

NOTHING comes into Canada without the govt getting a cut (GST and PST).

[mo]

PSHAW:P

[pHaestus]

I have heard that if you have things sent as a gift valued at under $20CAD (or a test sample with no commercial value) then it doesn't cost you any thing. Good luck getting a computer store to ship from US with that method tho. If you have american friends who will buy you newegg refurb mobos on the other hand, it works out fairly well (or so I've heard)

You are in Quebec though; don't they actually LIKE paying taxes over there?

[bigben2k]

ROTFLMAO!!!

Yes, 8.5% GST (federal sales tax), on top of which you add 7.5% PST (provincial sales tax), which is calculated OVER the previous tax, so even the tax is taxed!!!

Here I pay 8.25% tax. That's it!

Your best bet is to find a Canadian supplier that's not in Quebec, to avoid the PST. You'll pay shipping, but on a valuable order, it's worth it.

[iceheart]

Hah! Even here in Sweden (which is the highest taxed country in the world) there's no tax for importing things if you aren't a business . I figure the 25% income tax is enough there without the additional 22% sales tax we see otherwise.

[pHaestus]

At least in my salary range, 33% income tax (state + federal) and then ~15% sales tax. So actual take home ~ 50%. For some ****ing reason Canadians seem to think this is superior; they hold "socialized medicine" up, but I was always employed in the US so I had insurancs.

That isn't what really bothers me though. The price of plane tickets is my real sore point. In Delaware, I could fly anywhere in the US (even nonstop to San Francisco or LA) for no more than $200US. It was nothing ($500-600) for my wife, son, and I to fly home (Louisiana) for 4-5 days to visit. We won $99 pricewatch tickets before for that trip in fact. From Saskatoon, it's $800CAD per ticket ($2400 total). So even though I am a professor now, my standard of living (in terms of what my disposable income would buy me) was higher when a grad student in the US. Gay gay gay.

[mo]

I stopped working as an employee the moment my tax bracket went over 40%. I ended up netting much less with a higher income:P It pays to be an independant contractor Although lawyers/accountants are a tax on their own:P

As you said phaestus, it is cheaper to buy from outside quebec and save a bit. I guess Ill just have to get OCZ Ram and hope it does the job well. Seems thats the easier to get in Canada than Corsair.

[pHaestus]

www.ncix.com sells corsair. They are in BC so no PST. The PC3200 is I think $170 CAD for a 256mb CL2 stick

[bigben2k]

Since I moved stateside, I've enjoyed income tax lower than 15% (down from 30%), and 8.25% sales tax, instead of 15.56%. There's an additional cost with the health insurance, but that's about $20 US per month, for the wife and I, with a $1'000 deductible.

I think I'm ahead now...

[Skulemate]

Sort of off topic, but what the hey... every package D-TEK has ever sent me has had the customs value printed on the box... and every time it has been listed as $10US. I've never paid an extra dime importing their stuff. Thought that was pretty decent of them.