Personal import to Canada while being a visitor

#1: Post by **satoken** » December 3rd, 2022, 10:35 am

Hi,
I am visiting Canada and really want to buy a La Pavoni from Ebay, then the seller (Italian) will send it to me in Montreal. I will use it here and will bring it to my country in some weeks. I would have the following two points and appreciate receiving your comments:
1) Is this personal import allowed for such a visitor as my case?
2) In case I have to pay all Duty+GST+PST, is it possible to claim for a refund after I left Canada?.
Cheers.

December 3rd, 2022, 12:54 pm

I believe that you can import anything into Canada that is legal as long as you declare it and pay all duties & taxes. You can certainly try to reclaim the taxes. The worst that can happen is that the claim would be refused.

#3: Post by **buckersss** » December 3rd, 2022, 10:33 pm

Imo duty is not the same as "duty", the latter being what UPS, FedEx, DHL charge you if they are the courier. "Duty" in my experience can be up to 30%. "Duty" includes taxes. I have no idea about refunds.

Seems like a lot of hassle for a few weeks. You'll have a step up transformer to use it with here?

Why not just order from ECS when you get home?

#4: Post by **Nunas** » December 4th, 2022, 10:57 am

As Steve notes, anyone can import any legal item into Canada. I've imported lots of things, and nobody has ever asked me my nationality, just proof of identity sometimes when picking up a parcel at the post office. On the other hand, I doubt you can get a tax refund, as I believe Canada no longer does this. Check out this CTV article https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/major-retaile ... -1.6086806 Even under the old rules, of which I often availed myself when I was a non-resident Canadian, I doubt you'd have qualified. The rebate was for goods bought in Canada and not to be used here, then exported.

December 21st, 2022, 4:56 pm

Thank you @buckersss, @Nunas, @BaristaBoy E61 so much for your comments that make me clearer. The tax are quite high.