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標題: crossing the border.. citizen but not a resident [打印本頁]

作者: cinderelly 時間: 2009-9-23 11:28 標題: crossing the border.. citizen but not a resident

A friend of mine is a Canadian Citizen but has since moved back to HK for about 3 years now.
She will be back for a short visit and we plan to head down to the USA to shop and return within the same day.
My question is that will she need to pay duties and taxes when we declare our purchases at the border even if she is not a resident?

i checked with the canada border services agency's website but i couldn't really find any info on that. it only mentions that if you're away from canada for PART of the year.. then yes, you'll still need to pay because the other country treats you as a visitor.
but in my friend's case she's actually a visitor to canada cuz she lives and works in hk. she's not a resident of canada

does anyone know..? thanks in advance =)

作者: 吳孟達 時間: 2009-9-23 11:42

But the point is, is your friend coming from the border using Canadian Passport? If yes, I think they need to pay taxes.

I had the same situation before and my friends all need to pay taxes when return back to Canada using Canadian Passport.

作者: myversa 時間: 2009-9-23 11:52

Yes I think it depends on which passport she will be using to enter Canada.

作者: cinderelly 時間: 2009-9-23 12:23

本帖最後由 cinderelly 於 2009-9-23 13:24 編輯

hm. is it possible to enter the US with a canadian passport, and return with a HK passport?? she'll need to apply for a visa to enter the US then, am i right..?

作者: myversa 時間: 2009-9-23 12:33

if you do that it will create complication. The best would be "using what passport to go into the country and best to use that passport to leave the country."

作者: 吳孟達 時間: 2009-9-23 13:42

hm. is it possible to enter the US with a canadian passport, and return with a HK passport?? she'll need to apply for a visa to enter the US then, am i right..?
cinderelly 發表於 2009-9-23 13:23

Don't ever do that..
If you want to back to Canada as soon as possible...
If using HK passport to enter, they will question you for sure.

One of my friend's experience:

One car with 3 friends. 2 of them are Canadian, 1 is from HK. So, 3 of them went shopping in the States. When return, only the HK friend told the custom he did the shopping. The 2 Canadians did not shop. Then, they got questioned at the custom for an hour......

So, don't lie to the Canadian Custom.....

作者: athenac 時間: 2009-9-23 14:08

我都有差不多經驗
一行 7 人, 其中 4 個係 visitor
買左 $4000 美金
過海關時直接講買左 $4000
咁入到去俾 tax 時,
我朋友問 "我們係 visitor, 請問離開加拿大時, 可唔可以 claim 番d tax?"
咁個海關就問, "咁你地三個加拿大係美國買左幾多野?"
我當然有報少d, "大約 $180"
then 海關就俾我地離開
$1 tax 都唔駛俾

作者: myversa 時間: 2009-9-23 14:23

just do not say you spend nothing. They always doubt you if you spend nothing in the states...

作者: tofu 時間: 2009-9-23 16:32

how did your friend declare non-resident? did she report it on her last tax return, return her driver license &.... I mean did she declare non-resident officially or she just left canada and didn't file tax return. she doesn't need to pay any duty if she is an official non-resident. if not, they may question her.
my friend got question when she came back from hk and they marked down all the valuable items that she has and make sure she would take them with her when she left canada.
they questioned her when she came back from the state, but she didn't require to pay taxes on the stuffs she brought.

作者: Monkii 時間: 2009-9-24 13:40

奉勸大家便宜莫貪...
俾加拿大海關捉中一次, 你就會俾佢blacklist一世
每次出入境(飛機又好, 揸車又好)都會搜你, 連帶同你一齊出入境嘅人...

為咗幾percent税搞到咁嘅田地, 仲要每次過關都心慌慌, 值唔值得就你諗你啦...

作者: 布小熊 時間: 2009-9-24 14:47

This is true for any boarder crossing/dealing with custom officers.
It's same bad if you screw up with US custom and will be search and questioned every single time.....

作者: Catpiano 時間: 2009-9-24 15:29

Dont ever try to fool the US/Canadian custom ..

Even most american/canadian are dumb ass ...

but  ... as long as it is TAX related .. they are smart ass !  (oops..  ass anyway )

My parents and brother come here with british passport,  and just using that, not even bring their Canadian passport anyway ... same as when going to US, then back to Canada ..  no tax at all, however need to pay $10 US or something like that ...

( then no tax in seattle, since I am albertian! lol )

作者: cinderelly 時間: 2009-9-24 20:27

本帖最後由 cinderelly 於 2009-9-24 21:54 編輯

im really not trying to fool or trick them!
cuz i know my friend will be buying quite a lot. so we just wanted to know for sure whether she's exempt from being taxed cuz she's a non resident. she doesn't even have health care anymore so i find it unreasonable if she's getting taxed cuz she's not benefiting from it at all..
i wasn't even thinking of buying stuff and then tell the border officers that it wasn't my stuff..!

but anyhow, i ended up calling the office and the lady on the line told me that it would be a great idea if my friend could bring along some proof to show that she is indeed living in HK permanently and therefore is a non-resident of canada. but she also said it's actually entirely up to the officer to decide whether she'll need to be taxed or not =\ each officer has his/her own discretion.. is what she told me

and thanks~ everyone for their input =)

作者: news 時間: 2009-9-25 10:19

本帖最後由 news 於 2009-9-25 10:20 編輯

i think she doesnt need to pay taxes..but im not sure

作者: Catpiano 時間: 2009-9-25 20:47

Just use HK passport law .. just to be safe ..

However, since your friend is from HK ... he / she won't be interested to shop in US/Seattle anyway la.... ( unlike us .. Canadian ... lol )

作者: cinderelly 時間: 2009-10-2 22:52

in case anyone was wondering, (i remembered cuz someone brought up the issue regarding tax exemption~)
my friend did NOT get taxed at the end and her total was $350.
when she got off the plane at yvr she asked the customs officer and he told her just tell any officer that she's not a resident. and there shouldn't be a problem.
and so we did, she brought along her employment record from HK as well just in case. but the officer at the peace arch border believed us (he did not ask for proof as well) and didn't question us anymore~ =D

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