Exporting Boat to Canada

[bkhanson]

We are looking at buying a boat in the U.S. and importing it to Canada. Does anyone have any advice or know of websites where information can be found on costs, taxes etc. when purchasing a boat like this? Thanks, Kathy

[Faster]

It's a fairly simple process - easier if you bring the boat across the border yourself rather than have it trucked across (your trucking bill, if applicable, will be lower too)

In many cases it is a phone call check in, after which you are given 3 days to report to the customs office to pay whatever taxes/duties may be applied. In rare cases they will come and inspect the vessel. (out of 7 importations I was involved in during the last 3 years, only two were inspected)

With NAFTA there is no duty if the boat is North-American built, so you will be liable for GST and/or PST depending on the province. If it's foreign built there is an additional 9.5% duty applied. It may be possible to get exemptions for any North American supplied equipment on board.

The US dollar is way cheaper these days, and this is a great time to do this. We bought in the US 2 1/2 years ago (85 cent dollar) and still came home with a better boat at a better price than what was available locally. (a sad statement on the local market...)

Customs will calculate the tax/duty values off the converted currency on the day you pay - so if the dollar moves between purchase and importation there may be some slight differences there.

Good Luck

[bkhanson]

Thanks for the helpful info.Much appreciated.

[Faster]

In addition:

Customs, of course, will want to see the bill of sale. It's also a good idea to get a copy of the US owners "title" document - this proves that the boat was his to sell and that it's not stolen, for example.

If you try to get an exemption for North American built accessories or add ons, get a listing w/values on as official a piece of paper as you can (Broker's letterhead etc). I was successful in this, a subsequent attempt by a friend did not get a break. I guess it depends on your luck of the draw with the custom person you deal with. This is only a concern, of course, if the boat is not North American built.

DO NOT try to undervalue the boat for tax or duty purposes. Recently some people brought a small boat on a trailer into Canada, and tried to save a few buck on taxes by listing the sale price lower that actual. They did this with the collusion of the seller, apparently, but the Canadian customs actually googled the boat design and noted that the listed price was way too low. They impounded boat, trailer and vehicle and advised my friends to "stop lying now". So they ended up paying all the taxes plus a penalty equal to their attempted savings. Doesn't pay to mess with Customs.

In several of the cases I was involved with, the boats were trucked from Oregon or California. It was consideraby cheaper to truck the boat to Blaine on the US Canada border than to have the trucking company bring the boat to Vancouver. The drivers would much rather avoid the customs/border hassle.

We then sailed the boats to Vancouver and cleared customs at one of the several locations specified by Customs. They will insist that you go to a dock as instructed and call from there. I suspect there are cameras on the docks so they can confirm that your descriptions are accurate.

Also it'll go easier if you have passports available for all persons on board, they will want their names and IDs during your reporting in. Have all info at hand - purchase price, boat size & descr, crew, route etc etc.

But it is a pretty painless process - other than the strain on your pocketbook.

[ebs001]

Register the boat in Alberta or Quebec, don't licence it or register it in your home province and save paying the PST. Revenue Canada and Customs do not care. You will have to pay the GST however.

[GBurton]

How about buying a boat in Canada and bringing it into the US?

[Faster]

Don't know the details there, but it happens a lot (perhaps less so now that the dollars are nearing par) so there can't be that much to it!

[Valiente]

Faster gives good advice. I considered buying a French-built boat registered in New York State last year, but the duties and taxes were stupidly prohibitive (like 24% above the sale price). I ended up buying locally, but discovered that there's a hell of a lot of good American boats (and even unusual custom-built and Canadian boats sold originally to Americans) in the Pacific North West.

I don't know who would get paid in tax terms if you bought an American boat in a foreign locale and carted it back to Canada, but there's a load of cruise-ready and cruising-couple short boats in the western Caribbean and Panama. I think some people give up down there or split up, and I saw more than one "priced to move" and reasonably updated and equipped big cruiser down that way. The logistics of visiting and getting a proper survey done were daunting, however. I got very lucky in finding something ocean-appropriate in Toronto.

[Sailormann]

Register the boat in Alberta or Quebec, don't licence it or register it in your home province and save paying the PST. Revenue Canada and Customs do not care. You will have to pay the GST however.

The PST will be collected by Customs when you declare the boat. You may be able to apply for a refund at a later date, depending on where you are resident.

If you are carrying $10,000.00 or more across the border ENSURE that you report this to both Canadian and US Customs as you exit Canada and enter the States. If you do not, it may be confiscated.