Really? When do you remit the PST? I can't remember paying it when I imported my car. Only GST and the 6% foreign origin, paid to the ministry at time of registration. But that was a few years ago so I may be mistaken (or things have changed).
Before, you would pay the GST and duty at the border and then the PST when you registered the vehicle. Now that the PST and GST are "harmonized", where do you pay, at the MTO or at the border? There is no such thing as PST or GST now, just HST. Hmmmm...
When you cross the border the following is done in order: 1. The amount you paid in USD is converted to CDN. The exchange is based on the rate at that moment. 2. You pay 6.1% import duty on that amount 3. The duty and purchase price are added together 4. You pay GST on that total amount. Yes you pay GST on the 6.1% duty 5. At the MTO you pay PST on the total #3. Again you are paying PST on the 6.1% duty As for the HST I am not sure whether it will be paid at the point of entry or the MTO. In the end the total remains the same. Now for the good part for business owners. Whether you are importing a car or buying it locally the full HST is remitted back to you if the vehicle is purchased by the company. In the past you only got the GST back and now you get the whole HST so essentially another 8% back. This was normally only the domain of dealers who did not pay the PST because they charged the PST when selling the car (ie they were not the end user). On rare occasions tax hikes benefit someone.
I have exported quite a few cars to Canada, and am familiar with the paperwork needed for importation. For Ferraris and Lambos that went to Canada, I always provide a recent recall clearance letter. However, on other makes, a printout of the carfax showing no open recalls was enough. Pre Purchase Inspections are always advised for any used Ferrari or Lambo, unless purchasing a new 2010 / 2011 US model. With new cars, I get them titled and registered first in the USA prior to export. This avoids causing problems between the manufacturer and the US dealer. The entire process is not complicated.
Recall clearance letters OR the printout from the dealers service computers showing no outstanding recalls are the ONLY documents acceptable to the R.I.V, despite what manufacturers or people may say. I recentley spoke to the R.I.V about this last week because apparentley Ferrari North America is not selling the letters anymore because R.I.V accepts carfax's, this is absolutey not true! So be careful people! Lambo will sell you one for $2000 Ferrari will sell you one for $7-$8000 BMW I think is $500 And most other manufacturers will give you one for free.
About two months ago, I sold a 2007 BMW 530xi to a customer in Toronto. When he came to New Jersey to inspect and test drive the car, he insisted that a copy of the Carfax report would be all he needed to send to RIV. He also said that a friend of his had imported a US car back in 2006 using only a Carfax report. I told him that in recent years, all the cars I sold to Canada needed a recall clearance letter. A short time later, he told me the Carfax was not accepted by RIV. The RIV stated to him the following: "Received recall document, however it cannot be accepted. This is a CARFAX printout, which is not an acceptable format. Thus, we still require a letter to be from either the American or Canadian head office, or a printout from an authorized dealer's internal network computer system. Please note this case cannot be completed until a new recall letter is received that meets these criteria". I immediately provided him with a printout of the BMW Vehicle Warranty Inquiry, and that resolved the issue with RIV. Years ago, the Carfax may have been accepted, but not any longer.
They asked me for a recall clearance letter also when I was importing. Luckily the dealer I purchased from included it for me at no charge.
Most of the posts in this thread seem to be about buyers residing in Canada, purchasing a car in the U.S., and then arranging for importation into Canada. I have a slightly different question: If I'm a Canadian citizen who has been residing in the U.S. for the last few years but am moving back to Canada, do I still have to pay sales tax on a car I bought five years ago? If so, on what will the tax be based, my purchase price from then, or the current book value of the car?
I believe that personal property including motor vehicles are exempt from taxes if you have been out of the country for 1 year or more. I may be wrong on this one but a friend of mine moved back after more than a year and all of their stuff including a car came in tax free.
If this is true... then this is extremely good news for me. Any ideas of how I might verify this? Google searches have yielded nothing that suggests this is the case, though I am about to redouble my efforts.
That is not true, regardless if you buy a car thru your company you are only allowed a maximum of $3000 HST total for imput tax credit on car purchases. Example you buy a 200k f-car for the company and pay $26k in HST you can only claim up to $3k worth of HST.
it's technically somewhat true BUT and a BIG BUT! is there is a huge list of criteria that have to be met for any sort of tax break to be given and generally not many people fit into this area. I JUST confirmed this with a customs broker a few days ago.
If it was a original Canadian car wouldn't the milage be in kilometer? BTW your 1995 355B sounds very interesting to me, care to share more information on the car specs!
If the car is titled / plated in the US, then it's the same process as importing any other US car. In this case, the 6.1% Duty will be applied. Since it's a '95, it is not required to complete the RIV program, so no recall letter and no federal inspection. A provincial inspection will likely be required, but that depends on the province and should be the responsibility of the buyer to determine / arrange.
Dont be fooled. That car has more miles on it than its showing. This guy is throwing out the bait hoping someone might take it.
My god, don't listen to James. It easy to bring a ferrari into Canada, and don't worry about ferrari of north america, they don't want any 7000 for anything. Just follow the registeration process. You don't need an offiicial recall letter from no one, the RIV now accepts carfax reports, as long as it says no outstanding recalls, you are fine. Of course ferrari will not tell you this, and james won't either. Its very easy, and don't call your local ferrari dealer, he will give you the bull**** that they need to inspect the entire car before giving you a recall letter. I brought in my 355 from the states, with no problems at all. I paid my taxes through a broker, that only charged me $195 to process, I spoke to RIV regarding that I did not have a recall letter, I faxed them a copy of my carfax report, they never looked at it, they said they run their own carfax, no problem, my inspection was granted at canadian tires, and forms sent to my house. So don't listen to anyone who is trying to scare with the process.
C'mon, guys lets take it easy on James. Regardless if he is right or wrong I feel there is a way to discuss and prove a point without throwing a fellow member under the bus. From what I faintly recall in the other (much bigger) thread regarding importation, you will find that the carfax option was still a grey area. If it has become a sure way to avoid costly letters and such then great! All we can add to these threads is helpful info for people to use at their own discretion. Thanks guys!
I whole-heartedly agree, but how is that any different than warning fellow members of a poor service station or dealership? I've never heard anything negative towards James' business, but if there's something that should be brought to everyone's attention, I wouldn't be opposed to hearing it. It may save fellow members money and time.
Again you misunderstood. You say that if something should be said then say it right? That is what I said in my post too. Did I not? Save fellow members and time? Perfect, but did I not say that also? The question I have is why not discuss this and put out this information without jumping on anyone? Now go back to the bimmer forum since you finally bought a real car!
