Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim F
Great information but I do have a follow up question.
An American visiting Canada has an $800 duty free limit. This $800 tax free limit was also applied to any online purchases from Canadian sellers(probably other countries too but not sure).
So which rules take precedent?
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Actually it is not a good question and you may be confusing apples and oranges, so to speak.
Sales and use taxes are state based taxes here in the U.S. and are to be levied on the purchase of goods (and services in some cases) that are either purchased by a customer/user in that particular state, or are delivered to them from an out of state purchase for use/consumption in that state where the customer/consumer lives and/or operates their business. Custom and duty fees are federal/national taxes on the movement of goods back and forth across international borders. The one really has nothing to do with the other. If you purchased something online below the $800 Canadian duty free limit and had it mailed/delivered to your home in a U.S. state that has sales/use taxes, you as the purchaser would still be technically liable for the sales tax (or in this case use tax assuming the Canadian seller wasn't required to charge you the sales tax for the state you live in) owed to the state you lived in and had the item delivered to. Whether you had to pay a Canadian duty/fee or not, would have nothing to do with whether or not you also owed sales/use to your home state.