Canaduh to US online buy - tax question

[sirensynapse]

Hi, looking at Grin's stuff and weighing whether it's cheaper to buy from an EU distributor or have my american sister smuggle the stuff in for me.
I've been abroad a long time, so am not up on tax matters in the US beyond bits I just googled.
Can anyone tell me what the deal is with buying online from canada? Do you pay the state sale tax in your state or does it vary by city within your state?

Would shipping to one of the 5 remaining state-taxless states avoid taxes altogether? I'm sure I could find an intermediary in one of them to reship to NY.

I did read that anything under $800 avoids custom fees. Still correct?

Thanks.

 

[marty]

Shipping - Support - Shop

Grin Technologies

ebikes.ca

Duties, Brokerage, and Taxes​

All shipments within Canada will have applicable federal and provincial sales tax (GST, HST, and/or PST) applied to the total depending on the province.

For international shipments including to the USA, Grin does not charge any taxes or fees at the time of check out. However international shipments may be subject to local taxes or import fees. This is dependent on the nature of the shipment, the manufacturing origin of the items, the final destination and the dollar value. Unfortunately we have seen a recent increase in import tariffs on items manufactured in China that are shipping to the USA.

The duty and brokerage situation is largely out of our control. Shipments going via courier (eg FedEx) will usually have the required import paperwork handled by a 3rd party and billed to the receiver at a later date. Air mail shipments are handled differently from country to country depending on the national postal service.

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Where I live Buffalo NY. On the edge of Canada. We have Customs Brokers who spend every day all day doing paperwork for all the trucks that come from Canada. Paperwork is so confusing only special people can understand it.

This is a lot to read?

Customs Duty Information

Securing America's Borders

www.cbp.gov

 

[neptronix]

I've not been charged sales tax by them when ordering from the US. it's possible that they are not liable to charge sales tax for a foreign country.
I hear that if you order over $800 or so, there's a chance you'll get hit by the road pirates ( customs ).
I have never ordered $800 of goods in one order and have never paid customs.

I've made 14 orders with them since 2014. About 4 of those were recent ( last couple months )

 

[sirensynapse]

I've not been charged sales tax by them when ordering from the US. it's possible that they are not liable to charge sales tax for a foreign country.
I hear that if you order over $800 or so, there's a chance you'll get hit by the road pirates ( customs ).
I have never ordered $800 of goods in one order and have never paid customs.

I've made 14 orders with them since 2014. About 4 of those were recent ( last couple months )

But what about state sales tax? Did you get hit with it somewhere, somehow? I can't imagine how they could do that unless they do it directly via Grin.

 

[neptronix]

No sales taxes of any kind anywhere.
I've been buying things from Canada for some decades and have never been charged USA sales tax.

Customs are another issue. Keep the total order amount under the De Minimis value, and the chances that you avoid them are very high.

This is an old page but as i understand it, the De Minimis value is still the same in the USA.

 

[sirensynapse]

 

[sirensynapse]

Thanks, Barak. He giveth with one hand, then with his banker buddies, taketh 100x more with the other. Good, I can use the money saved to help my sister fly over to visit, and smuggle some of it. Or at least avoid shipping costs, which are outrageous over the atlantic.

 

[neptronix]

i wish you the best in your motor smuggling efforts