A USA resident importing a car to Canada

[arian_ma]

Alright so I did a search for this, didn't really know what to type into the search so I got absoloutly no results.
Skimmed through JAYMEZ's thread as well but didn't find much since I didn't read the whole thing.

Here is my situation, I want to import a car from the states. Right, easy enough. But I am in a pretty good situation because my dad, who lived and worked in the States for 2 and a half years has recently moved back to Canada. Now, I want to know if there is anything I can do to get out of paying the tarrifs for this car. For example, my dad buys the car as his, brings it back and claims it as his property that he is bringing back to Canada (He lived here for 6 years before that). Would the car be temporarily here (I found a bunch of info on this) or would he be able to bring the car in permanently as his "personal property"?

Possible? Any other options I have to save money?

Thanks all in advance, and if you know of a thread where there is a lot of info on this could you please forward me to it?

Arian

[tictactoe2004]

Originally posted by arian_ma
Alright so I did a search for this, didn't really know what to type into the search so I got absoloutly no results.
Skimmed through JAYMEZ's thread as well but didn't find much since I didn't read the whole thing.

wow... :banghead:

[Team_Mclaren]

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107279

[Weapon_R]

His situation is a little different. I don't know if there are exemptions for personal belongings brought over the border.

My first instinct, however, would be that the Canadian government would tell you to sell the car in the U.S. and buy a Canadian one before they would let you bring it over duty free.

Also, the VIN # will tell them where the vehicle was originally destined for. For example, you cannot hide the fact that your dads car was a U.S. car to try and avoid customs.

[xrayvsn]

Looks like you can bring in a personal vehicle as "personal or household effect" duty and tax free. You will have to pay for any provincial tax when you license it in Canada, and probably State sales tax if you buy it new or from a dealaer in the US.

See page 7 from the Canada Border Services Agency pdf on Canadian residents moving back to Canada:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cp/rc4105/rc4105-06e.pdf

[arian_ma]

Thanks Weapon_R and xrayvsn for your posts.

My question to you xrayvsn: would there be some sort of restriction on how long my dad has to own the car before he can bring it into Canada? Cause as it sits now, I would buy the vehicle and drive it (or ship it) the next day.


Originally posted by Weapon_R

Also, the VIN # will tell them where the vehicle was originally destined for. For example, you cannot hide the fact that your dads car was a U.S. car to try and avoid customs.

What do you mean by that? I'm not trying to scam them, just trying to find loop holes ;) If it's my dad's "Personal car" then he would just be bringing it to Canada since he is moving back right?

EDIT: Also, that website you posted (xrayvsn) does not talk about much paper work, it looks really really simple, just call RIV, talk to them and they give you paper work for all of it...is that right or do I still need to go through all of the other paper work as well?

[xrayvsn]

I think you still need to go through the whole import process as you would with any car. To be sure, you may want to contact both the RIV and CBSA and find out.

I only know as much as you do now, since I briefly looked through the pdf I linked you. I am by no means an expert on the subject.

[SwitchBlade]

What year of car?

[arian_ma]

2000+ ^^

Thanks a lot xrayvsn.

[lint]

Just because your dad worked and lived in the US for 2 years doesn't make him a resident. Was he there on a work visa, or does he have his green card? If he was on a visa, he's not a US resident, he's just a canadian working in the US.

[arian_ma]

^^ That's what I thought as well, and asked him, he told me he was a US resident.
If this goes through I will save a TON of money!

[lint]

what kind of car is it? If it was manufactured in NA, you don't pay duties anyways.

[749009]

unless rules have changed, this is what applied in your case last time I checked:

An American resident, immigrating permanently to Canada, is allowed to bring a vehicle into Canada, free of duty and taxes (classed as personal property) PROVIDING the vehicle had been owned and registered in the immigrant's name, in the US, for I believe, at least 6 months prior to the immigration.

I also believe the vehicle was then subject to a "disposal restriction" which meant the immigrant was not allowed to resell the imported vehicle until after 1 year had elapsed from the time of the import / immigration.