Canadians...... Tax importing a boat?
 

Do you know what all the taxes are importing a boat? What is the actual percentage? Not sure if each province is the same but in particular Alberta.

Gst + pst...... Or. If your province has hst that's it.
There is no duty.

If your in alberta you just have to pay the 5% gst at the border. I haven't imported one but I looked into it and it appears that Border Services is more interested in the trailer than the boat. There is a fee of some sort ($200 I think), and you'll need to get it inspected. I guess it's a pretty easy process as long as you have all the paperwork lined up at the border before hand. I was thinking about doing it but now that the Can $ is not doing so great, it needs to be a pretty amazing deal down south to make it worth it and save you any money over buying one up here. If your in Alberta you might want to wait a bit, the Calgary boat show was this weekend so there may be a few people looking to sell their used boats to make room for a new one.

I did it a few years back and it was very easy to do. Coming back you don't even have to stop at US Customs. Just pay your 5% GST at Canadian Customs and then you have to get the trailer inspected at a Canadian Tire within a couple weeks. I can't remember exactly how much it was but the $200 sounds about right. Make sure you have title on the trailer and boat and have a separate invoice for the trailer and boat as well. A temporary registration can be bought from any registry for transport in Canada. The final registration can be purchased after the CDN Tire inspection.

I agree with Tony about prices now. There's not that much of a difference between the US and Canada anymore after you pay for transport, fx, etc. That said, it's a bigger market and deals can be found if you're patient and willing to do some work.

Just a warning though it to make sure the seller has title in hand. There's lots of stories about people selling boats when there's still a lien and the bank has title.

(Edit, I just saw that you're in Portland so I'm guessing you're selling to an Albertan. It is easier for the buyer to bring it across the boarder themselves rather than have a transport company do it.)

Thanks all... Just had someone asking me and I knew you guys would be quick to answer.

Wow you selling your new SC that fast? HAHA.

Negative Spencer. Might have to keep that in the stable.... Got an MC X1 for sale though....

Hey Diggs, the trailer has to go through the RIV process but that's not tough. The boat comes through with the GST to pay at the border on the purchase price of boat and trailer. If the bill of sale looks like a really low value they will check that so it's not worth fudging for the buyer. No affect on you as the seller.
I've brought two cars up from Portland and that's more complicated but it's not tough.

There must still be a difference in some area's. I sold 2 boats in August to people who lived near Calgary. They said it was way cheaper to drive to Minnesota to pick up a boat. They both want a phone call when I am ready to sell my 2014 in August and have all but guaranteed they will know of a buyer.

The difference in boat prices new and used can be 30-50%. Some cars are priced different by a lot also, but not all.

Our Canadian dollar was trading at around 96-97 cents on the dollar back in August. Now were at 90 cents, and most economists predict we'll be at 85 cents or under by the end of summer. In some cases it will still be cheaper to buy down south but thats changing fast.

Its pretty rare to see that kind of a price difference in the last few years. I'd say more like 10-15% from prices at the last few boat shows i've been to. The gap really narrowed cause so many people were buying in the US and bringing them back to Canada. I've been boat shopping for a few months and in the 30-50k price range the price difference really isn't that much. Once you actually sit down and pencil out the numbers with shipping costs, tax at the border, and exchange rate, in many cases its cheaper to just buy one here.

I imported two last year. One from Phoenix, one from Austin, TX.

I used this website as a guideline and imported them to SK.

http://boating.ncf.ca/buy-usa.html

The first was a breeze.

The second was not as simple because it was only two months after the first. I had sold the first one to a guy who was interested and went back for the next. The CBSA had come to the conclusion I was bringing them to sell. I ended up being interrogated in a back room for a while assuring them I wasn't planning on being a dealer. They want their portion of your profit if you are although there are no "limits" on how many you can buy for "personal" use.

Just a little heads up

From what I have seen boats in Alberta and saskatchewan are quite a bit more than even BC. Alberta charges a premium to all the local oil boys that have lots of money. Saw two used G21's for sale that were both asking $128k. Was a brand new one at the boat show in Vancouver for $ 125k. I know it can change depending on how loaded they are but still. Was about $ 6k difference on a new MB.

For the used boat market the prices between the US and Canada are pretty much the same. The only difference is the amount of selection you have coming out of the US compared to Canada. The dollar dropping doesn't help now either.

I think new prices in Alberta are pretty competitive but negotiated price can be very different. I think some dealers will put up an outrageous price and if someone pays it then good for them. If you're willing to grind a bit or wait for the boats shows then pricing is similar. At the Calgary boat show this year they had the G23 at $130K. The G21 was $125K (new). I can't remember all the options but it was pretty well loaded with NSS, etc. To buy this in the US and be worthwhile it would have to be around $110K to account for shipping and fx. Maybe this happens but I haven't heard of them going that low. They had a new X30 for just over $100K.

I know one dealer buys his stock directly from the manufacturer and pays in USD. I'm not sure if other manufacturers have CDN distributors that take their cut. It's worth noting that the boats at the boat show are existing stock with many of them being purchased when the CDN dollar was higher.

I agree with Dave that average used prices are similar on both sides of the boarder. Good deals can still be found for those willing to do a bit of searching and traveling.

:cool: I guess I'm out of the loop on current prices.

one thing that might send me south of the border to buy my first boat is pre-owned inventory, not a lot to choose from here in southern Ontario...when you compare to say Texas or somewhere else down south. who wants to pay the 'going price" for something that is not exactly what you want.

Used G21's?? Wow, don't think there is even a new one sold yet?

G23...whatever