The amount of tins and the weight of the tobacco are on the shipping label that they use to stop it at customs. I have no idea how they are calculating it but I’m convinced that they just pull a number out of thin air.
Returning to Canada with Tobacco: Receipts Required?
- Thread starter SmokeyCanuck
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I don't think that they are taking the time to look at he labels, nor are they trusting what is written on the labels. I think that they are just setting the box on the scales and rounding off, box, filler paper, and all.
Or, they are going by what the PO put on the shipping label as weight.
It’s not just duty when you get a shipment - you also have to pay all the taxes, that’s what gets you.
You’re probably right, but it still sucks cause I’m in a remote area so getting pipe tobacco has proven to be quite a challenge. I have a modest cellar so that’s been keeping me going but eventually I’ll have to figure something out to restock without being fleeced by customs.
As I read Canada’s official taxation page, the retail excise taxes are exactly the same as those charged on travelers.
Adjusted rates of excise duty on stamped tobacco products (except raw leaf tobacco)
| Product | Rate effective April 1, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Cigarettes | $0.79162 per 5 cigarettes or fraction of 5 cigarettes contained in any package |
| Tobacco sticks | $0.15832 per tobacco stick |
| Manufactured tobacco other than cigarettes and tobacco sticks | $9.89524 per 50 grams |
Xxxx
Rounding off, Canada has a $3.20 per pack federal cigarette tax. (Compare with $1 a pack in USA)
Commercial cigarettes today use two pounds of tobacco per thousand cigarettes. (Five cartons).
The Canadian tax on five cartons is 32x5 = $160.
Loose tobacco is taxed at $10 per fifty gram. 28 grams per ounce, times 32 (two pounds) is 896 grams. 896 divided by 50 is close to 18. 18 times $10 is $180 tax on two pounds of tobacco, enough to make a thousand cigarettes.
In Canada the retailers of cigarettes also pay a tiny inventory tax. The tax rates on cigarettes in Canada is roughly the same if you buy a carton or roll your own.
Two pounds of Buoy is taxed $5.66 in the USA. Add $180 Canadian to that if imported into Canada by a traveller.
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Hypothetically, of course... someone could make some money by selling large Vienna sausage labels that fit around tins, and Altoid mint stickers that fit on the Escudo style tins. :::cough cough::: just saying... hypothetically of course.
funny you mention this, what Province you in? My last order got hit for 212$ bucks for 3 tins, I also had it reassessed and it went back to customs, they sent it to the States sender, but there was no address so it went to a postal depot in limbo, then back for reassessment I ordered it…. So now we’ll see if I get lucky or not.
I think you’re right they just make s—t up. My friend got hit 20$ per tin last November extra, I can live with that.
never used to happen, but if we keep sending them for reassessments, maybe they’ll get the message, hopefully, lol
A question for Canadian residents.
Capstan is made in Denmark using imported Virginia leaf that the tobacco farmers did not get paid more than two or three dollars a pound. That’s what Virginia leaf costs, wherever on earth it’s grown.
In a 50 gram tin of Capstan the maximum leaf cost is three dollars a pound and there are nine little cans per pound, or only 34 cents. The little can itself might cost that much.
In the USA the federal tax on a 50 gram can is only 20 cents a can.
All the cost of the tobacco and all the federal taxes in my can of Capstan cost me about fifty cents for a twenty dollar item. I pay a 10% of wholesale hidden Missouri tax and Capstan is $20 in the stores or $20 online, plus ten per cent Missouri tax sometimes, and sometimes not..
There is an enormous mark up in Capstan.
Buoy tobacco is made in North Carolina. Let’s say the leaf only costs two dollars a pound for the cheap shag. The tobacco cost for fifty grams is 25 cents. The taxes are the same 20 cents.
Buoy retails right beside the Capstan for 75 cents an ounce or about $1.25 for fifty grams.
In Canada, in theory a Canadian can of Capstan in a store should cost about $27.50 Canadian, plus federal and provincial and city taxes if any. The only difference is an extra $10 CAN a can tax. So minimum $37.50 CAN per tin in Canada.
What does it actually retail for?
Capstan is made in Denmark using imported Virginia leaf that the tobacco farmers did not get paid more than two or three dollars a pound. That’s what Virginia leaf costs, wherever on earth it’s grown.
In a 50 gram tin of Capstan the maximum leaf cost is three dollars a pound and there are nine little cans per pound, or only 34 cents. The little can itself might cost that much.
In the USA the federal tax on a 50 gram can is only 20 cents a can.
All the cost of the tobacco and all the federal taxes in my can of Capstan cost me about fifty cents for a twenty dollar item. I pay a 10% of wholesale hidden Missouri tax and Capstan is $20 in the stores or $20 online, plus ten per cent Missouri tax sometimes, and sometimes not..
There is an enormous mark up in Capstan.
Buoy tobacco is made in North Carolina. Let’s say the leaf only costs two dollars a pound for the cheap shag. The tobacco cost for fifty grams is 25 cents. The taxes are the same 20 cents.
Buoy retails right beside the Capstan for 75 cents an ounce or about $1.25 for fifty grams.
In Canada, in theory a Canadian can of Capstan in a store should cost about $27.50 Canadian, plus federal and provincial and city taxes if any. The only difference is an extra $10 CAN a can tax. So minimum $37.50 CAN per tin in Canada.
What does it actually retail for?
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I’m in BC but the same thing used to happen when I lived in Alberta. I’d send stuff back for reassessment but last time it just turned into a bigger headache than it was worth. But maybe that was just a one off situation. I like Cosmic’s idea though! I’d be ordering a whole lot of “Altoids” if someone were to start doing that!
Last I checked (which has been a while) tins in Canada retailed for 50-60 bucks. There might be some cheaper options out there though. Buying bulk saves some money but I’d have to drive 5 hours to get to the nearest pseudo tobacconist that has bulk mixtures, and I’d have a whole 5 options to choose from!
To get to a legit pipe shop I’d have to go all the way to Vancouver. So a 6-7 hour drive for me.
Generally speaking (ymmv) is that if properly declared, customs calculate duties based on the posted weights.
If not properly declared, most agents will calculate duties off the weight of the tins (or if they’re feeling particularly rude, the weight of the entire box).
Which sort of makes sense if you follow the logic that a fraudulent invoice makes everything suspect. They’re not about to crack the tins and weigh the contents separately after all.
I won’t get into my feelings on the existence of the duties at all lest I spend my evening ranting, but I think it more or less tracks within the framework set out by customs. I’ve never been overcharged when I buy from someone who accurately itemizes contents, but I’ve had some very creative interpretations of duties applied on packages of “hobby tins” or “tinned candies”.
If you want to make some money, hypothetically, there is a fairly decent market to be tapped.
I would support your business. Hypothetically.
If Americans liked Cuban cigars, hypothetically, there may be a friendly Canuck to facilitate that in return.
I’d say $50-60 CAN is a fair price.
You know there’s likely a provincial tax and maybe a municipal tax in that can.
The can costs the merchant maybe $20 CAN and he pays that $10 tax with the invoice.
The merchant isn’t going to have a huge press of folks buying $50 little cans of tobacco.
The idea of breathing in smoke isn’t consistent with health and vitality.
But it was commercial cigarettes that allowed huge tobacco companies to take 10 cent a pound tobacco (then) and make a 15 cent package of cigarettes for less than a penny, and addict the world.
Today, for every pack of cigarretes sold the tobacco farmer gets paid ten cents if he gets $2.50 a pound.
Fifteen pounds of Buoy costs $154 and will make 7,5000 delicious cigarettes, I think better than commercial.
The papers cost about $35 per carton of 2,760.
For $260 a smoker in the USA can smoke a package of Buoy cigarretes (6mm x 70mm) a day for less than 75 cents a pack.
He could try and smoke two pounds a month in a pipe and it’s the same $260, but he buys 25 pounds of Buoy.
About fifteen years ago I had a friend who decided to raise all his own tobacco and he let me have some for allowing it to cure in our hot house.
We must have done it right, he had a pickup bed clear full of the most beautiful golden yellow Virginia you can imagine.
Then we let it age six months, and tried it.
Then we tried six more months, then a year.
Then he had a big bonfire out back of his house.
Instead of paying taxes you can raise tobacco for almost nothing.
In theory you can fix your own watch, too.
I like the way you think. We might have a similar view on things like this!I’d say $50-60 CAN is a fair price.
You know there’s likely a provincial tax and maybe a municipal tax in that can.
The can costs the merchant maybe $20 CAN and he pays that $10 tax with the invoice.
The merchant isn’t going to have a huge press of folks buying $50 little cans of tobacco.
The idea of breathing in smoke isn’t consistent with health and vitality.
But it was commercial cigarettes that allowed huge tobacco companies to take 10 cent a pound tobacco (then) and make a 15 cent package of cigarettes for less than a penny, and addict the world.
Today, for every pack of cigarretes sold the tobacco farmer gets paid ten cents if he gets $2.50 a pound.
Fifteen pounds of Buoy costs $154 and will make 7,5000 delicious cigarettes, I think better than commercial.
The papers cost about $35 per carton of 2,760.
For $260 a smoker in the USA can smoke a package of Buoy cigarretes (6mm x 70mm) a day for less than 75 cents a pack.
He could try and smoke two pounds a month in a pipe and it’s the same $260, but he buys 25 pounds of Buoy.
About fifteen years ago I had a friend who decided to raise all his own tobacco and he let me have some for allowing it to cure in our hot house.
We must have done it right, he had a pickup bed clear full of the most beautiful golden yellow Virginia you can imagine.
Then we let it age six months, and tried it.
Then we tried six more months, then a year.
Then he had a big bonfire out back of his house.
Instead of paying taxes you can raise tobacco for almost nothing.
In theory you can fix your own watch, too.
This was my first harvest on my first attempt to make my own pipe tobacco.
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I like the way you think. We might have a similar view on things like this!
This was my first harvest on my first attempt to make my own pipe tobacco.
It’s been fifteen years and I can’t remember all the details but my friend had no trouble getting the tobacco to grow. He bought something to keep the bugs off. He had a good crop.
He had a small wooden barn to age it.
But to heat cure it, he needed my greenhouse, which had a heater in it.
He watched YouTube videos how to cure it, and it was about a week in my greenhouse and the tobacco just about all turned a beautiful shade of yellow, and it smelled good too.
The makers of Buoy probably buy the same grade of cured Virginia leaf, to make their product.
But they know how to age it, and he didn’t.
His didn’t have a bad taste, but it was hot, bitey, and just unsmokable.
Made me appreciate how difficult it is to make really good tobacco to smoke.
I’ve taken tobacco from the US into Canada. Just make sure you’re under the limit and declare that you have it. In the 5 or 6 times I’ve done this, the Canadian border guards couldn’t have cared less. That being said, I think it having it handy to show them is good practice.