1000g Limit To Canadian Importation?

Wellington · Apr 6, 2013

Is it because its 6 in the morning and I'm not reading clearly or have I been mislead all this time to what the limits are to tobacco importation into Canada??

This is an excerpt from the CBSA website: Here

"Tobacco products
If you are 18 years of age or over, you are allowed to bring in all of the following amounts of tobacco into Canada free of duty and taxes within your personal exemption:
200 cigarettes;

50 cigars;

200 grams (7 ounces) of manufactured tobacco; and

200 tobacco sticks.

Note

If you include cigarettes, tobacco sticks or manufactured tobacco in your personal exemption, a partial exemption may only apply. You will have to pay a special duty on these products unless they are marked "CANADA DUTY PAID • DROIT ACQUITTÉ." You will find Canadian-made products sold at duty-free shops marked this way. You can speed up your clearance by having your tobacco products available for inspection when you arrive.
If you bring in more than your personal exemption, you will have to pay regular assessments on the excess amount. These regular assessments can include duty and taxes, as well as provincial or territorial fees. Border services officers will give an allowance for products that are marked "CANADA DUTY PAID • DROIT ACQUITTÉ" when they calculate the amounts owing.
In addition, Excise Act, 2001 limits the amount of tobacco products that may be imported (or possessed) by an individual for personal use if the tobacco product is not packaged and stamped "CANADA DUTY PAID • DROIT ACQUITTÉ." The limit is currently five units of tobacco products. One unit of tobacco products consists of one of the following:
200 cigarettes;

50 cigars;

200 grams (7 ounces) of manufactured tobacco; or

200 tobacco sticks."

Then I found a different page ]here :

10. The Excise Act 2001 and the Regulations Respecting the Stamping and Marking of Tobacco Products came into force on July 1, 2003. Section 4 of the Regulations prescribes a limit of five units of unstamped tobacco products that can be imported for personal consumption. Such shipments are considered non-commercial and are not subject to the stamping provisions that apply to commercial shipments, as stated in Section 3 of the Regulations. However, unless they are stamped, you will have to pay a special duty on these products upon importation on top of the duties and taxes owing. Importations of tobacco products that are over the five unit limit will be treated as commercial importations. These will be subject to the stamping requirements stated in the Regulations. One unit of tobacco is defined as 200 cigarettes or 200 tobacco sticks or 200 grams of manufactured tobacco or 50 cigars/ cigarillos.
11. There is a limit on the quantity of tobacco products that can be brought in (or owned) by a person for personal use, if the products are not marked “CANADA DUTY PAID * DROIT ACQUITé” (as per the Excise Act, 2001). In this case, an individual can only bring in five units of tobacco products. One unit of tobacco products consists of one of the following:
(a) 200 cigarettes;

(b) 50 cigars;

(c) 200 grams (7 ounces) of manufactured tobacco;

(d) 200 tobacco sticks

What is going on, I always thought the maximum was the 200g, but if I'm reading this right, 200g is just one of the 5 units I can import at a time. Am I embarrassing myself by overlooking something here or is this true?

sasquatch · Apr 6, 2013

My read on this is that basically any time you come over the border you can bring 200 grams of pipe tobacco with you, unmarked and untaxed. Duty free, as it were. More than that you'll have to pay, and you get a receipt saying you've done so.
The second part is more about storage - you can't own more than a kilo of tobacco that doesn't have a tax stamp on it. Seems a little bizarre, but I guess they don't want people hoarding and selling. (?)
There are actually similarly restrictive laws on homebrewing and winemaking in most provinces. The amounts are rather liberal (something like 70 gallons a year per person per household if I remember right). But they haven't raided me yet and I do drink diligently so as to hide the evidence!

brdavidson · Apr 6, 2013

you can bring in a max of 200g of pipe tobacco but yes you can bring in all of the others in the amounts specified. You do have to note that assumes you have spent 48hrs in the USA however. If you haven't spent that time there there technically aren't any exemptions and you could be asked to pay duty on any amount. So for online shipping technically all orders can be assessed duty. Most members find that if you order 200g or less then customs chooses not to apply duty. Even if they do it still works out cheaper than buying here.

brdavidson · Apr 6, 2013

Sasquatch its only if youre staying in the US for 48hrs that those numbers apply

peckinpahhombre · Apr 6, 2013

Br you are right re 200g. If you hit 1000g, then you will be viewed as a commercial importer and have to pay a special duty along with other compliance requirements. No one wants to go there. I always make sure I am under 1 kg.

Wellington · Apr 6, 2013

I was referring to ordering online, whenever I order I do max 200g but I do that because I thought that was the legal limit. So from your guys' comments my understanding is that the technical legal limit to non commercial importation through online means of purchase is still 1kg? Thats still far more than I had thought. I might still keep it around the 200g mark if that betters the odds of avoiding duties, but still, if thats the case its good to know I can still order twice or more as big of tobacco orders and not run into problems with the commercial tax stuff.

peckinpahhombre · Apr 6, 2013

I have ordered 950g many times.
My experience though is if you keep it 200g there is a high chance you won't have to pay duty

Wellington · Apr 6, 2013

Wow, do you usually get dinged with duties for orders that big?

zonomo · Apr 6, 2013

Br you are right re 200g. If you hit 1000g, then you will be viewed as a commercial importer and have to pay a special duty along with other compliance requirements. No one wants to go there. I always make sure I am under 1 kg.

So isn't 1000g essentially a little over 2lbs? You If you are trying to stock up or build a tobacco cellar, are you seriously limited to about 2lbs before you have to pay an additional tax on it? How much is the tax?

Wellington · Apr 6, 2013

I don't think the authorities are going to do much cellar raiding for pipe tobacco, I think they are just trying to prevent tobacco purchases from the states in smaller amounts for commercial use.

sasquatch · Apr 6, 2013

It's pretty hefty.
p.13 on this report has a nice graph. There's provincial and federal taxes, I think it adds up to abuot 40 cents a gram on average.
http://www.tobaccoreport.ca/2012/TobaccoUseinCanada_2012_PolicySuppl_Final.pdf
This is per cigarette, where loose tobacco is taxed basically similarly per gram. You can look up provincial tobacco acts.
At any rate, you order tobacco online, some of it will be taxed, and if you order large quantities, it's a nasty surprise at the post office when they want 120 bucks off you to pick up your package.
Even paying all the taxes it's far cheaper than the retail situation, unfortunately. One shop in Calgary offered me 100 g or Club Blend in a tin for 90 bucks. If I order online and it comes across the border and gets taxed, that thing costs about 30. So it's far better to order online, also you get way more selection.
What's funny is that I've had orders from a few different vendors, and inevitably, even single tins from Smokingpipes get taxed. Someone in the east is ultra vigilant!

zonomo · Apr 6, 2013

I'm always keenly interested to see what Canada is up to because we in the US seem to love many of your laws and try to copy them.

brdavidson · Apr 6, 2013

I hope for your sake Zonomo thats not the case. At least as far as sin taxes go anyways. I find many US laws to be bizarre too, so I guess its six of one half dozen of the other.

zonomo · Apr 6, 2013

me too brdavidson - but in American, we dont care about sin whatsoever, we only care if we can tax something. Very sad.

brdavidson · Apr 6, 2013

Lol so true, fortunately for you, you have no idea what taxes can REALLY be like until you live the great white north. We're only behind Sweden and Britain an on the insane tax meter!

peckinpahhombre · Apr 6, 2013

I am in the east. 312 orders in 7 months. I have only been asked to pay duty on 5 orders. I'll take those odds any day of the week.

peckinpahhombre · Apr 6, 2013

Double post

Wellington · Apr 7, 2013

Even when the prices jump, if you avoid duties it will likely still be cheaper ordering from the states. 5 duty dinged orders out of 312 is unbelievable, I thought the odds were much higher. Maybe it depends where one lives and where the shipment is processed at the border. I've had two orders from smoking pipes now and haven't had an issue.

skapunk1 · Apr 7, 2013

I try and keep it around the 200g mark when I order my Candle Making Supplies from 4noggins, hehehe....

1000g Limit To Canadian Importation?

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