update on our delivery trip into canada

[yankee_minis]

We transported 2 mini donkeys from Maine to New Brunswick Canada where we met some people who would be taking our donks to Nova Scotia.

We needed the following:

-negative Coggins

-Canadian Health Certificate signed & sealed by a federal vet

-purchase/sales agreement

At the Canadian border they looked at the sales agreement I'd made and decided it was a "commercial" transaction and charged us 7% of the sales price. Canadian customs guy said my sales agreement looked commercial. It had a "business name" on it-- which was just my farm name.

This is not something I expected. And no one I talked to ahead of time said anything about this. We're not a big place-- basically a hobby farm with decent horses. Maybe on the phone I sounded small-time and on paper I look big-time!!

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

What a bummer but I guess a "farm" name does make you a business as most private just horse owners that sell dont have a farm name you know

 

[Relic]

l think everyone has to pay the 7% GST on everything coming into the country that even somewhat relates to a business transaction.

 

[shminifancier]

l think everyone has to pay the 7% GST on everything coming into the country that even somewhat relates to a business transaction.

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Yes and I do think that the 7% tax was mentioned on some other post~!!

 

[yankee_minis]

Yes and I do think that the 7% tax was mentioned on some other post~!!

Well gee, sorry I missed that. And I read that post too.

Just call me stupid.

 

[Relic]

lf you are from the US there is a form you can fill out for the GST and you will get a full refund for the amount you paid on the donks. Either that or the people you sold to should really be paying it out of there pocket. We claim all GST every 3 months and everyone else not set up gets a refund check once a year thats over the age of 18 for a fixed amount. Consider yourself lucky the last minis we brought in also requied we have a broker to handle the transaction which was 327 extra plus GST the Goods and Services Tax on that.

 

[Ojai Minis]

When I sold a horse going to Canada, the people had me put on the papers that he was going in for breeding only (stallion

) He just never came back

Liz V.

 

[Mona]

lf you are from the US there is a form you can fill out for the GST and you will get a full refund for the amount you paid on the donks. Either that or the people you sold to should really be paying it out of there pocket.

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Well, I am anot sure about this. It is my understanding that the form you are referring to for getting GST back, is when Americans come to Canada, buy Canadian goods, and then return to the US with those goods. In this case, the donkeys are being sold to Canada, and are remaining in Canada. The GST MUST be paid by someone, and it is the importer's duty to pay it upon entry. I do believe the buyer should reimburse you for the GST.

Also yankee_minis, if it had not been a commercial entry, you would have had to pay 15%(at least in Ontario it is 7% GST and 8% PST...not sure what the PST is in the province that you crossed into.) total taxes, rather than the 7%, so you can be thankful for that.

 

[Relic]

Mona yes you are right sorry for my careless mistake you can get back the GST if you bought something up here NOT brought something up here.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

So just to clarify (I like to keep this info on file!) -

If we're exporting horses to Canada we need -

1. A current negative Coggins test

2. A Canadian Health Certificate signed & sealed by a Federal vet (not state)

3. A signed Sales Agreement

We also need to be prepared to pay 7% GST and possibly an additional PST tax depending on which province the horse is going to which should/could be passed along to the Buyer.

Anything else?

 

[Mona]

So just to clarify (I like to keep this info on file!) -
If we're exporting horses to Canada we need -

1.  A current negative Coggins test

2.  A Canadian Health Certificate signed & sealed by a Federal vet (not state)

3.  A  signed Sales Agreement

We also need to be prepared to pay 7% GST and possibly an additional PST tax depending on which province the horse is going to which should/could be passed along to the Buyer.

Anything else?

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Michelle, yes, and just to clarify further, the coggins must be current within 6 months, the health/export papers must be within 30 days at the time of entry into Canada from the time the vet performed the health inspection. The form required for the Permanent Export to Canada is a 17-145. It must be signed by the federal vet, and when she says "sealed", this means it must be stamped with their official embossed stamp.

Just a simple bill of sale is all that is required...they don't need your whole contract. They just need the bill of sale for the purpose of knowing the amount to charge the taxes on. And yes, these taxes are DEFINATELY the responsibility of the buyer! The person that actually crosses the border with them pays, but if the actual buyer is not hauling them across themselves, it will become their responsibility to pay the charges for this before I would release the horse to them. If commercial haulers ar used, they do the same...they do not release the horse until all due them, is paid. If the buyer is bringing them across themselves, they will pay at the border at the time they cross.

 

[MiLo Minis]

Mona yes you are right sorry for my careless mistake you can get back the GST  if you bought something up here NOT brought something up here. 

 

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You need to have specific information on your sales agreement. You should state the shipper or seller, the consignee or buyer, the price, the number of units or for example 1 horse, the weight, the country and state of origin, a full description of the goods (breeding animal, age, sex, color) and the purpose of importation.

Everyone bringing horses into Canada has to pay GST and PST. You cannot get your GST back but you can apply for a refund on your PST as we are not required to pay PST on horses but we are required to pay GST. Americans can apply for a PST refund as well as they are not required to pay PST on goods they have purchased in Canada.

If you use a broker to make the delivery it is considered a commercial transaction and from what I understand you are charged a commercial fee for doing business in Canada. The States have something similiar. If you ship a horse privately you don't have to pay the fee.

 

[Danielle_E.]

Well our horses are arriving next week from Ohio and when the shipper arrives at our door I will be paying the actual shipping cost, $125 brokerage fee and the GST. I will NOT be paying PST.

I also received this email from Marilyn when I questioned her about the "pre-clearance" she talked about

" have to pre-clear all my shipments into the US with special PAPS coded labels and all my shipments into Canada with PARS labels. Honestly!"

 

[Mona]

Well our horses are arriving next week from Ohio and when the shipper arrives at our door I will be paying the actual shipping cost, $125 brokerage fee and the GST.  I will NOT be paying PST.
I also received this email from Marilyn when I questioned her about the "pre-clearance" she talked about

" have to pre-clear all my shipments into the US with special PAPS coded labels and all my shipments into Canada with PARS labels.  Honestly!"

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Yep, as I said in my other posts on the earlier thread, this is due to their being a commercial transporter.

 

[Danielle_E.]

Mona, you are correct and because they are a "commercial" shipper they must "pre-clear" going into Canada or going into the U.S. (both ways)

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

Thanks for clarifying that Mona!

I don't have any horses crossing the border into Canada - but it's good to have the info on file.

 

[EMB]

You all got it right about the individual vs commercial shippers. I will be meeting Sharraways at the Montana side of the Alberta border and will bring the horses across myself. I will pay the 7% GST on the Canadian dollar equivalent of the US dollar amount on the bills of sale. There is no PST in Alberta so it's not an issue here in any event. Those taxes are most definitely the responisbility of the new owner not the original seller. I can only hope our dollar is up the day I cross the border.

 

[Tommy]

Thanks for sharing.

I did not know that either.

Tommy