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Taking bourbon to Canada


Flyfish
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I have always avoided taking booze to Canada because the process seemed so complicated and expensive. Perhaps it is not quite as onerous as I have feared so please help me understand to process.

First, we are permitted to take into Canada 1.14 L duty free. (Don't understand where that awkward 0.14 L comes from but it may not really matter.)

Second, there is a 7% duty on any additional liquor payable on the  price converted to $CA.  

So, the value of a hypothetical liter (or litre) of WT101 at $25 is $33CA. At 7%, the duty would be $2.31CA which doesn't seem excessive.

But, fourth, how is the value of the WT101 determined? Do I need a receipt showing what I paid? And there must be a limit on the number of bottles can I take even if I were willing to pay the duty. That is, it might be difficult to convince Canadian Customs that the 87 bottles of WT in my RV are strictly for personal consumption. 

Canadian SBers and adventuresome Americans must deal with this issue regularly. Insights, please.

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I've done several border crossings.  Remember, that 1L is per person, so make sure to max out the allowable take for those present.  If travelling with a non-drinker, let them take one across for you.  Same with tobacco if you smoke, or may want to offer tobacco as a gift to friends or guides.

 

I've taken multiple bottles across before, declared them, and never been charged.  Even seen friends vehicles searched and found extra bottles, still never been charged.  Searches are usually targeting drugs, guns by my experience.

 

If you are charged duty, I'd just tell them what you paid.  If you take a receipt, it would take the guesswork out of it, or they may just have a value already set that gets charged.

 

Be aware that if you take a 1.75 across, that exceeds your limit (obviously), but technically you will be charged for the whole bottle, not just the extra .75L.

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Always take a decoy.

 

If they focus on the extra .14 L of booze maybe they won't find the Kilo of Coke stashed underneath... 

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Or the 40 pack of bottled water, a couple of which somehow managed to have Schnapps in them instead of water. ?

 

A word of advice here. When you answer questions at the border, don’t say yes ma’am if it’s a guy at the window. <_< My buddy did that on a fishing trip a number of years ago. Yes, we were searched. No, they didn’t find the Schnapps. :P

 

Biba! Joe

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