the taxman cometh...

[back alley]

carrying my 'new to me' cv 28/3.5 lens today.

i had to pay 28 bucks to get my lens...10.37 for duty...13.06 for gst...and 5 bucks for handling fees.

so, what does the post off get paid for (stamps) in the first place?
they charge the seller for shipping and they charge me a handling fee!?

i'm not so much complaining as maybe venting a litle. i get lots of stuff in the mail that i never have to pay for - so it more than evens out in the end.
it just makes so little sense to me.

[Uncle Bill]

There's duty on lenses? Look on the bright side it did not come UPS ground.

Bill

[Andrew Touchon]

Originally Posted by back alley

carrying my 'new to me' cv 28/3.5 lens today.

i had to pay 28 bucks to get my lens...10.37 for duty...13.06 for gst...and 5 bucks for handling fees.

so, what does the post off get paid for (stamps) in the first place?
they charge the seller for shipping and they charge me a handling fee!?

i'm not so much complaining as maybe venting a litle. i get lots of stuff in the mail that i never have to pay for - so it more than evens out in the end.
it just makes so little sense to me.

After hearing you guys talk about duty, GST and handling fees, I'm glad I live south of the border and don't have to pay those excessive taxes.

[Trius]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bill

There's duty on lenses? Look on the bright side it did not come UPS ground.

Bill

Yeah, your "handling fee" would have been $25 (or maybe more by now) ... the Canada Post handling fee, I would guess, is for their labour in doing the paperwork and remitting duty and GST to the Feds. And if you were in Ontario, there'd be 8% PST as well.

So jump for joy, Joe, you got of light!

[back alley]

call me lucky...

[dcsang]

meh.. I look at all those taxes as the cost of living up here.

I can walk in to see a doctor with my OHIP card and walk out knowing that all my taxes are working (and that I'm reasonably healthy) because I don't have to "pay" the doctor for the check up. That plus the fact that I can see the doctor of my choice - mind you, finding a doctor who will take you is an odessy

I also despise said taxes on things that I like.. i.e. camera gear.. so when I get a chance to travel to the U.S. I try to "stick it to the man" as much as possible

Dave

[Trius]

Is that a new lens in your pocket, or are you just feeling lucky?

Edit: Oops, I forgot it's a TINY lens ... sorry Joe!

[back alley]

why's everybody always pickin' on me?

c.b.

[amateriat]

Just be happy you don't live in New York with a serious tobacco Jones (I'm a nonsmoker, but you should see the price for smokes down here).


- Barrett (who's just glad they never taxed film like that)

[skhan]

I think the handling fee goes to the customs officers' pocket, not to Canada post.

[jan normandale]

Originally Posted by back alley

carrying my 'new to me' cv 28/3.5 lens today.

i had to pay 28 bucks to get my lens...10.37 for duty...13.06 for gst...and 5 bucks for handling fees.

so, what does the post off get paid for (stamps) in the first place?
they charge the seller for shipping and they charge me a handling fee!?

i'm not so much complaining as maybe venting a litle. i get lots of stuff in the mail that i never have to pay for - so it more than evens out in the end.
it just makes so little sense to me.

Joe I'm with you on this "double dip" of delivery fees. It's a grab. The taxes tho .. you know you would have had to pay GST even if you bought the lens in Edmonton so that's a wash. The duty.. well I'm surprised there because as far as I know 35 MM camera equipment is duty free for Canada Customs and Revenue

But looking at the half full side.. how are ya likin' the lens... sweet or what?

[c.poulton]

Joe, it's the same over here in the UK.

I was even charged £8 (£4 for Tax, £4 post office handling fee) for 3 Gordy camera straps last month!...

[julianphotoart]

Don't get me started. That bloody Customs $5 "handling fee". "Handling" is their JOB. They are paid to "handle". That's what they do. Why am I double-paying their salary???
Which brings me to the other gripe: Paying GST on postage stamps. Have you ever thought of how insulting that really is? It is the worst kind of tax on a tax. My AFTER-tax dollars (that's the point) are paying federal GST to a federal government agency to buy a federal government-issued product so that a federal government employee can perform a federal government service (i.e. deliver the mail). Tax is meant to give the government a cut of a private transaction, which this is NOT.

[rxmd]

Hi,

if I ordered a CV 28/3.5 from Cameraquest today ($285), the German state would want an extra $45 as VAT and then again about $15 duties, so I think you guys are really well off.

Philipp

[jan normandale]

Joe, you've definitely touched a nerve here. Now you should run for public office ;- )

[afaceinthecrowd]

I can live with the Canada Post fees ... I don't like them but I can live with them I picked up a Polaroid in a Goodwill auction a few weeks ago and they shipped it UPS. The shipping wasn't inexpensive and then I had to pay the UPS driver another $43.28 to hand over the box. Forget the government ... those UPS guys are CROOKS!!!

On the bright side ... my new Polaroid 180 was gorgeous!

dan

[julianphotoart]

Originally Posted by jan normandale

Joe, you've definitely touched a nerve here. Now you should run for public office ;- )

You know when you're in a far-off place and they find out that you're from, let's say, Canada and they say "oh, then maybe you know....(some 3rd-cousin of theirs who lives in Whitehorse, Wawa or Winnipeg)".

So, Joe, since you're in Alberta you must know Stephen Harper -- personally. Get him moving on this $5 "handling fee" will you please. The tax on postage stamps would help too. Wasn't GST supposed to disappear, like, 25 years ago already?

With the exception of these 2 personal peeves, I generally agree with DCSang's post about taxes. Warning: Overt political statement ahead: I'd much rather pay taxes and know I'm getting pretty damn good universal health care versus having them frittered away trying to be the world's policeman.

[BJ Bignell]

Joe, there's no duty in Canada for the importation of photographic equipment such as your lens. Perhaps the label for the package was unclear, or the person who processed it simply made a mistake.

Who was the delivery company? If it was Canada Post, take the receipt, item, and packaging to your nearest branch as ask them about obtaining a refund. If it was someone else, you'll have to contact their nearest agent immediately to get more information.

If you search through the archives, you may find a link I posted about this. There's a website and/or PDF from the CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) that explains it all. It's only ten dollars, but if it's not too hard to sort out, it's worth it.

//edit: I found a link to the thread: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/foru...ad.php?p=89527
And the link right to the gov't website (updated for 2005): http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/p...5/table-e.html

Take that info with you to the post office. Remember to put on a smile, and don't leave 'till you get your money back!

[back alley]

it was canada post and it says duty. the seller put down used camera lens so it's clearly marked.
it's not the 10 bucks as much as the inconsistency that annoys me.
joe

[dcsang]

Originally Posted by back alley

it's not the 10 bucks as much as the inconsistency that annoys me.
joe

Bingo..

That's what gets me too - the "sometimes you win, sometimes you lose" sort of deal that we have to put up with - I'm happy when I win and don't have to pay squat for anything that comes across the border but I'm obviously perturbed when I lose.

It would be easier, imho, to battle these sort of things IF there was consistency about it - if Canada Post ALWAYS charged fees then I may have a chance at battling them - but I can see it now; I'll go in to complain about a fee and they'll review their records and blammo: I'm getting charged for stuff that I had delivered eons ago that never got taxed or "handled"....

Dave

[BJ Bignell]

Originally Posted by back alley

it was canada post and it says duty. the seller put down used camera lens so it's clearly marked.
it's not the 10 bucks as much as the inconsistency that annoys me.
joe

Yeah, that sort of behaviour is irritating. But seriously, if the package is clearly marked, and you have a receipt for the duty you paid, go to your local branch with the documentation and ask about receiving a refund.

Maybe they'll give you a form to fill out, maybe they'll give you an immediate refund, or maybe they'll just give you a blank look; it's hard to say. But if it only takes five minutes, it would be worth it.

[traveller]

Originally Posted by rxmd

Hi,

if I ordered a CV 28/3.5 from Cameraquest today ($285), the German state would want an extra $45 as VAT and then again about $15 duties, so I think you guys are really well off.

Philipp

Still a good deal. The official price here is ~ $ 750,-
Good thing that globalization works for customers too......

[kvanderlaag]

I'm still waiting on a Pentax ME Super body that shipped on the ninth of May.

My CL took a month and two weeks to get here from Florida.

And somehow, they still wanted $45 for GST and handling fees and junk.

I'm really not happy with the post office lately.

[back alley]

keegan, long waits usually have more to do with customs than the post office.
one reason i like a tracking number is i can watch the item being shipped and most of the time it's in customs, sitting.

joe

[John Camp]

Originally Posted by julianphotoart

Warning: Overt political statement ahead: I'd much rather pay taxes and know I'm getting pretty damn good universal health care versus having them frittered away trying to be the world's policeman.

I have two objections to this overt political statement:

1) your universal health care is only as good as it is, which isn't all that good, because you have an escape valve to the south where your rich/priveleged folks can go if they need work in a hurry. Also, I once had the choice of taking my daughter either to a children's hospital in Toronto, or a children''s hospital in Texas, for some specialized work involving a nerve transplant. We went to Toronto. The surgeon was superb, the nurses were wonderful, the fee was high but not exhorbitant...but at the front end, where we were checking in, getting things arranged, etc., they treated us just like customers in a license bureau in the US: in other words, like dirt. If I hadn't been so anxious about my daughter, I might have choked the living ---- out of a clerk in the check-in area.

2) How dare you use the word "frittering?" We're not frittering, we're shoveling it out the door with both hands, both feet, and probably a bulldozer. One of our big crises is the question of how to pay Social Security for the boomers -- but if we could set aside annually what the current war is costing us, Social Security would be a much smaller problem. I say this, by the way, as an Extreme Moderate; in other words, I have bones to pick in all directions.