Bringing household Stuff to Ontario

[Hani19820]

Hello,

I am Permanent resident of Canada; I did my first landing sometime back. However, at that time I forgot to fill-up and sign BSF186 - Personal Effects Accounting Document form. Now I am planning to migrate to Canada for good and hence want to bring my personal household stuff to Canada, all of this stuff has been in my personal use for past several years (outside Canada). My question is how can i bring this household stuff to Canada without paying any duty.

Thanks in advance for help.

Best regards,

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hi there,

Thank you for sharing your question and situation with us. You may find helpful information in the quote below from a previous forum response on bringing belongings back to Ontario:

At the time of landing, you should have submitted a BSF186 - Personal Effects Accounting Document, or B4, where you were to list any goods with you and the goods that you were going to send later.

It is important to note that if your goods are not listed on your original BSF186, (or B4), they are not eligible for duty-free importation at a later time.

According to some Border Information Services (BIS) representatives, it is possible that, depending on the length of time since landing, the exemption on taxes may have be forfeited.

If the officer is not satisfied or convinced that it was to have originally been included on a Goods to Follow list, then you may be subject to the tax and duty.

In the event that you have to pay, you will have to pay 13% tax on the used value of the items. They stated that when allocated a used value to your items, you may want to think of it in terms of how much you would be able to sell it for at a garage sale. That is the amount you should allocate to your used items.

An additional 9.5% duty on the used value of any furniture. The amount of duty on other items such as used clothing and textiles can vary depending on where they are made. The duty can be from 0 to 20% of the used value.

They stated that if you are interested in how much duty will be charged on each other used item, you can contact them for specifics.

It is important to note that if you are trying to bring in a used mattress, you will need to have proof/certification of a fumigation. If not, it is best to just leave it behind.

You may want to contact a Border Information Services (BIS) representative directly for some information on your specific situation.

You can contact them at:

1-800-461-9999

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

We hope this information is helpful. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to post them here.

Sincerely,

Your Settlement.Org Team