Taking a boat to Canada and Selling it
 

Just as it says. Will be crossing into Ontario at Sarnia with the boat in tow. Take the new prospective buyer for a test ride on that side of the river. If he likes it, he takes the boat back to Toronto, I take the money back across the border and home.
Does anyone know for certain whats involved in that if there are any fees, taxes, or what I need to declair. Title for boat and trailer are free and clear.

Thanks

Sounds like you are asking for trouble. I would suggest contacting Canada Customs. Also you may have an issue carrying that amount of money over the border.

When I sold a boat to a canadian, he came to the US, drove and bought the boat, and took the title and a bill of sale across the border with him, declaring it at the time.

It was no problem for him, he had the boat and all the documents.

Do you have the number for Canadian Customs? Won't be cash, certified check.

Thats what was supposed to happen last weekend , now he's crunched for time Sat morning and doesn't want risk getting tied up at the border. Does any one know for sure if the deal goes down like this?

Certified check - no way. Wire transfer to your bank. If something goes wrong, you will be trying to collect from a foreign citizen in a foreign country. Definitely not worth the risk.

Bought a boat in Ohio 2 years ago and brouhgt it into Ontario. Not complicated but you need to know what you are doing. Dont try to avoid the taxes or you could face a large fine. See the following link for details. Keep in mind the boat and trailer are 2 separate items and have to have their own bills of sale. To be honest the trailer was more of a pain than the boat.

Make sure you have a deregistration from the State on the trailer.


http://boating.ncf.ca/buy-usa.html

Much easier on everybody to have the Canadian meet you at the ramp at the first exit, (1/2mi from the boarder) in port Huron. Then he crosses with boat and detailed receipt.

Your way will have you sign document at the boarder, declaring that you will be back or they will send you a bill.
If the guy can't come the extra 1/2mi. something is wrong.

Be VERY VERY aware of all the laws associated with this. A good friend of mine crossed over into Canada with the intent to sell his boat and had pre signed the title overto the new owner and the Canadian Police thru him in jail for several hours and siezed the boat for weeks. The thought he was skipping out on paying the tax( which he wasnt) It cost him about 40K to get the charges taken care of and he was doing NOTHING wrong.

If he wants it bad enough make him come get it. Take him for a test run in you area. Let him worry about all the costums docs and registration and what ever other paper work there maybe.

I've been thorough this. Bring all documents and then bring copies of all documents for your return trip. Crossing the border be prepared to spend about an hour at customs they will check all your docs on the way in as well as give you forms for taxes. On the way back be prepared to spend an hour or more for the US side to check out your paperwork. Be prepared to have your vehicle searched as well as turning over the cash to border agents as they check out your story. In my opinion it would be much easier to make two trips. One for the test drive. Then do the transaction via wire transfer then another trip for delivery.

My buyer worked for the government. He brought a certified check drawn on my local bank. I gave him a detailed bill of sale which broke out the trailer. It also listed all extra equipment. He spent an extra hour getting over the Ambassador bridge. All was good. Sent me a thumbs up email. He just didn't lie about the tax stuff.

Ok,

Ive talked to both the US, Canadian customes. Long and short of it is that the GSC and PST have to be paid before I leave Canada. They recomended that I have the buyer meet me at Canadian customs. He would then pay it on the spot when I hit Canadian customs. Problem is he is then committed to buying it before his test ride.
So my plan is to go to the border, tell, them that I am just simply boating, go for the test ride,assumning he takes it we both, go back to Canadian customs, he pays both taxes and we both go home?

I'm going to make another run at this guy to just do it in on the other side of the river in Pt.Huron, it will probably be less jackin around and time when its all said and done.

So did you pay the taxes when you returned back?

Still be careful of a certfied check. There are lots of those out there now too!! Some dealers even wait for a certfied check to clear before closing the deal. Plus is he paying in Canadian or US$? There is an exchange difference too.

I brought a seadoo over the border in june which I bought in NY and brought to Ont. it is much easier, and much faster to do the deal in the states. the new owner will have to go into canadian customs and pay the duty, then bring that form to get it registered. you will also have to have the trailer checked and certified and pay a fee for that. it is much easier to have the purchase go through in the states, and have the new owner will all the proper documents bring the boat over himself. By the way, it is really helpful to bring an ad of the boat that says the purchase price because they asked me to prove how I located the SeaDoo and how much it cost, to ensure that they did not write a fake invoice to pay lower taxes on it. If everything is set up correctly which for mine it was, I was over the bridge in under 15 minutes. Good luck
Jon

I think you should have the canadian cross his own border going home with his own paperwork and pay his own taxes. I think that would be the easiest for everybody, including customs.
Otherwise it is quite literally... an international event.

Send a private message to OSO member JS232.

He's from Montreal and I sold a boat to him. He was very organized, new exactly what to do, and everything went very smooth. I towed the boat for him. He led me in his car and handled the border.

Neil

No it was a while ago and I guess I forgot to mention I had a committed buyer and paid taxes on the way in.

Have the buyer take the boat across the border himself. Test it in the US. It took me about an hour to bring my boat across the border, it wasn't difficult if all the paperwork is in order. Google it, lots has been written on the procedure.