grand-illusion

iTrader: (1)

Hoping someone has been down this road before...
I have a guy in Canada very interested in my boat and we have agreed on a price. Only problem is once you tack on all the taxes (about 15%: 8% GST and 7% license he tells me) it puts him over his budget. It's a private party purchase from a private party. Is there any way around this or some way to reduce it ???? Feel free to PM me if you have info you would rather not post. Thanks.

Another question...if I was to take his boat or other object on trade, are these taxes applied to the difference in value or still the value of the boat?

tomtbone1993

iTrader: (3)

creative paperwork

buckknekkid

the customs broker gets the GST up front and the PST is paid on licensing. If he cant afford the taxes how can he run a boat?

Canada Jeff

License in US. If buddy has the capability to, that solves alot of problems.

Ran-Dom 32

Reduce the bill of sale amount to save on taxes. You pay tax on Canadian Dollar value of sale price.

Bam Bam

Ran-Dom is right, the boat I own now I imported from the U.S. via a private sale. Offer to write two bills of sale. One for the actual of what he paid and one for him to present to Canada customs when he crosses the border with the boat. He will also need a separate bill of sale for the boat and motor and another for the trailer. He will pay GST + PST on the boat at the border and GST on the trailer at the border. He will pay the PST on the trailer when he goes to licence it.

fund razor

Yep.. I sold a boat to a guy from near Toronto.

ofshore

That's what i was thinking. it's amazing how no matter what price you agree on it's always just a few k over budget.

offshoredrillin

basically its like it is here in the states, you understate the purchase price in order to save the taxes. Sometime they may charge you based on book value. May have to make the bill of sale say boat is sold "as is" and not running. not running could be an agreement between the two of you to just not turn the key

Team V

Been there done that...

Huge cash down payment helps... subtracted from the "real" purchase price. (legally he can carry something like $5K cash across the border without declaring it, sometimes it might even be necessary to make two or three trips ) Creative paperwork, and two bills of sale... or just the lowest one... who cares as long as you got your money (unless of
course, YOU need to prove where the money you received came from). If he is financing it
all, it could get sticky for him to hide a paper trail.... HE may not want to risk it, and may be more comfortable doing it on the "up and up".

Do yourself a favor, let him take it across the border, or make all the arrangements... even if you meet him there... have him come into the U.S., hook it up, and take it over... get in your truck and run the other way!!
Seriously, I took a boat to the border for a Canadian buyer... had the Canadian customs all over me... "what are you doing?", "you can't park there", "park over there" "you can't park here!! park it over there", "what the %@# do think you are doing!!"
What a nightmare that was.

If he wants a smooth border crossing, he needs to call or visit the customs ahead of time, get everything lined up, and the "ducks in a row". Yes, he must pay all the Canadian taxes, and register it in Canada before it goes across (his headache). I'm not sure if he HAS to license the trailer right then on the spot??? They don't hand out trailer plates at the border... I let him keep my NY trailer plate and he mailed it back to me... no big deal if he had kept it... all I had to do was cancel the reg, DMV didn't need the plate back. ( I needed it back to "temporarily" get my next rig home before all the taxes )

He may just be haggling for you to give in in a couple $$.... in which case you need to decide if it's a deal breaker or not....

Oh yeah, make sure you can read your hull AND trailer VIN numbers clearly... my Eagle trailer VIN was on a sticker that was all faded, the more you rubbed it to see the numbers... the more they got erased! (that was a close call, wheew) And make sure he has a lien release if necessary... if the paperwork isn't 100% They may impound it for 3 days for it to clear customs. (Or they may even if it is 100%) That's where it is important to let them know it's coming, and exactly what you need to clear customs.