Re: Doing restorations across Canadian border?
Well Rick, you are opening a real can of worms on this one. A question I generally get asked when returning from the U.S. with my car on the trailer is "Did you make any improvements to the car when you were in the United States?" I take the car over four or five times a year normally.
Now, what your customer says when returning is up to him. If he declares an amount for restoration work then he will likely be charged the 7% GST tax and will be required to pay it at the border.
If he and you decide to "fudge" the amount then that is up to the two of you. Keep in mind the Canadian Customs may follow up on the information provided.
One very important thing is to have the car registered and plated in Ontario (I think that is where you said it was). In order to do that the car would need a Provincial Safety Inspection which may be difficult given the information you sent me in a PM the other day based on the condition of the car. If you bring the car back without any Ontario Plates then a whole new can of worms will be opened. They will likely suspect the car was just purchased south of the border. Another important thing, make sure the owner is with the car each time it crosses the border. You don't need any brokerage headaches to go along with all the rest of the crap.
Now, if the owner is going to claim everything, then the plating, etc. mentioned above may not be necessary.
GENERAL NOTE - With all the old cars being purchased and then taken back across the border one way or the other, the two Customs Agencies are getting wise as they know all the prices being declared are being fudged. I have just heard a rumour in the last week or two that Canadian Customs will require an appraisal from the United States source area and then another one once it gets up here. Taxes will then be based on those figures. This is not really relative to your circumstance, but thought I would throw it in to give you an idea of what's going on these days.
Bottom line - do your homework in advance and contact both Canadian and American Customs Agencies to know exactly what is involved. Probably a good idea to have the owner do this.
Good luck pal.
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