question about the Customs

[Verb]

When I am driving through the boarder to the states and I am bringing a laptop with me, do I have to declare it before I go through? I was just wondering because what they can say is that I bought it in the states and I need to pay duty + tax on it unless I have the reciept routine. The only problem is I can't find my reciept as I have had this laptop for almost 2 years.

Please if anyone know anything about the customs...Please let me know...Thanx

 

[GoodCatholic]

... customs...

I am a camera operator and D.O.P. and occassionally work across the border and take equipment / gear with me. I take a list of all my gear, along with dollar values. Stop in at the Canadian office with the list ... they will copy and stamp it up for you and give you some paperwork. (I've never had them come and check the stuff in my van, but I suppose they could if they wanted). For a pleasure trip, I'm sure that's all you would need to do, but for work I have to stop at the U.S. office with the same list, where the U.S. customs guys run my ID, grill me a bit, try to intimidate me, sometimes threaten me, and attempt to get me to admit that I'm either: a)stealing work from god-fearing americans; b)smuggling bc pot; c)an al quaeda operative; or d)working for some goddam leftie/commie documentary out to make america look bad on the telly-vision ...

But as far as it goes, I really wouldn't sweat taking your laptop back and forth... they are pretty ubiquitous items these days, and there's no reason for canada customs to assume that you're trying to rip them off. Given the fact that your laptop is 2 years old, it probably shows signs of wear and tear, and contains plenty of your personal documents and whatnot to prove that it's yours.

... in fact, I made a trip to oregon last summer for the sole purpose of picking up a tax-free, american-priced powerbook ... I mailed the box, documentation and stuff back to canada and came across with the laptop on the front seat of my van... no questions asked.

 

[mexman]

Decoy

Carry a small bag of weed in your glovebox as a decoy! Won't get your computer impounded that way!

 

[Herb_The_Perb]

Great handle, GoodCatholic!
What does D.O.P. mean -- dirty old priest?

 

[GoodCatholic]

Great handle, GoodCatholic!
What does D.O.P. mean -- dirty old priest?

... D.O.P. = director of photography ... a fancy way of saying the guy who makes the pictures you see on film and tv.


(I'm only a dirty old priest in the odd fantasy )

 

[Verb]

thanx for the tip catholic...

 

[Penhold]

Cuistoms can give you a green card with a description of the item, but it would be a good idea to dig up a copy of the receipt. If you bought it from a store they may be able to give you a bill of sale. Or the maker might be able to document that it was sold in Canada. You never know when you'll run into an inspector who's having a really bad day and decides to impound it.

If you're really worried, I'd follow westwoody's advice and have Customs (actually Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency - last two words say it all!) fill out the green card with the make and serial number of the laptop.

I fly to/from the U.S. frequently, and always take a laptop with me - and at tims even a portable printer. I've never had a problem. In fact, I've never even been asked about them.

Now if you have it in a brand new laptop case and still have the price tag dangling from it, don't be surprised if they ask a few questions.

Rather than worry about whether they think the laptop is new, worry about what you have on the laptop.

Depending on what you have on your laptop and how much you value your privacy, consider investing in a program such as System Mechanic or Nortons and then use the Secure Wipe feature to ensure files that were deleted stay deleted.

I just used the "File Restore" feature from System Mechanic on a memory stick someone gave me to transfer a couple spreadsheets from his computer to mine. I asked him whether he used a Secure Wipe feature on his memory stick before giving it to others and he said he thought you could only "undelete" files from a hard drive and not from a memory stick. Yeah right. He was very embarassed when I showed him it worked on memory sticks also - and managed to pull up and undelete almost a hundred porn files he previously had on it.