Importing wines to Canada

A question for the specialists ...

I'm living in France for the year and beginning to build a cellar that I'd like to bring back to Canada with me. I can (over my wife's protests) bring it all home with us on the plane at the end of the year and pay duties upon arrival, but that seems unwise. (I'm forseeing bringing 30-40 bottles home) I think shipping the wine, perhaps in batches, is the best option, but I'm wondering about the paperwork involved, the taxes, and so on. Someone I know has his wine shipped to a local wine merchant and thereby dodges some of the tax implications, but I don't have those kinds of connections.

Any advice?

Barks

you need to contact your liquor control board offices and ask what is involved. my guess is that keeping it with you is safest since you get to deal with the problems immediatly and first hand rather than otherwise - which could be fatal to the wine. paper work is paper work - you would have to jump through the same hoops either way, i imagine. the main problem might be the boxes to ship it in. you don't often find what we call wine shippers - heavy duty boxes with serious dividers - in europe. maybe take them with you - broken down - and assemble there? you would need one of those wheeled things to negotiate the airport.

i'm really shocked that anyone could ship wine to a local liquor control board outlet and have them accept it. it isn't just the taxes, it is the profit they make. sounds suspicious. anyway, good luck!

I don't think the arrangement I heard of was to an LCBO, it was to a merchant, perhaps even a restaurant owner. Whatever it is, it's not an arrangement I'm able to make ...

contact LCBO, get the papers ready beforehand, then it doesn't matter if you ship it with you or not (on the customs form you can declare that you're witing for non accompanying items). i had it shipped separately.

tax is about 75% in ontario. they may check receipts and they may not. i bring wine every time and the tend to be lenient (eg in using a 1:1 rate between euros and dollars), especially if you have a lot and they think (rightly) that paying the full amount would ruin you. anyway they know nothing about wine at customs, so bringing receipts for cheaper wines may work.

when i moved to canada (from france) i just had to pay duties (which are nothing) as an immigrant, and not the tax. maybe as a returning resident you're entitled to the same, not sure though if a year is enough to qualify (contact customs canada for that).

i am not aware that merchants are exempt from tax. i know a merchant in BC and i think they pay the same as everyone.

but the liquor control boards ARE the only merchants in most if not all of canada!?

but the liquor control boards ARE the only merchants in most if not all of canada!?

the market in BC has been privatized, so now you can get the same wines that you could get at the liquor store for about $5-6 more at the private stores.

maybe one of these days liquor privatization will come to ontario too. fwiw, LBCO and all, wine is cheaper in ontario, and there's more selection.

a memorable example was the 2003 nk'mip merlot (from the okanagan), which was ~$2 cheaper at the LCBO than in vancouver.

i think there are private importers in ontario though. ?

didn't realize that bc had privatized. in addition to the state stores you seem to indicate. can the private ones at least import other products so that the selection is increased? are there importers who sell to the private retail stores; or do the private stores import directly?

didn't realize that bc had privatized. in addition to the state stores you seem to indicate. can the private ones at least import other products so that the selection is increased? are there importers who sell to the private retail stores; or do the private stores import directly?

the private stores can (and do) import themselves. the selection is not really limited to that of the ldb stores, just very similar and more expensive. there are also private importers which are not stores. but then, i am almost sure there are private importers in ontario as well (eg the hart house in UofT), and restaurants which have wines unavailable at the lcbo.[/i]

tax is about 75% in ontario. they may check receipts and they may not.

(Skidding sound) What?? 75%? You mean if I paid 100 Euros for a bottle here, I'll be taxed the equivalent of 75 Euros for it? Surely that can't be. That would make many of these bottles cheaper to buy at home than here in France. Are you sure???

Sheez. Maybe I change my mind about building a cellar ...

[Jenise]

Isn't there a sliding scale involved? I know each province is different (Alberta being the friendliest in this regard), but I know I've been told that though BC charges 100% duty, but after X $'s in either the wine's value of the duty you've paid, I believe there's a sharp drop-off such that if you bring in enough, the duty's not as rapacious as first feared. But I could be wrong....

You mean if I paid 100 Euros for a bottle here, I'll be taxed the equivalent of 75 Euros for it?

yup. that's precisely what 75% means.

i brought 12 bottles with me this july (various cuvees of e&j durand cornas) and i always declare because i heard that if the catch you once they then check you for life. i decided to declare E15/bottle and blame jetlag for the mistake if they discover it.

anyway - the customs officer asked me if i knew how much i was allowed to bring. i said two bottles, but i thought i could bring more if i paid tax, which she confirmed. she then asked me how much each bottle was, and after i answered she said -"ok, let's say it's 15 canadian and i'll only charge you for 8 of the bottles". i then proceeded to pay $80. some of it i think is federal tax, and most of it is provincial tax.

i am now in vancouver but will return to toronto tomorrow. i may have saved the receipts and i'll be able to check what the breakdown was as well as the exact amount.

i have no idea about a sliding scale, but do let me know if that is the case.

as an aside, my reason for bringing wine from france is that they're wines/producers i know and like and can't get in canada, not price. although you'd be hard pressed to match the quality of those cornas (or any northern rhone) in ontario for their price, even after tax. maybe not if i had to pay the full amount, though.

[David M. Bueker]

FYI - Alberta is privatized as well.

So if moving to Canada you only pay duties and not the tax? That would be a good thing (I would love to move to Calgary some day).

FYI - Alberta is privatized as well.

if there's any province in canada which is privatized, i'm sure it's alberta

yes, you only pay the duty which is a few pennies per litre of wine.

(are you sure you want to move back now that klein is no longer in power?)

Way to go David!! Clackgary would love you here. No discount bins in many places however!!

[David M. Bueker]

No discount bins where I live Bob.