Every Friday, Lynda Steele dips into the viewer mailbag to answer your questions. This week, Steele on Your Side investigates duties at the border and phishing scams.
Duties on cross border shopping
Mike recently went through the Peace Arch border crossing and declared the items he was bringing back into Canada. He was told to pass through without paying anything, but his son in another car had to pay duties and taxes on all of the items he had bought that day. Mike wants to know why.
The Canadian Border Services Agency says there are no personal exemptions for same-day shoppers. But you don't have to pay duties on goods imported for personal use, if they are “made in Canada, the U.S.A. or Mexico" or if there's no label indicating it was made somewhere else. But those goods may still be subject to GST and PST.
Remember, there are always exceptions. From firearms to fruits and vegetables, there's a long list of no-go items at the border. And you have to spend at least 48-hours in the U.S. before any liquor can be "duty free".
Phishing scams
CTV News has received a couple of emails from viewers who've received text messages that appear to be connected to Facebook.
Eric got a text on his smartphone last week from someone who claims to have noticed him on Facebook. He was suspicious because his cell number isn't even on the social media site.
Steele on Your Side contacted Facebook and it told us it wasn't aware of these text messages. It says the messages have nothing to do with the social media site. Facebook says they appear to be spam texts and consumers should not respond to them.
We've also received several emails about another phishing scam, that appears to be from the Canada Revenue Agency.
The email says you have a tax return waiting for you. But the CRA is reminding taxpayers that it never requests personal information by email.
It also warns people that responding to an email like this one could result in identity theft.
