Has anyone heard of this?

So im from canada bc, I have a us postal address which i get packages delivered to, a company called package express. Anways I purchased around 50Lbs of grain from northern brewer as it is easier to go to sumas (10 minutes away) where package express is, then driving to Vancouver(1 hour away). The border guard (going back into canada after picking up the grain at the us address) says I could possibly get taxed a commerical tax on malted barley as I can make alot of beer with 50Lbs. Does this make any sense at all to you guys?? It sounds friggin ridiculous to me. I understand they could possibly tax our hst or gst but what is this commerical tax he was talking about?

Cheers

Jason

If it sounds ridiculous and it has to do with a government policy, it's probably true. Sorry I don't know the specifics of it, but I wouldn't doubt it.

Never come between a government and what they perceive to be theirs (tax money).

I wouldn't worry too much. Take a look at Canada customs website before you ship next time and see what that say about the commercial issue. There'll be some definition, and I bet it has more to do with use than volume. The site should list all their policies and regs. Frankly it would not be odd for a Canada Customs officer to not know what they're talking about. They are mostly part-time students. They probably have no interest in looking up the regs, especially at a busy crossing like Sumas.

My understanding is that brewing ingredients are int the same category as food, so not taxable.

Out of curiosity, how much did you pay for the 50# of grains? Price plus shipping?

well i ordered multiple types of malt which added up to near 50 lbs. this is what i ordered. Each grain is by: # of pounds per bag, # of bags and what it cost. Northern brewer always does 7.99 flat rate

Rahr 2-Row Malt - 5 lbs. unmilled 4 6.70 26.80
Rahr 2-Row Malt - 1 lb. unmilled 2 1.34 2.68
German Munich Malt - 1 lb. unmilled 6 1.69 10.14
Rahr White Wheat Malt - 1 lb. unmilled 7 1.38 9.66
English Chocolate Malt - 1 lb. whole 1 1.99 1.99
Briess Caramel 40L 2 1.79 3.58
English Roasted Barley 1 1.99 1.99
Briess Caramel 60L 3 1.79 5.37
Belgian Biscuit Malt 1 2.10 2.10
Flaked Wheat 1 1.59 1.59
Gambrinus Honey Malt 1 1.89 1.89
Belgian Special B 1 2.10 2.10

People in the government are the greediest folks around, so I wouldn't doubt they would try something silly like that. That being said: how does the border gaurd know how much beer you are making? You could make a lot of session beer or a smaller volume of barelywine. You also could use it all at once or over many weeks.

I wouldn't worry unless you get a knock on the door.

harrydrez said:

I wouldn't worry unless you get a knock on the door.

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When there is a knock on the door, it is probably too late to worry.

But I also wouldn't worry about this. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to ding you for GST, but any discussion of a commercial tax I would believe is that border guard not knowing the rules.

But next time put the malt back inside of a normal grain bag, and say its for your horses or something. They only like american feed.

Here in the states it's food until you ferment it.

For everyone here in the states if your brew shop tries to charge you sales tax for grain or yeast raise a big stink, it is defiantly non taxable here.

That's what you get for being Canadian.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

That's what you get for being Canadian.

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What?

If they fuss then why not claim to be making baked goods?

stanzela said:

What?

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Yep, poor us. (shhh, dont tell them what it's really like or they'll all come up here)

:cross:

WestCoastHopper said:

Yep, poor us. (shhh, dont tell them what it's really like or they'll all come up here)

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WestCoastHopper said:

Yep, poor us. (shhh, dont tell them what it's really like or they'll all come up here)

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i won't spill the beans if you let me back in a couple times a year...

JasonToews said:

well i ordered multiple types of malt which added up to near 50 lbs. this is what i ordered. Each grain is by: # of pounds per bag, # of bags and what it cost. Northern brewer always does 7.99 flat rate

Rahr 2-Row Malt - 5 lbs. unmilled 4 6.70 26.80
Rahr 2-Row Malt - 1 lb. unmilled 2 1.34 2.68
German Munich Malt - 1 lb. unmilled 6 1.69 10.14
Rahr White Wheat Malt - 1 lb. unmilled 7 1.38 9.66
English Chocolate Malt - 1 lb. whole 1 1.99 1.99
Briess Caramel 40L 2 1.79 3.58
English Roasted Barley 1 1.99 1.99
Briess Caramel 60L 3 1.79 5.37
Belgian Biscuit Malt 1 2.10 2.10
Flaked Wheat 1 1.59 1.59
Gambrinus Honey Malt 1 1.89 1.89
Belgian Special B 1 2.10 2.10

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Thanks for the answer. I know this is not the topic of this thread but did you notice any difference in quality between NB ant the store in Vancouver?

I hope I don't hit that agent if I move to your neck of the woods in the next year (Yarrow) since that's my border crossing.

stanzela said:

What?

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I learned this along time ago...Never get insulted by what a texan says or does...It's like taking a offense to a squirrel dropping a nut on your head...

.

Customs agents like to ask you questions to get you off balance to see your reaction. It gives them a hint of when you might be bringing something banned. If you know the laws and give them the right answer and DON'T ARGUE they usually aren't too bad to deal with.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

That's what you get for being Canadian.

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Ever hear the saying " DON'T MESS WITH CANADA" You're just jealous!