I had heard it's a little harder to get back into the US than it is to leave it. I was also told that I may be taxed twice for certain purchases and hotel bills. Someone mentioned about keeping all my receipts and picking up a form to fill out at the border if this happens. Does anyone know any more about this and what exactly to be prepared for?

I can't imagine any circumstance under which you would be taxed twice. Keeping your receipts is recommended if you plan to ask for a refund of the General Sales Tax. Check at the Duty-free store at the border for details.

No, you won't be "taxed TWICE"... it is just that you are exempt from the tax you will likely pay ONCE, and as such, you are entitled to a REFUND on qualifying purchases.

THE ONLY PURCHASES that qualify for the do-it-yourself, stop-at-duty-free-at-the-border refunds, are those with BEFORE-TAX totals of $50 or more.

THEY MUST have G.S.T. tax of $3.50 or more clearly designated on the receipt.

It is a good idea to save all of your receipts for goods purchased while visiting Canada, so you can establish at the border whether you owe any "duty" on those purchases.

Let me create a scenario of your likely/possible trip to Canada.

You are vacationing there for 5 nights... each to be spent at the Ritz Carleton in Ecum Secum.

Your per-night hotel bill is $200

Five times this is $1000

7% G.S.T. tax is $70

While in Canada you purchase a dog sled for $250, three curling rocks for $75 total, and a hockey stick autographed by Bobby Orr for $500.

Then you see a cute store just as you're about to leave Canada, and stop there to purchase a curling broom for $55... and you go next door to an all-purpose store and see the same broom selling for $8.95, so you buy it given the perceived value.

So, if you so choose, you stop in the "Duty Free" store whilst exiting Canada, tally up your receipts as follows:

Hotel $1000
Sled $250
Rocks $75
Stick $500
Broom A $55
Broom B $8.95

At the border you then owe some piddly amount of "duty" on the GOODS you purchased (total value of just under $900)... and since you took the woman you want to impress most in this world to the Ecum Secum Ritz Carleton, each of you get $400 duty-free purchases for having stayed in Canada more than 48 hours. (now you owe actual duty on about $90 worth of goods, and you have the receipts neatly arranged so as to help the guy figure out what you owe)

BEFORE getting to that point, you went into the DUTY FREE shop, and arranged all of your receipts (this time including hotel) so as to claim your G.S.T. refund.

All of the receipts listed above qualify for the refund of the visible 7% G.S.T. EXCEPT for the one showing the second broom you purchased.

Even though you have identical brooms, because one was over $50, and the other was under $50, you cannot claim a refund at Duty-Free ON the purchase beneath $50.

My math says that you are due $131 or so, for the refund, and you can even have it instantly converted to be paid in American cash.

But more probable is the chance that you're enticed to buy heaps of MAPLE SYRUP there at Duty Free to bring back home...thus reducing your cash balance to be taken away from Duty Free.

What really makes it "harder" to get back into the U.S.A. from Canada these days, is when you neglect to remember to BRING A CERTIFIED COPY OF YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE (along with photo ID, provided you're not a kid too young to have photo ID).

I hope this little skit helped you to understand.

Enjoy Canada... (I think Ecum Secum is nice this time of year... or, well, it will be for 4 days in late July)

thank you for the EXTREMELY detailed explanation. i REALLY appreciate it.

**BRING A CERTIFIED COPY OF YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE**
I'm sorry, but I have to ask: Is a passport not sufficient?

Canada is one of the few places Americans can go without a passport, thus the birth certificate. Of course, a passport is easierl.

How long does it take to go through customs to get back in the us..at the airport?
thx

>>>>>>How long does it take to go through customs to get back in the us..at the airport?<<<<<<

When you fly from Canada to the USA, you go through US immigration and customs in the Canadian airport from which you depart. Then, when you land in the US, your flight is treated like a domestic flight.

If I was flying to the US from Calgary I would check in 2 hours before take off. However, I believe you'll be flying from Vancouver. In that case I'd check in 3 hours before take off.

In my experience the check in, immigration and customs processes have varied enormously in length from one occasion to the next. There have been times when we genuinely have needed most of that lead time. There have been other times when we've gone through quickly and have ended up reading the books and magazines that we always take the precaution of bringing with us.

I have not been able to identify factors that I can use in predicting how things will go. I have not been able to find a day of the week or a time of day when I <b>know</b> things will go a certain way. So I just play it safe.

To expand on the excellent explanation by &quot;NorthwestMale&quot; of the tax refund. At present each US resident returning to the US from Canada, after being out of the US for longer than 48 hrs.,is entitled to import $800 in purchases duty-free. This applies to each traveller in the party, including children. For detailed info go to the US Customs website at www.customs.ustreas.gov and click on the &quot;Travel&quot; link.
You may obtain the GST refund at the duty-free shop at the border as was described in the above posting. You may also obtain the refund by mail by submitting a form along with your eligible receipts. This is a plus if there are long lines at the duty-free shop. However, you must have your receipts for eligible purchases stamped at the duty-free shop. This is usually a quick process. I have always preferred to obtain my refund by mail.
Pick up a copy of the brochure &quot;Tax Refund for Visitors to Canada&quot;, available at Provincial tourist chalets, etc. It contains the form needed and all other necessary info. I have usually received my refund in about three weeks via a check in US currency.
One word of caution! Do not use the tax refund brochures you will see in many hotels, gift shops, etc. These are usually decorated with color flags of various countries. These are private companies not affiliated with the Government of Canada. They obtain the refund for you as your proxy and charge exhorbitant fees for obtaining the refund, service, currency exchange, etc. They will normally take 10%-15% of your refund. The Government of Canada charges no fee.
None of the Provincial taxes that you pay are refundable, except for the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax), which is a combination of GST and Provincial tax, of 15% collected in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland &amp; Labrador. The entire 15% is refunded to you on qualified goods and accomodations.
Hope this helps.

It seemed a little more intense scruteny getting back in to the USA, even prior to revealing that I had no ID. (left it at the table with the person processing my tax refund) After revealing I had no ID the resulting gyrations and events revealed that although crossing the border is a serious matter it is not unreasonable. I was steamed, but it all worked out. The border people pretty much handle the whole thing. They know what they are doing. JUST MAKE SURE YOU GET YOU DRIVERS LICENCE BACK BEFORE LEAVING THE TAX PROCESSING EVENT.

Life is easier with a passport, both coming and going. I know, it is not mandatory, hence I said &quot;easier.&quot;

I have used a passport since '98 for airport entries and re-entries where the scrutiny is a little higher.

Be aware there are proposed regulations that will require a passport for all persons entering the United States from Canada; I don't remember the exact date they will become effective.

Years ago, at least before 9/11, crossing the US Canadian border was a simple matter. I remember all the time coming back from Montreal to New York in my car where at the border at Champlain I was asked where I was born and where I was headed and voila done...now official paranoia and the feeling on the part of some government bureaucrats that Canadian immigration policy is not as strong as that of the US has led to this proposed regulation.

It will be a nightmare rush hours at the bridge and tunnel joining Windsor and Detroit or the bridge joining Buffalo and Ft. Erie when this regulation comes into effect.

We can argue whether it is necessary or the right thing to do...to me, and this is my opinion, there is a distinct anti Canadian feeling in some parts of the current US administration as the Canadians have not moved to totally embrace the current policies of the American government and then of course there are the trade disputes where the US government is ignoring ruling of the WTO which didn't go their way but let's not make it a political issue.

Europeans have moved in the direction of relaxing border controls and you now travel from France to Germany to Austria with no more difficulty than crossing a state line at home...it's too bad that the current times have led to all this paranoia about the US-Canadian border.

Crossing the U.S. / Canada border REMAINS &quot;a simple matter&quot; (for those with enough sense to have the require paperwork).

Furthermore, Windsor-to-Detroit and Fort Erie-to-Buffalo during RUSH HOUR is already a NIGHTMARE.

And of course there is an &quot;anti-Canadian&quot; feeling in some parts of the present administration. It is just plain flat out ILLEGAL for the top dawg to visit Canada, so of course there would be &quot;anti-Canadian&quot; feelings in his administration.

The effective date for Passport requirements is Jan. 1, 2008.

Crossing is easy, well in Detroit anyway. You just say the word &quot;casino&quot; and a magical door opens and they seem to wave you right through.