^ Is it "attempting" to you?

You can still get tax exemption even now. You just have to let them know that you're from Canada and that you have to pay tax at the border, so make it tax exempt. Done it a few times when visiting my sister in Seattle.

i doubt it

Nice. I hope more BC'ers buy more from WA. Send Gordo a message that we don't like the HST.

Uh, no.

There's tax exemption if you're from ALBERTA, but not all of Canada, and not BC.

Alberta and Washington state have some reciprocal non-tax agreement thing in place.

So how is this going to work? We go down there flash some Canadian ID and they knock off the tax, or we fill out a form and send the receipts in and get a refund sent back?

It's probably what we do when it comes to items for kids. Fill out some sheet, put down some info, they ring it up as tax exempt at the till. But, I guess more info will come out when the time comes closer.

meh
canada will counteract by removing the $50 daily duty exempt limit and everyone will be hit with them regardless...unlike right now which is totally YMMV

Albertans are already tax free in WA, they just flash some provincial ID and call it a day.

As for paying CAD taxes when you cross going back home, who cares? I cross all the time, sometimes with $100s and others with $1000s of goods. I rarely pay duty but never bitch when I have to because US retail prices + WA tax + exchange + CAD taxes = still way cheaper than shopping in Canada. If I save 9.5% taxes there and have to pay 12% here then I'm still happy.
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There is $0 exemption when you are away for less than 24 hours.

I'm pretty sure they used to do this. but it was by mail. (mail receipts in and get money back) but they stoped awhile ago. if they do it right in the store that is even better.

My sister-in-law lives in Edmonton, and I went shopping with her in Seattle. Saved a bunch of money in tax! :D

I wonder if it's possible for us to get a Alberta driver's license... ;)

I don't understand why people think there's a $50 daily limit...

I don't remember anything like this for Canadians visiting the US. I do remember something like this in the past for visitors to Canada where they could get their GST back, but that program was done with years ago.

My guess is that it's this form they have to fill in when you make a purchase.

If it weren't for the HST, you wouldn't be getting this "perk". Besides, people have this misguided view that the HST is another tax. It isn't. You still pay the same as you did before. The only time it would make a difference is for products/services that you previously only paid one tax on.

yes, cars were already exempted. if u did ur paperwork right...

sweet this is good news

Thank you. But of course, if I wanted to save 5 bucks on a hair cut, I would want to drive down to Bellingham and reap the savings! Or perhaps I might want to drive down to Seattle and pig out at the Metropolitan Grill and save myself 7-10 bucks on that prime rib with a glass of Cabernet.

Key here is for some people (like myself) that buy groceries down in the States when I visit. The savings add up a bit.

And yes, I understand the HST is not another tax, but it's still shafting the consumer on goods that only had one tax on them. With my family's income, it's more money that has to be allocated from paying bills in order to pay more for goods that used to be within our budget. And trust me, our budget is pretty tight to begin with even with all the savings on things we try to do(mom is a single parent, and I won't have the means to help pay for the groceries, etc. for some time because I'm only a student with a p/t job).

Speaking of HST....


http://www.cknw.com/Channels/Reg/New...spx?ID=1238321

The "Fight HST" petition has now hit 15 percent support in 80 of 85 ridings.

Lead organizer Chris Delaney says they have now gathered 620 thousand signatures.

That's more than double the Elections BC threshold of 300 thousand needed across BC's 85 electoral districts.

Fight HST's Bill Vander Zalm says the BC government has "become desperate" in the face of the overwhelming success of the petition.

He says the government is stooping to a new low, and is now making up what he calls bogus arguments about the legality of the petition.

Basic groceries will still be tax free as it was before the HST.

Don't get me wrong - I dislike the HST as much as the next person in terms of the fact that it's an additional expense on some things (like going to a restaurant to eat or any services) but to be honest, percentage wise, the additional expense is somewhat small.

What I was getting at was all the people (and retailers) that are saying "buy your TV/cell phone/car/etc before the HST kicks in". Since those were taxed with GST+PST in the first place, with the HST it makes no difference.

OMG!!! don't need to go portland!!! down with HST!

i dont go down frequently..but iv'e only been hit with duties once.

i swear i've heard it from many diff people it's 50 daily limit...maybe an old policy?

Maybe it's an oldie, the current is here... http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/new-neuf/...09-28-eng.html

Less than 24 hours is $0, after 24 hours is $50... I'm crossing all the time and rarely pay duty, once they let me through with $400 of goods per person.
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I don't want to be condescending, but it sounds like in your situation, you and your family would qualify for HST tax refunds that would offset the HST.

The tax will "hurt" middle-income earners who wine and dine themselves silly. However, BC has the lowest (if not, then second-lowest) income tax rate in the country. The money to pay for schools and hospitals has got to come from somewhere.

^ I haven't heard much about any refunds regarding the HST. The news typically covers both the for and the against, but anything regarding refunds has been essentially downplayed on both sides. I've maybe heard one thing about it, but nothing else.

Saw something about this on CBC News so did a little search and it popped out this article http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...exemption.html