Declaring at the border

[Eff-1]

Found this article today.

This month, BSOs in the Pacific Highway District conducted 93 seizures. Some examples are outlined below:

Douglas - Traffic Operations: On November 3, three Canadian residents returning from a day trip to the United States declared $100 worth of purchases, and they were referred for a secondary exam to verify their declaration. During the exam, officers found an undeclared designer purse valued at $12,328 with the receipt and packaging intact on the back seat of the vehicle. The purse was seized and an administrative penalty of $3,082 was assessed. Had the traveller properly declared the purse, she would have paid $1,479 in duties and taxes.

Pacific Highway - Traffic Operations: On November 15, a returning resident declared a purchase of a car to the primary officer for USD$27,000 and he was referred for a secondary exam to verify his declaration. The traveller eventually admitted that he had actually paid US$53,000 for the luxury vehicle. The car was seized for undervaluation, and once the traveller paid the duty and taxes owing on the amount that he declared ($3,186.20), plus an administrative penalty of $10,445.49 for the undervalued amount, the vehicle was returned to him. Had he properly declared the vehicle, he would have paid $6,149.65 in duty and taxes.

Abbotsford-Huntingdon Traffic: On November 16, a returning resident declared that he had purchased a motorhome for USD$168,000 while in the United States, and he was referred for a secondary exam to verify his declaration. The man provided a notarized Bill of Sale and Retail Buyer's Order from the seller for the declared value of $168,000, with a 0.00 value indicated for Less Trade In. However, the traveller eventually admitted to the border services officer that he had sold his old motorhome on consignment for $80,000 and that the seller gave him a "credit" of the $80,000 towards the new motorhome, but he did not include the trade-in value on the bill of sale. The man was arrested for undervaluation of the motorhome and the vehicle was seized. Once the traveller paid the administrative penalty of $53,698, the vehicle was returned to him. Had he properly declared the vehicle, he would have paid $12,521 in duties and taxes.

Douglas - Traffic Operations: On November 27, a returning resident declared to the primary officer that he had purchased a vehicle in the United States, and provided a receipt for $2,700. He was referred for a secondary examination to verify his declaration. During the examination, officers found an invoice in the vehicle for the amount of $27,000. When confronted with this information, the traveller admitted that he had created a false invoice so that he could avoid paying more in taxes. The traveller was arrested and his vehicle was seized. After the traveller paid $134.31, the duty and taxes owing on the amount that he declared, plus an administrative penalty of $13,296.84 for the undervalued amount, the vehicle was returned to him. Had he properly declared the vehicle, he would have paid $1,350 in duties and taxes.

Did you really think the border guard wouldn't be suspicious when you declare a $27,000 car as only $2700??

[jing]

Link to article? I love reading stuff like this.

[anti_rice]

People try everything to save a few bucks. But I like how these people spend $10k + and then try and save a couple hundred in taxes.

[Eff-1]

Originally Posted by jing

Link to article? I love reading stuff like this.

same here

Border Briefs

[Gh0stRider]

[Tim Budong]

I always declare full value and travel with a clean empty trunk

[SolidPenguin]

Border Security, Canada/Vancouver edition is on marathon right now on National Geographic.

And something you can learn easily from watching that show is...Declare your stuff, really simple...

[saiko]

I always declare the correct amount. I still get searched. To their surprise, I was being honest, I am just a cheapo traveller.

[jello24]

Originally Posted by SolidPenguin

Border Security, Canada/Vancouver edition is on marathon right now on National Geographic.

And something you can learn easily from watching that show is...Declare your stuff, really simple...

Lol had that entire series recorded on PVR today...

Really great stuff, especially the YVR scenes of Chinese students trying to bring in chicken feet and other raw meat. One kid tried to throw away his meat items from his baggage but CBSA sees him, tells him to pick it up from the garbage bin, then charges him an $800 fine.

Epic shit. Although you do see the border agents let quite a bit of people through in a nicer manner, like the Filipino who didn't have to pay his $800 food fine, albeit for the confiscation of his cigarette cartons.

[LP700-4]

Reminds me of one time when we were going down to portland for 4 days as a family and we got asked how much money we were bringing with us. We told them appoximately $4000 total and we got sent inside, we waiting in the lineup for 30-45 minutes when it was our turn and the guard searched all handbags and wallets and he counted 4200 and he bitched us out cause we didnt count to the exact amount - WTF

Not 100% related but i'd though i'd share and see some opinions on this. Is it reasonable that guards can be able to take away almost an hour of your day only to count your money? Nothing illegal or anything i guess it was random but i was pretty pissed cause we were gonna be an hour late to portland in our limited time trip.

[CRS]

Originally Posted by LP700-4

Reminds me of one time when we were going down to portland for 4 days as a family and we got asked how much money we were bringing with us. We told them appoximately $4000 total and we got sent inside, we waiting in the lineup for 30-45 minutes when it was our turn and the guard searched all handbags and wallets and he counted 4200 and he bitched us out cause we didnt count to the exact amount - WTF

Not 100% related but i'd though i'd share and see some opinions on this. Is it reasonable that guards can be able to take away almost an hour of your day only to count your money? Nothing illegal or anything i guess it was random but i was pretty pissed cause we were gonna be an hour late to portland in our limited time trip.

Their country, their rules.

You could have saved a whole lot of time by not travelling at all either but since you wanted and chose to go, you have to play by their rules. An hour out of your day isn't bad considering border lineups can be worse during peak hours.

[Ronin]

Haven't you people heard of credit cards? $4k in cash? Why?

Also, follow these steps.

1. Answer in as few words as possible.
2. Look them in the face.

Where am I from? Richmond. How long was I down there? Two days. What was I doing? Vacation.

[nah]

Originally Posted by LP700-4

Reminds me of one time when we were going down to portland for 4 days as a family and we got asked how much money we were bringing with us. We told them appoximately $4000 total and we got sent inside, we waiting in the lineup for 30-45 minutes when it was our turn and the guard searched all handbags and wallets and he counted 4200 and he bitched us out cause we didnt count to the exact amount - WTF

Not 100% related but i'd though i'd share and see some opinions on this. Is it reasonable that guards can be able to take away almost an hour of your day only to count your money? Nothing illegal or anything i guess it was random but i was pretty pissed cause we were gonna be an hour late to portland in our limited time trip.

You're suppose to know exact amounts you're declaring or bringing with you.

Uncertain amounts bring you inside.

[SolidPenguin]

Originally Posted by jello24

Lol had that entire series recorded on PVR today...

Really great stuff, especially the YVR scenes of Chinese students trying to bring in chicken feet and other raw meat. One kid tried to throw away his meat items from his baggage but CBSA sees him, tells him to pick it up from the garbage bin, then charges him an $800 fine.

Epic shit. Although you do see the border agents let quite a bit of people through in a nicer manner, like the Filipino who didn't have to pay his $800 food fine, albeit for the confiscation of his cigarette cartons.

Yup, just be straight forward.

At least if you declare your stuff, at most is they take away whats prohibited, then you only lose some money from your items cause you didnt follow the law. If you get caught and didnt declare, you get your stuff taken away and a pretty hefty fine on top of that and maybe even get prosecuted.

Same idea as just jumping on the sky train without a ticket, but on an international level.

[Hehe]

Some of these people are just plain stupid.

I can understand trying to pass something worth $100 for something like $85, but declaring hundreds on something worth tens of thousands?!?!

I always declare full amount, down to the pennies, and most often the border officer just wave me through. I have had occasions that I was about $1200 over my limit, and still just went through.

[Tim Budong]

It really is common sense, the examples from the article are pretty stupid examples

My rule of thumb is to always give the officer the amount to the penny
and when I hand over the passports, I make sure that the invoices are folded into the passport and when I give it to him, I remove the invoices and hand the passport over to him

regardless, the secondary searches can happen randomly as well
which is why I stated above to have a CLEAN TRUNK just in case.

[Gumby]

Don't forget - if you get caught once, your future border crossings won't be fun either!

[Gh0stRider]

Originally Posted by darthchilli

It really is common sense, the examples from the article are pretty stupid examples

My rule of thumb is to always give the officer the amount to the penny
and when I hand over the passports, I make sure that the invoices are folded into the passport and when I give it to him, I remove the invoices and hand the passport over to him

regardless, the secondary searches can happen randomly as well
which is why I stated above to have a CLEAN TRUNK just in case.

ya, i do the same. clean everything thing out of the car that i don't need on my trip down.


those idiots should at least remove the price tag from the merchandise. thats what the highway rest areas are for

[gdoh]

Originally Posted by Eff-1

Found this article today.



Did you really think the border guard wouldn't be suspicious when you declare a $27,000 car as only $2700??

[fliptuner]

Originally Posted by Gh0stRider

ya, i do the same. clean everything thing out of the car that i don't need on my trip down.


those idiots should at least remove the price tag from the merchandise. thats what the highway rest areas are for

Yeah. If I'm in Rmd or Surrey and have my passport with me and I'm driving my work truck, I won't even bother going across for fuel cause I don't want to get hassled for the tools in the back, even though they're obviously used.

Honestly at the border goes a long way. It's amazing how people think it's their right to fly/drive through international borders, without being questioned/scrutinized.

I never gave much thought to people coming here to work illegally, til I saw how many people they send back on Border Security. Like, they applied for a work visa, got declined and came anyways....uhhh don't they think that information's on file?

[jackmeister]

They should just have only female border agents from now on

[Tim Budong]

RS is hitting jackpot the past two days
This thread and the Translink Compass card thread


...idiots

[BMW M5]

U declare everything and they still treat u like criminals. Innocent until proven gruilty rules dont apply to the cbsa agents when treating ppl. Bunch of assholes.

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by BMW M5

U declare everything and they still treat u like criminals. Innocent until proven gruilty rules dont apply to the cbsa agents when treating ppl. Bunch of assholes.

That's my way of thinking about it and why I don't feel bad about lying. Border cops are such dicks so I don't feel like helping them out. Fuck 'em.

Originally Posted by Gumby

Don't forget - if you get caught once, your future border crossings won't be fun either!

Not true.

All you gotta ask yourself is...do you feel lucky? Punk?

[zx7rrrr]

dammm...