On 5/8/05, Jens Bladt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In Denmark this is very simple: Gifts are taxed as well. > In fact, if the tax authorities miss a shipment to me, I must myself declare > it. > I often forget, though. I really have too much to remember, anyway :-)
Same with Canada. I recently received a package from another country. Due to the nature of it's contents, the sender wanted to insure it, and so declared a value. I was charged Provincial Sales Tax and (federal) Goods and Services Tax (same idea as Britains Value Added Tax). The item was clearly marked "gift", and indeed, no money or other consideration changed hands. I was still taxed. "How can that be?", I mused. "How can you charge me "sales tax" on an item for which there was no sales? "Because we're the Government, and we makes the laws, and we've decided that we can and will charge you such taxes," was the essence of the reply. "You do have the choice of not paying the tax. Of course, you'll not receive your box and it will be returned to it's sender." I believe that in Canada, goods under a value of something like $60 aren't taxable. cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
