Can sales tax in Michigan be rebated to a Canadian?

Question

If I bought a large ticket item in Michigan to bring back to Ontario is there any way around the Michigan sales tax.

Answer 1

I seriously doubt it. Exemption cards are only given under a federal law to diplomatic personnel. And on top of the 6% tax and any importation duties imposed on the purchase, you are required under Canadian law to pay GST and likely the PST as well. So in ontario, that would be US purchase price + 6 % + duties on both + 14% on top of all that ...

If your purchase happened to be an iPhone at $399 US, consider it thusly: $399.00 + $23.94 + $55.86 = $478.80, as there are no additional duties for wireless phone devices.

For other products:

"After each trip outside Canada of 48 hours or longer, you are entitled to a special duty rate of 7% under the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff treatment in addition to your personal exemption. The rate applies only to goods that accompany you, that do not qualify for duty-free entry under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and that are worth up to CAN$300 more than your personal exemption of CAN$400 or CAN$750. The rate does not apply to tobacco products or alcoholic beverages. You still have to pay any GST/HST that applies. In some provinces, we also collect the provincial sales tax (PST)."

Continuing with our $399 product example, but now assuming it's another type of big ticket item, where duties should apply:

They include the taxes in the calculation, since they consider the canadian value to be whatever you paid and can't rebate, so that means you could be forced to pay $399.00 + $23.94 + 7% of 22.94, which is $1.61 + $55.86 in GST and PST, bringing us to a grand total of $480.41, with $81.41 going to support state and federal government agencies.

Warning: the penalty for non-declaration is severe. One guy spent an hour in lockup and paid an extra $400 or so because he didn't declare three iPhones lying in the back seat. (Globe and mail)

Plus, to clarify earlier answers above - the Federal government ended the program for tax rebates to visitors on Sept 25, back dated to April 9, 2007. So all purchases since April 9 in Canada by individuals, along with all imports to Canada, are taxed, while exporting by businesses are not taxed.

Answer 2

Yes, however you need to apply for a tax exempt card PRIOR to the purchase. It is a small card that states you do not have to pay sales tax because you are from the frozen wilderness to our north.

Answer 3

No. This is not like Canadian GST and foreign tourists.

Answer 4

nope