BRINGING A SNOWMOBILE ACROSS THE BORDER

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I am looking at bringing a snowmobile across the border into Canada. I was wondering what I have to do to get it across. I read that you have to pay a RIV fee, and that you have to pay duty. Also do you ahve to pay tax again when you go to license it?
thanks
 
RIV and gst at the boarder...the remainder of the sales tax when you license it.There is no duty,just the RIV fee $220.00 for any sled.
 
You will need the correct paperwork from that state which shows proof of ownership. DNR or Pinkslip etc.
You need to show each border where and how you found the sled with the asking price and the price you paid. So don't fudge the bill of sale.
You need to fax a bill of sale to the US Border 72 hours prior to bringing the sled accross. Phone the Border to make sure the fax came in and then phone 72 hours later to make sure everything has cleared. Include a clear pic of the vin and double check that the vin is correct on ALL paperwork.
Be ready to pay the GST and the RIV (as stated in the above post) on the Canadian side.

Check this link for the Importing of Vehicles into Canada
http://www.riv.ca/ImportingAVehicle.aspx
 
I did it with bikes. Its just as it says above. Make sure you send them a COPY of the pink slip and not the actual one. Did that and the border guy told me he now owns the bike. Scary. He didn't take it of course.
 
This is from the website;
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) require notification of all self-propelled vehicles being permanently exported from the United States. You must provide CBP with your vehicle title documents, registration and sales receipts.

CBP regulations state that at land border points:

required documentation must be submitted at least 72 hours prior to export; and
the vehicle must be presented to U.S. Customs at the time of export.

On paper you will need to purchase the vehicle. There is no risk to you or the seller as you will need an original copy of the title at each border and when registering.You also MUST register the vehicle within 6 months. If not, you may get a special visit.
If you only submit the paper work when you try to cross the border the vehicle must and will remain in the US for atleast 72 hours.
 
72 hrs notice / US customs / BS ... unless you plan on bringing the sled back across the border from Canada into the US at some future time all you can pass through with ease ...

Cdn side is ONLY interested in GST and RIV fee (cash grab) - so you need bill of sale and recall clearance confirmation - provincial tax will be collected when you register the sled.

Never bother stopping at US side - have brought in a new SUV, four sleds, atv .... and not had an issue at any time. If you are doing it on a commercial basis though, I would recommend that you follow ALL requirements.
 
That plan does not fly here. The Canadian custom guys will send you back to uS customs to do it legit. When u go back the US guys are pissed & your looking for a place to store your toy on the us side for a few days. You don,t need the recall letter till you take sled in for federal safety. Lotsa bad advice here.
 
Yes, each crossing is going to be somewhat different in regards to submitting the docs 72 hours ahead and presenting the unit to US customs before crossing.

Some crossings don't seem to care, as couch says, others follow the rules to the T, like Turk says. It is in your best interest to follow the RIV guidelines so that you don't have added delays.
 
Dont need to export unit from US. Only if rolling on tires.
No 72 hr wait etc.
When I went 1.5 years ago paid Gst at Canada customs. ON bill of sale.
No duty was very surprised. Brought a yamaha atv as well same thing. Except from duties.
CAnada Customs could cxare les if you go to the us customs. Nothing to do with them at all.

When you get home, contact the manufacturer of sled. In my case Yamaha Canada. Got letter of recall. This proves no saftey related fixes for unit.
When you get home log into the RIV program. Pay your $205-210 fee. Fax recall letter to them . 2 days later they send you a form that you take to inspection centre on RIV web site. For me Canadian Tire was my choice. Take them the letter, they did not even inspect sled. just looked at it through window.
They either gave me another form or stamped the form I had. Take this to MTO office and they issue you a new ownership. This is where I had to pay the PST on bill of sale

Went so smoth bought the atv as well
Good luck
 
Turk said:
That plan does not fly here. The Canadian custom guys will send you back to uS customs to do it legit. When u go back the US guys are pissed & your looking for a place to store your toy on the us side for a few days. You don,t need the recall letter till you take sled in for federal safety. Lotsa bad advice here.
Click to expand...

I did 2 imports this year didn't need to give them 72 hours notice.

I did however call them in Detroit and they thought I was an alien asking them for such nonsense on a snowmobile. The one guy i talked to said "sure cmon down anytime we are open 24/7 and i will do the paper work for you".

I also talked to another customs guy and he said as long as you are not riding it across the border they don't care.

Everything else is on the RIV site and good companies like yamaha provide a letter of recall for free.
 
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