Some people might say that DHL is expensive, but they are fast, convenient and reliable.
Recently I purchased a book online, depends on daily currency rate, the value is roughly 33.39 Canadian Dollar, shipping cost is about 25.81 Canadian Dollar. I received the book in 2 days.
The previous day before delivery, I received an SMS giving the option of “no signature is required for this shipment”. You can also use directed online form to update delivery time and date. Then in the evening, I received another SMS asking for customs clearance fees of 20.32 Canadian Dollar. I can pay it in advance to expedite delivery. DHL accepts credit cards, Interac and PayPal. Like many people, I was curious about how they come up with the amount of $20.32. The calculation has two parts; here is what I found out:
According to the DHL website at http://international.dhl.ca/en/express/customs_support/brokerage_infomation.html, they collect two fees.
$11.00 or 2.5% of the Duties and Taxes Paid Processing Fee: Applied when DHL has acted as a broker and advanced the payment of duties and taxes directly to Canada Border Services Agency on your behalf.
$5.00 Transaction Fee: To advance the continued maintenance of the handheld payment devices used by DHL couriers and the payment website that allows DHL customers to pay their brokerage invoices online.
Now we need to add Duty and taxes, Canada Border Services Agency has a webpage at https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/dte-acl/est-cal-eng.html. There is a tool you can use to estimate Duty and taxes apply to goods imported for personal use. Just fill out a few simple questions.
1. Where do you live?
Ontario
2. What product did you buy?
Category -> Movies, Music, Books
Product -> Books
3. Was the product made in a NAFTA country? Canada, the United States and Mexico are NAFTA countries.
No, it was made elsewhere.
4. How much did the product cost in Canadian dollars? Enter the total amount you paid for the product, including local sales tax, in Canadian dollars.
CAN$ 33.39
Hitting the button on the right gives me a total of CAN$ 4.34, i.e. $0 on Duty and $4.34 on Tax.
Now we add up everything:
$11 + $5 + $4.34 = $20.34, roughly the same amount that I had to pay, i.e. $20.32.
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