Importing an Aircraft

Chemtech · Post by **Chemtech** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 7:09 pm

While importing an aircraft i know customs must meet the ac at the airport of entry. Now i was told that my 6% must be paid right then and there, is this true? or what would happen if it was just my american friend visiting for pleasure and happened to sell me the bird over a few drinks at my place? Any help would be great thanks.

Strega · Post by **Strega** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 7:23 pm

GST is due when the plane lands at the airport of entry. Or if the plane has cleared customs and then you purchase it (is in the case you mention over drinks) you still need to pay the GST for the declared sale price.

What kinda plane are u looking for?

Im sure we can find one here!

Gurundu the Rat · Post by **Gurundu the Rat** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 7:43 pm

Just buy it for 1$. You can then offer him a nice gift $$$.

oldtimer · Post by **oldtimer** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 9:10 pm

Deal with a good customs broker. They know how to avoid pitfalls and everything is nice and neat.

Mr. Jones · Post by **Mr. Jones** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 3:55 am

You only have to pay the tax after the deal is closed. I had the seller fly a plane from the states to my home airport in Canada where the pre-purchase inspection would be done. Customs insisted that he pay on the spot. He said NO because the deal wasn’t closed and no money had changed hands yet. After quite some debate, he had to provide my name and the date the deal would close and they let him fly on. Customs called me on the date he provided demanding a payment. Customs wanted me in person at the point of entry, I asked if I could wire the money since it was a long drive answer was no. So I asked if there was an office closer and they found one 10 minutes away. I went and settled up there.

Chemtech · Post by **Chemtech** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:32 am

Gurundu the Rat Wrote

Just buy it for 1$. You can then offer him a nice gift $$$.

A similar thought had crossed my mind, but what would happen if i were to total it later would insurance just pay me a dollar and say thanks for the plane?

Hey Strega

I have a really nice deal on a little tail dragger; and the only similar ones i could find this side of the border were twice the price if not more.

rsandor · Post by **rsandor** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:45 pm

You are supposed to pay Duty & GST to Canada customs whenever you import a vehicle. (with cars, in BC, PST is paid at Autoplan when you buy insurance, dunno about planes.)

Customs gets excited when things do not go their way. "Their way" meaning that they want duty to be collected on all imports at the port of entry.

Obviously with aircraft, things happen differently, and since aircraft are not as common to import as cars, the customs guys (if they are not accustomed to dealing with a/c imports) can get confused and worried that the a/c will dissapear in Canada without the duty & gst being paid.

DO NOT lie about how much you paid. I don't know about aircraft, but for cars, if you get busted lying about how much you paid, it's a MASSIVE fine, plus a criminal record, plus it becomes a giant pain in the ass anytime you cross the border again in the future. Don't phuck around with customs.

If you are still unsure about what you are doing, get a customs broker who specialises in aircraft. Peace of mind is worth the extra $$$.

-Rich

Landlocked · Post by **Landlocked** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:03 pm

Is it true the imported aircraft is subject to inspection from Transport Canada? I've heard between taxes and the inspection in question you're usually no farther ahead?

Hedley · Post by **Hedley** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:34 pm

Is it true the imported aircraft is subject to inspection from Transport Canada?

The answer is no, and yes.

There are two different ways to import an aircraft, with respect to getting a Cdn C of A.

One way to get a Cdn C of A to get an export C of A issued by a DAR of the exporting country. He attests that the aircraft is as per the type certificate with respect to damage, repairs, modifications, AD compliance, etc. In this case, supposedly no inspection (ho ho ho) is required by a Canadian AME - just start a set of logbooks, and you're done.

Another way to have a Canadian AME do a 100 hour inspection, who starts the logbooks, checks for AD compliance, repairs, modifications, etc.

Either way, a Industry Delegate visits your hangar, verifies the "tombstone data" on the MSI-26 (airframe, engine and prop model and serial numbers), peeks at the logs, and issues the Cdn C of A.

If you know what you're doing, and you choose the right aircraft (eg no questionable 337's) getting a Cdn C of A is pretty easy.

If you choose the wrong aircraft, it can be VERY expensive - you might have to overhaul the engine, for example, to make Transport happy.

Your choice.

Landlocked · Post by **Landlocked** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:13 pm

Interesting and informative, thanks!

Bobby868 · Post by **Bobby868** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 3:48 pm

Don't declare the plane worth $1. You think you’re the first rocket scientist to think of that? Customs isn't stupid.

Best case scenario, they will seize the aircraft until they get an appraisal done. If the appraisal comes back hire than what you really paid for the plane guess what? You’re paying tax on the full appraised value.

Worst case scenario they nail you with tax evasion, seize the plane and you never see it again and you get hit with a nasty fine for your first offence.

But you can defer paying the GST until the sale actually goes through which could be several weeks after the plane arrives in Canada.

Getting an export CofA is not advisable, it’s far better for a number of reasons to do an import CofA instead. Do of course get a full prebuy and look for items that wouldn’t normally come up in a Canadian annual like 10yr overhauls on constant speed props. Also Engine rebuilds that haven’t been done by certified shops in the US are often rejected by TC when they inspect the plane for import.

If you get a good clean well maintained aircraft and a good AME to do the annual and a good industry delegate to do the TC inspection and sign off then yes you can save some money. But you have to be a really savvy aircraft shopper. If this is your first buy on an old privately owned plane out of some farmers back 40 I would caution you against it. Cause it can end up costing you way way way more than you originally thought if you let something slip by

Hedley · Post by **Hedley** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 9:16 am

10yr overhauls on constant speed props

Yeah, CAR 625 app C, out of phase ...

Reminds me ... once when we imported a Pitts, it was just coming up on 10 years since it had the 3-blade "claw" installed - it was the 2nd Pitts to have it installed.

So, to keep Transport happy, we took off the functioning propeller and trucked it down to a big name prop shop in a big city. When it was done, we drove down again and picked it up, and put it on the airplane.

But when I ran it up, I couldn't cycle the prop for the life of me - it was stuck in coarse pitch. A lot of head-scratching followed.

Then, off came the prop, and it was trucked down AGAIN to the big name prop shop in the big city, who discovered that they had installed the wrong prop seals - the prop blades simply couldn't move, they were clamped so tight.

Much red-faced finger-pointing ensued - the big name shop claimed that Hartzell sent them the wrong seals. Whatever. The prop was trucked back from the big city, reinstalled and this time it worked as well as it did when the whole clusterfuck started

A big hand to Transport for requiring us to participate in this insane waste of time and money

As mentioned, Transport will require you to re-overhaul the engine, if they don't like the qualifications of the shop that did the overhaul, even though the FAA did.

And don't forget the 337's. Any modification MUST be performed according to an STC/STA, otherwise Transport will reject it. This is NOT the case in the USA, where the FAA is famous (infamous?) for accepting modifications with just a "field approval" 337 form.

Unless you really know what you are doing, importing an aircraft can be very painful and expensive.