Canadian Duties On Shisha Tobacco

[zagadka]

depends on who you buy from in toronto. if you buy from stores that sell under the table then its $5 for 50g of nakhla.
if you go to a legit store like nasr foods then a 50g box will cost you about $13 for nakhla ($14-15 for 50g al fakher grape).

ive ordered from the states a few times for tobacco and never got nailed for duties. i keep my orders small (3 or 4 tubs of 250g at a time) and i only order from certain vendors. ordering from these vendors doesnt guarantee that i wont get nailed for duties but it does lessen the chance.

thanks, i didn;t know that. i've buying molasses (not tobacco), thus the lower price. where can u buy "under the table stuff in TO"?


certain vendors? :

for tobacco, mnhookah.com and alfakheronline.com

?

thanks, will check them out next time.

[chinamon]

thanks, i didn;t know that. i've buying molasses (not tobacco), thus the lower price. where can u buy "under the table stuff in TO"?

you dont think you're buying tobacco?
there are cut up tobacco leaves mixed in with the molasses.
as for under the table stuff, there are a bunch of persian stores on yonge street near steeles (some north of steeles and some south).
i dont really want to start mentioning names cuz i dont really know the names but just look for persian grocery stores and you'll find it.

edit: just remember that is nakhla everywhere you go. thats why i order online cuz i dont really like nakhla. Edited November 15, 2007 by chinamon

[zagadka]

thanks, i didn;t know that. i've buying molasses (not tobacco), thus the lower price. where can u buy "under the table stuff in TO"?

you dont think you're buying tobacco?
there are cut up tobacco leaves mixed in with the molasses.
as for under the table stuff, there are a bunch of persian stores on yonge street near steeles (some north of steeles and some south).
i dont really want to start mentioning names cuz i dont really know the names but just look for persian grocery stores and you'll find it.

edit: just remember that is nakhla everywhere you go. thats why i order online cuz i dont really like nakhla.

lately i've been buying no nicotine, no tobacco stuff.

Aladdin in Mississauga (hurontario and dundas) sells a large box for $15. it's probably 250gr, maybe a bit more. doesn't say on the box. Ever since the smoking ban was passed, shisha smoking places can only use no tobacco no nicotine flavour (legally),

[booya]

[/quote]

lately i've been buying no nicotine, no tobacco stuff.

Aladdin in Mississauga (hurontario and dundas) sells a large box for $15. it's probably 250gr, maybe a bit more. doesn't say on the box. Ever since the smoking ban was passed, shisha smoking places can only use no tobacco no nicotine flavour (legally),
[/quote]

ah alladins still serves tobacco.... i was there a month ago and had a session.

[chinamon]

Aladdin in Mississauga (hurontario and dundas) sells a large box for $15. it's probably 250gr, maybe a bit more. doesn't say on the box. Ever since the smoking ban was passed, shisha smoking places can only use no tobacco no nicotine flavour (legally),

doesnt aladdins sell soex? and i think they are the only place in the GTA that sells golden quicklite coals too. ive never been to any hookah lounge though.
i know nasr foods in scarborough sells soex but no idea on the price.

[booya]

Aladdin in Mississauga (hurontario and dundas) sells a large box for $15. it's probably 250gr, maybe a bit more. doesn't say on the box. Ever since the smoking ban was passed, shisha smoking places can only use no tobacco no nicotine flavour (legally),

doesnt aladdins sell soex? and i think they are the only place in the GTA that sells golden quicklite coals too. ive never been to any hookah lounge though.
i know nasr foods in scarborough sells soex but no idea on the price.

if you order soex you won't pay duty

[chinamon]

ah alladins still serves tobacco.... i was there a month ago and had a session.

i think most places still serve tobacco.
i know in north york and scarborough they do (from what ive been told anyway).

[booya]

ah alladins still serves tobacco.... i was there a month ago and had a session.

i think most places still serve tobacco.
i know in north york and scarborough they do (from what ive been told anyway).

man i wish it was like that here... there are a couple shisha lounges going but only one sells tobacco... and now thats on the rocks because there is a province wide smoking ban coming into effect in '08. i wanted to open a lounge here but i don't think that will ahppen now because of the laws...

[chinamon]

man i wish it was like that here... there are a couple shisha lounges going but only one sells tobacco... and now thats on the rocks because there is a province wide smoking ban coming into effect in '08. i wanted to open a lounge here but i don't think that will ahppen now because of the laws...

where are you now?

[manntis]

Another vote for hookah-shisha.com

If you order, say, $100 worth of shisha and request USPS, not UPS (which has in-house brokers and will ding you for every bit of duty) H-S will often ship it as two packages. If one gets opened and inspected, you pay duty on that half of the order. The onus is on you, then, to declare the balance of your order to your province and pay provincial and federal tobacco taxes.

[booya]

man i wish it was like that here... there are a couple shisha lounges going but only one sells tobacco... and now thats on the rocks because there is a province wide smoking ban coming into effect in '08. i wanted to open a lounge here but i don't think that will ahppen now because of the laws...

where are you now?

Calgary.

[chinamon]

Calgary.

my condolences, brother.

[zagadka]

doesnt aladdins sell soex? and i think they are the only place in the GTA that sells golden quicklite coals too. ive never been to any hookah lounge though.
i know nasr foods in scarborough sells soex but no idea on the price.

soex is usually labeled clearly. the flavour i got recently doesn't have a name on the box. it has the flavour, and some arabic writing, which I can't read. But nothing that looks like a name. soex looks different, so I am pretty sure it's not soex.

They also have a big sign saying that "now that there is a smoking ban, we serve non-tobacco flavour". I don't know whether thats true or not. I can't really tell what the flavour is made of. I can only tell whether I like the smell and thickness of the smoke.

Aladdin's coal is great. I got a box of 100 for $15. so 1.5 a piece of 10 coals. Great price and it lights up so quickly. I love it.

[booya]

Another vote for hookah-shisha.com

If you order, say, $100 worth of shisha and request USPS, not UPS (which has in-house brokers and will ding you for every bit of duty) H-S will often ship it as two packages. If one gets opened and inspected, you pay duty on that half of the order. The onus is on you, then, to declare the balance of your order to your province and pay provincial and federal tobacco taxes.

see iv'e had packages come divided but i still got hit with customs for all of it bacause the shipping slip had the total amount of tobacco on it. my packages never even get opened by customs (except once). canada post just bills me for what the shipping slip says for tobacco....

[zagadka]

Another vote for hookah-shisha.com

If you order, say, $100 worth of shisha and request USPS, not UPS (which has in-house brokers and will ding you for every bit of duty) H-S will often ship it as two packages. If one gets opened and inspected, you pay duty on that half of the order. The onus is on you, then, to declare the balance of your order to your province and pay provincial and federal tobacco taxes.

thanks, that's great to know.

stupid taxes. I actually got my bf to stop smoking a pack a day in exchange for a 2-3 nights a week of hookah sessions.

so in a way, shisha tobacco is a lot better for you than cigarettes. You smoke less of it. the goverment should subsidize it, since it saves on healthcare costs. lol

[booya]

Calgary.

my condolences, brother.

thanks man.

[chinamon]

They also have a big sign saying that "now that there is a smoking ban, we serve non-tobacco flavour". I don't know whether thats true or not. I can't really tell what the flavour is made of. I can only tell whether I like the smell and thickness of the smoke.

maybe thats their loophole. they serve flavour that doesnt taste like tobacco. lol.
it doesnt state that it is tobacco-free.
as for their golden quicklites, i'll stick with 3kings from nasr for $11.99.

[zagadka]

it doesnt state that it is tobacco-free.

I have bought some flavour before that says on the box "no tobacco, no nicotine".

[chinamon]

it doesnt state that it is tobacco-free.

I have bought some flavour before that says on the box "no tobacco, no nicotine".

thats not what i meant. i know they sell "herbal shisha" that contains no tobacco.
i meant for the health inspectors for the smoking ban. the sign that they put up is quite vague and could mean two things: they serve herbal shisha that contains no tobacco or they serve shisha that doesnt taste like tobacco (but does, in fact, contain tobacco).

[gaia.plateau]

All you have to do is e-mail or fax the order invoice to customs before the order comes in, and explain a bit about ma'asaal, etc. etc. They're actually very flexible. I used to get charged on the entire order, even if there was a hookah in it, for tobacco at 100% tax, but now I only pay $0.18 per 100 grams of shisha that I order.

[booya]

All you have to do is e-mail or fax the order invoice to customs before the order comes in, and explain a bit about ma'asaal, etc. etc. They're actually very flexible. I used to get charged on the entire order, even if there was a hookah in it, for tobacco at 100% tax, but now I only pay $0.18 per 100 grams of shisha that I order.

explain this a bit more, i'm not quite getting it, but it sounds like valuable info! who do we send this to? how do we explain it? what do we say?

[chinamon]

All you have to do is e-mail or fax the order invoice to customs before the order comes in, and explain a bit about ma'asaal, etc. etc. They're actually very flexible. I used to get charged on the entire order, even if there was a hookah in it, for tobacco at 100% tax, but now I only pay $0.18 per 100 grams of shisha that I order.

what did you tell them exactly?

[gaia.plateau]

I basically just explained what ma'assal is. Firstly, I explained that of a package containing equipment, charcoals, accessories, and etc., only a portion of the payment is for the tobacco. Moreover, ma'assal only contains -some- tobacco (I exaggerated this a bit, I admit), and that we shouldn't have to pay tax on the molasses or flavour. I subtly dropped the culture card as well, explaining that an important bastion of intercultural harmony in Canada is upheld through Hookah culture, and that taxing this bastion is constitutionally questionable.

Booya: what province do you live in? I'm in Saskatchewan, so I simply contacted the provincial customs office in Regina.

[zagadka]

I basically just explained what ma'assal is. Firstly, I explained that of a package containing equipment, charcoals, accessories, and etc., only a portion of the payment is for the tobacco. Moreover, ma'assal only contains -some- tobacco (I exaggerated this a bit, I admit), and that we shouldn't have to pay tax on the molasses or flavour. I subtly dropped the culture card as well, explaining that an important bastion of intercultural harmony in Canada is upheld through Hookah culture, and that taxing this bastion is constitutionally questionable.

Booya: what province do you live in? I'm in Saskatchewan, so I simply contacted the provincial customs office in Regina.

That is very valuable info. Would you happen to have a copy of the fax/letter you sent to them?

I had to contact some kind of office once for an erroneous tax charge - they send the money back to me. Their number was on yhe declaration form or on the tax receipt. Would that be the way you got your number, or did you look it up online?

What is ma'assal? Does that refer to ALL shisha flavours, or only some?


I would imagine that they briefly look at the invoice and tax it at full amount, which would make sense from their point of view. I still think they should subsidize shisha and not tax it

[erufiku]

Ugh, the mercantilism of this country stifles me.
Lucky only over a year left at McGill

Until then my friends from the states will continue to send "plain manila envelopes" with "scent molasses (inedible)"