Hi y’all, not sure where to post this so I’ll piggyback on this thread. If I’m a dual citizen of Taiwan/Canada, and I’m planning to work in Taiwan so I enter with my Taiwan status. My question is “If all my personal belongings I’m bringing (laptop, tablet, phone, gaming consoles…) were purchased in Canada, do I need to declare them? If I don’t declare them will I be charged duty tax? If I’m going do be charged duty tax, what’s to prevent me from entering as a Canadian? If I enter/exit the country with said devices multiple times, do I need to declare them each time I return?” I apologize if this may seem like a silly question, but I ask because Canadian customs are anal and they typically will charge you duty tax if they don’t like you or if you bring anything in that’s not purchased in Canada, even if you declare them and it exceeds the duty-free allowance.
From my experience, the Taiwan customs don’t really care about this much: When I moved here (as a foreigner), I actually asked a customs officer if I need to declare my laptop, tablet etc. They in turn just asked me if I was carrying any cigarettes or alcohol. I said no and that was it.
Also, if you move to Taiwan, there should be some tax exemption on the goods you bring for moving. So even in the rare case that they do have further questions, it should be enough to tell them that you’re moving to Taiwan and are bringing some stuff.
Note that it’s a bit more complicated if the stuff you’re bringing arrives separately in a package or container. Then there are some forms you’ll need to fill, but for that, you would probably need to do some more research…
They are anal to travellers, not ex residents. What you bring to Canada as an ex resident is treated like any other foreigner because items that are not of a commercial amount are assumed to be returning with you.
Living in Taiwan and visiting Canada from time to time is not the same as living in Canada and going across the border or taking a trip to Asia. Your laptop that you bought in Taiwan? You’re probably bringing that back with you. It’s not subject to duty. It’s a personal item.
Taiwan is an island, so it doesn’t have land borders and thus, it’s a lot harder and more expensive to make weekend trips to go buy things overseas to bring them back like you would with the US border. So Taiwanese are a lot more lax because, who would spend $200 US on a flight ticket to save $100 US on a laptop? Plus weight and size limits on luggage make it easy to claim things are personal.
So to answer, No. It’s your personal item that you bring with you.
Thank you for your insight into Taiwanese customs, I really appreciate this.
This border logic makes sense. I’d like to share my bad experience with Canadian CBSA officers for anyone traveling to Canada. When I was in high school returning from a trip visiting relatives in Taiwan, I brought back some old computer parts and a monitor that I had been using. I didn’t declare it since I thought they were my personal belongings. I was flagged by CBSA and they questioned me why I didn’t declare it, after explaining they were my own they still went ahead a charged duty on them. Being young and naive I ended up paying the tax instead just letting that junk go. It was not a good experience being interrogated by people from a country I call home. Now I have PTSD every time I go through customs and declare everything that I didn’t purchase in Canada.
To be honest, paying GST/PST/HST on parts shouldn’t be a traumatic thing. You didn’t get in trouble. You weren’t prosecuted for anything and it’d be very easy to defend. But you were a resident at the time and if it looked like you were importing things plus maybe an ignorant agent, yeah they might decide that they were purchases. If you’re in Taiwan.
Secondly, people travelling to Canada aren’t going to be dinged the same way cause they’re not residents. Again, you’re mixing up how they treat residents vs non residents. Unless a traveller is clearly carrying a commercial quantity or some form of securities/precious metals/money/objects of value, they’re not going to be dinged.
I’m Canadian and have gone back and forth many times with old computer parts. Nobody’s said anything but I definitely declare the five litres of alcohol that I end up distributing to friends and family and pay the tax. I swear I don’t have a problem.
There definitely can be the occasional idiot who doesn’t understand and unfortunately they have broad discretion.
If it makes you feel better, when I was about 17 or 18, I was the driver driving my dad and brother back to Canada from a day of shopping. We had bought a laptop and underreported it. Got accosted and had to pay the sales tax. Whatever, it was a long time ago.
You really shouldn’t have PSTD to be honest about this. I pay the tax on my alcohol. It’s not always cheap but you’re not in trouble and never were.
I actually did get away with it once because the cashier was out for lunch and the border officer decided to let me go because I was polite to him.
Like, it’s fine. Really. It’s fine. I’ve done my fair share of stupid shit and I’m past it. And yet, I have not been charged with a crime and the CBSA is not in the business of charging small potatoes and ruining their lives over a stupid laptop. My dad paid the tax cause it was his laptop anyways and while I’m sure the record exists somewhere, I’ve never had issues since.
I did have one guy wave me through though once because we were both Italian Canadians.
I once brought back shitloads of porn DVDs from Japan in my 20s for a buddy’s stag night in Canuckistan! All clean and legit. 
But the motherfuckers watched them all while I waited outside. Porn that time and French Fois gras in later years. 