Canadian Taxes: Pick up in Chilliwak?

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by PatrickTXFL

Why not get you certificate MSO sent to you in Texas and handle it before you leave if not going directly back to Texas. When you arrive to pickup the trailer your fully titled and tagged as Texas. Do your trip to Canada and back will make border crossing no stress.
Unless ETI won't send it, I'm assuming its paid for in full before it is loaded for delivery, so don't see why you couldn't get the paperwork.

It would be nice to have a valid title and license plate for the trip home (a subject of many discussions in this forum), but that would make no difference to the Goods & Services Tax owing in Canada for any purchase completed in Canada.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by PatrickTXFL

Why not get you certificate MSO sent to you in Texas and handle it before you leave if not going directly back to Texas. When you arrive to pickup the trailer your fully titled and tagged as Texas. ....

As described in post #7, an 'eyes on' VIN inspection is required for never-titled imported trailers to get title and tags in Texas. You also need the completed USDOT HS-7 form attesting to FMVSS compliance - that form is completed only when the trailer crosses the border southbound and the customs folks affix their stamp of approval. An MSO alone won't get it even when taking possession in Sumas, and yes TX rules have changed in the last few years.

[Oldtimer]

Not sure of other counties here in Texas, but Wise county will issue you a temp paper tag for bringing your Escape home.

David

[JeffreyG]

Originally Posted by Oldtimer

Not sure of other counties here in Texas, but Wise county will issue you a temp paper tag for bringing your Escape home.

David

Michigan won't but it doesn't really matter. Two stories:

1) I once hooked up my stick-built and towed it 6 hours away to camp in Ohio. On the way back, at a fueling stop, I realized the RV license plate was missing. Got all the way home to find the plate laying on the ground. So 12 hours round trip with no plate, and nobody cared.
2) Picked up my Escape in Indianapolis and towed it home 5 hours with no plate. Again, nobody cared. And at least this time, if I had attracted any attention I would have had the paperwork to cover why there was no plate.

[alanerickson]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Those of us who've been around here for awhile know how weird Texas DMV is regarding registering new trailers. Kinda surprising and if I lived there would be writing my Representative in the State House with a suggestion to change it.

Why on earth would you write and complain if you live in TX and they were going to give you credit for taxes that you already paid in another location (for whatever reason).

[Dave Walter]

Originally Posted by JeffreyG

Michigan won't but it doesn't really matter. Two stories:

1) I once hooked up my stick-built and towed it 6 hours away to camp in Ohio. On the way back, at a fueling stop, I realized the RV license plate was missing. Got all the way home to find the plate laying on the ground. So 12 hours round trip with no plate, and nobody cared.
2) Picked up my Escape in Indianapolis and towed it home 5 hours with no plate. Again, nobody cared. And at least this time, if I had attracted any attention I would have had the paperwork to cover why there was no plate.

I don't think that checking registration on peoples travel trailers is a high priority for law enforcement. I bought a used 15B a few years from a couple living in New Mexico. I was able to get a temporary license valid for 3 days only in Alberta before I left to pick up the trailer. We met the seller and picked up the 15B in Casper Wyoming and drove all of the way back to Alberta, including the USA-CA border crossing without valid registration. Once we were back in Alberta, our 3 day temporary license made us legal again. LOL. Saw quite a few police cars along the way home. None showed any interest in us at all other than some admiring looks at our FJ-Escape combination.

[H46Driver]

Originally Posted by Centex

yes insofar as import / location where you actually take possession, but FYI from a fellow Bastrop County resident doing this a few months ago ...

• Working with our (trying to be helpful) Bastrop TX County Clerk I could never find a way to get a tag (license plate), temporary or otherwise, for a trailer picked-up in Sumas
• Similarly, I could not find a way to avoid the 10% tax penalty if the TX title application was not submitted within 30 days of the 'new-trailer-not-previously-titled-anywhere' transfer date shown on the Bill of Sale issued by ETI (mine was dated the delivery date when I actually took possession)
• I could not find a way around the TX title requirement for an in-person VIN inspection by an authorized LEO in TX (ETI declining to execute the TX forms required from a remote dealer to avoid that TX LEO VIN inspection)

While none of that presents any real problem if traveling more or less directly from Sumas to TX (just run 'commando' without a tag keeping the provided sales and import documentation in hand if stopped by a reasonable LEO), I'm not sure if that would be as successful for a few months on the road in Canada?

I do wish you the best of luck working through that somehow so you can pick up your trailer in Sumas and head back into Canada for a few months of travel before returning to TX - that sounds like a wonderful trip!

Perhaps there's a way to get a WA state tag timely and then get the credit for any tax paid there as allowed by TX law when you return here (that's an 'angle' I did not pursue in my discussions with our county clerk)?

BTW, the VIN inspection thing was easy in Bastrop - the authorized County Sheriff Investigator and City of Bastrop Police counterpart hold joint 'VIN inspection sessions' several times each month; I was able to get mine done the day after I returned home with my new Escape from delivery in Denton and walk across the street to get the title/tax/registration thing done immediately after, leaving the clerk's office with a license plate in hand.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

And best of luck in working through the registration process in Texas. You will find it is different in EVERY county, EVERY day, and with EVERY clerk. None of them seem to have a clue as to the actual requirements so go with the flow and don't be afraid to resubmit previously submitted paperwork if you get a different clerk on a return trip. In Bexar County we made multiple trips always being told we had the wrong paperwork - I finally took my original stuff back, caught the right clerk and was home free not to mention they only taxed the trailer on BASE price excluding options. Also we were able to get 60 days of temporary tags (Two 30 day tags) with no penalties - had to pay CASH (no checks, no credit cards) for the tags. Other places have the 30 day penalty rule - no consistency for sure! Didn't have to do the police verification of the VIN either but most others have had to do that.

[cpaharley2008]

The only thing about bureaucracy and consistency is that it does not happen..... Good luck!

[JudyS]

That’s what we did. Wired them the money, and the next day Escape emailed the manufacturer certificate of origin and the ViN. We filled out the title/plate application and mailed it with the certificate of origin to the Wisconsin DMV. Wisconsin is only doing trailer registration by mail right now because of COVID. And then we drove to pickup the trailer in Washington with a copy of the Wisconsin application (which serves as proof of registration until we get the plates in the mail).

[Bea]

FWIW We suggest you double check the VIN that Escape emails you initially, to the actual VIN stamped on your trailer and paperwork when you pick up your trailer. Ours was off by 2 digits; initially our VIN was .....09 then changed to ....10 but no one from ETI informed us of any change in VIN. At a glance all the paperwork from ETI and the long VIN numbers all looked the same. Believe it or not, it was an alert DMV employee (what dichotomy!) who noticed the 2 different VIN numbers on our various paperwork. Thankfully, we had everything we needed with the correct VIN for the DMV registration. We then quickly called our insurance company and gave them the updated/correct VIN number for our 21. Perhaps we need to add a magnifying glass to our tool set! -Bea