In common with most countries, Canada's tax laws are not straightforward and are riddled with (sometimes comical) inconsistencies that can date back almost to the country's foundation. From cheese to chicken, discover some of Canada's stranger tax rules.

Religious institutions are often considered tax exempt, but in order to achieve this covetable status an organisation has to be recognised by the state as a religion. The US granted tax-exempt status to the Church of Scientology back in the 1990s, but L. Ron Hubbard’s spiritual organisation is not viewed as such north of the border. The Church of Scientology isn’t even considered a charity in Canada, so any activity carried out in any of its 14 premises are taxed as services in exactly the same way as any other business would be taxed. 

Around 18,000 breast augmentation surgeries were performed in Canada in 2016 alone. Plastic surgery is huge business and over CA$101.8million (US$82m) was spent in breast augmentation alone last year. It might therefore be no surprise that the Canadian has been taxing cosmetic “surgical and non-surgical procedures purely aimed at enhancing appearance”, and has removed these procedures from the list of surgeries that can be claimed back as medical expenses. However, there are some exceptions, such as cosmetic surgery performed on people who suffer “congenital abnormalities, a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma, or a disfiguring disease”. 

Processed bits of animals, such as meat or leather, tend to be subject to import tax, but living animals can enter Canada without being subjected to levies and duties. This rule even applies to exotic animals such as birds and even whales. However, the rules get a little weirder when it comes to common fowl, like ducks, geese and turkeys (but not chickens). Processed bits of fowl, like pate, are still subject to import tax, but living ducks, geese and turkeys are subject to an 8% tariff. There is one exemption to the fowl rule: if the import of ducks, geese and turkeys is proved to be for ‘breeding purposes’, then the tariff is lifted. So breeding ducks are free, ducks for eating are taxed. 

Women’s shoes are subject to an 18% import tariff when entering Canada if they were manufactured abroad. Inexplicably though, ‘expensive shoes’ are taxed at a lower rate of only 11%. Though the government’s definition of an ‘expensive shoe’ is footwear costing over CA$30 (US$24), before retail and shipping charges, and the vast majority of shoes imported into Canada indeed cost less than that, in effect it means that an average pair of shoes bought in any regular shoe shop is taxed more than anything in Carrie Bradshaw’s collection of Manolos.

Though Canada is the world’s eighth largest seafood producer and exporter, shipping over CA$6 billion (US$5.8bn)-worth of fish and seafood products in 2015, authorities are remarkably lenient when it comes to importing these goods from abroad. Canadian retailers are free to buy lobster, salmon, eel, swordfish and shrimp without having to fork out any duty at the border. But the tax-free party ends if the seafood being imported has been smoked before making it into Canada, so products such as smoked salmon, lobster and mussels are taxed at 4%. Additionally, any shrimp or lobster processed into “flours, meals or pellets” also incur extra levies, as do un-shucked oysters (regardless of how fresh they are). 

In recent year a surge of Canadians trying to write off their expensive healthy foods bill as a tax-deductible medical expense has led the Canadian Revenue Agency to rethink their approach to organic food. As a result, since 2011, organic food is ineligible for deductions.

As with organic food, many health-conscious Canadians were trying to write-off their gym memberships as medical expenses. However, in 2011, the Canada Revenue Agency ruled that going to the gym “would not normally have a diagnostic purpose” so membership costs do not qualify as a medical expense.

Canada can be an expensive place if you like a tipple, because of the variety of taxes and levies charged from booze at several stages from raw material to your glass. However, there is at least one example of the Canadian federal government granting an exemption to the makers and peddlers of alcoholic beverages: any grape juice entering Canada is subject to a 9.5% import tariff, unless the importer can prove that the grape juice in question is destined to be fermented into wine, then the tariff is lifted. 

Though the Klondike Gold Rush peaked over a century ago, there is still some gold being produced in the Yukon region. Small-time prospectors face the harsh climate to drag out around 1000kg of the precious metal a year, mostly as gold dust. However, any prospector shipping his or her treasure out of the Yukon region is likely to be making a killing out of their finds, as they are still subject to the same tax as their predecessors were back in 1906 when the Placer Mining Act was passed. The Yukon taxes gold at 2.5% of its value. However, this value is determined by the 1906 document as just CA$15 per ounce! So while a Yukon prospector of today can earn around CA$1,300 (US$1,039) per ounce, they will only be liable to pay CA$0.35 (US$0.28) in tax.

An average Canadian will consume around 12.5kg of cheese each year, but, as it turns out, local authorities are surprisingly picky when it comes to what sort of cheese Canadians eat, and where it comes from. For instance, only 16,000 tonnes of fine cheese can be imported from Europe into Canada each year (though this is going up slightly over the next few years). Once that quota is hit, it may still be possible to import cheese, but any gram of brie or morsel of feta making its way into Canada is subject to an exorbitant 245% surcharge. 

Canada also keeps a tight lid on the amount of ‘chicken parts’ allowed to be imported into the country each year. As with cheese, once the quota is reached, imports are still possible, but your chicken bits will be slapped with an incredible 253% surcharge – even higher than the cheese charge.

Piracy is a legitimate concern for the governments of the world, and we’re talking copyright violations, not maritime looting. In Canada though, the concern for the safeguarding of intellectual rights might be considered excessive. That’s because the Canadian government assumes that any blank CD bought in the country will necessarily be used to usurp copyrighted content, so a CA$0.29 (US$0.23) Private Copying Tariff is charged on each and every blank CD sold in the country.

Air conditioners in cars are extremely useful things, not only to stay cool in the summer, but also to stop us breathing in the air pollution generated while we're stuck in traffic. But even though home air-conditioners are taxed like any other household appliance, car air-cons are charged an additional CA$100 (US$80) in tax. Drivers of hearses and ambulances are exempt.

For all its progressive image, only one province in Canada (British Columbia) has a carbon tax designed to encourage people to consume fewer fossil fuels. In fact, since 2010 biofuels like biodiesel – renewable product made from used restaurant grease, soybeans and animal fat – have been charged the same tax as regular, polluting fuels.