eBay

hold.your.own.media · ‎09-06-2020

Hey guys,

I'm pretty sure I know the answer here, but will just verify with you guys... I'm based out of Calgary, but have listed everything on ebay.com (not .ca) for years. In my experience, I would typically have less buyers when listing on .ca, which is why I post in US funds on .com (US buyers often think they're buying from within the USA) . Anyhow, this is the 1st year where I'm collecting over $30k CAD, listings, fees & shipping incl., which required me to get a BN & GST number. I've activated the tax charges within .ca in the Seller tools, but the system didn't start charging the taxes. So, am I correct in assuming that it will only charge tax on listings created within ebay.ca? Is there a way around this outside of re-creating the listings on ebay.ca? Is it acceptable to simply track and take the tax portion out of what I receive from buyers (meaning the listings are basically tax-in)?

Thanks in advance!

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎09-06-2020

Creating a tax table doesn't automatically make all your previous listings collect taxes. You have to go back to your previous listings and edit them.

There is a part of the listing that is a check box and says "Charge Sales Tax According To The Tax Table". This is under the seller details where you set the BIN/Best Offer price. You will find it there.

You can use the mass editor to edit all of them at once. You just go to active listings, click the top check box so that all listings are checked, and then select Edit All (#) Listings. From there, click edit fields, sales tax, and you can change your listings so that they will all charge sales tax.

femmefan1946 · ‎09-06-2020

Only Canadian buyers pay Canadian taxes.

So only your Canadian buyers will be charged GST, once you have all your listings corrected.

Is it acceptable to simply track and take the tax portion out of what I receive from buyers

Yes.

Revenue Canada doesn't much care whether you include the GST in the price or if you separate it out.

This came up when the GST was first introduced. KMart decided to include the new tax in their prices only adding provincial taxes where applicable.

They had an immediate drop in sales. Although customers hated the new GST, they hated the "higher" ticket price even more. That KMart was a 'discount' brand did not help.

IN your case you would be selling at the same price to US and Canadian customers? Unless you were adjusting the Flat Rate Shipping price for Canadians which would be a possibility.

hold.your.own.media · ‎09-06-2020

Ebay.ca won't let me bulk edit the listings (only 1 by 1), I get an error when populating. I can on ebay.com, just not certain if it'll work however for Canadian taxes. I'll give it a go, and we'll see what happens. Thx!

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎09-06-2020

(If I keep saying HST, just assuming I mean HST/GST...I'm in Ontario...matter of habit)

I would go with adding HST instead of including HST. Each person's experience will be different, but I think it's less overall accounting work because you can just download your spreadsheet from eBay that shows the total taxes charged every 30 days instead of having to do individual calculations (based on different HST/GST rates) for each transaction. What I download I think is called the sales report, and it's this big messy spread sheet, but I can usually get the total HST collected for the entire month in about 5 minutes after fiddling with it. (Although, I think there are other accounting methods that simplify how you calculate the amount of HST collected without having to know the exact amount, but I am not an accountant....)

From a marketing standpoint, the big downside of not including HST is the sticker shock when someone clicks add to cart, and then sees an additional charge that other sellers may not have. With that said, I think there is enough elasticity with lower priced point items (under 50 bucks) that it usually won't dissuade buyers so long as a seller is offering appropriate value at the overall price point. I think it is with higher priced items where HST makes them much more difficult to move. If someone adds a $15 item to their cart, that they already feel they are getting a good value proposition on, the additional unexpected 75 cents to 2.25 in tax may not cause them to back out. A $150 item with $7.50-$22.50 in tax might be a different story. That's where the best offer feature helps equalize things, or you could just drop your overall prices to account for taxes. If you price your items on the high end of what you think they could sell for, you might have to consider dropping them to account for the additional tax. If you go for a more list at the lowest total price (BIN+Shipping) model, you will probably be okay without accounting for taxes.

I was forced to register for HST a few months ago. We sell in similar categories. I don't personally think HST has hurt my sales, but it's difficult to say because there are so many other external factors.

Another thing to note, eBay doesn't include a sellers HST number on the invoice. Which is a big headache. So you have to include your business name/HST number on an invoice with the purchase. I bought a custom stamp with my number on it and stamp that to a copy of the eBay invoice which has the sub-total, HST, and total. If you are rolling HST into the price, I'm not sure if you have to make a custom invoice with the specific breakdown of the HST, or if you can just write GST/HST included. That would be something else to consider.

reallynicestamps · ‎09-07-2020

The OP is based in Alberta which does not have a provincial sales tax ~~and does have the provincial debt to prove it~~.

We only have to register to remit provincial sales taxes if we have a physical presence in that province.

So every Canadian seller who is successful enough to be collecting GST will be collecting it on all Canadian sales, but will only be collecting PST in her own province.

So if I were collecting GST here in BC, I would also be collecting PST. If I were in Ontario it would be HST instead but...I am not clear about whether an Ontario seller who collects HST would only collect GST in other provinces or if she would collect HST in say, New Brunswick.

HST-- @ricarmic can you help here?

cumos55 · ‎09-07-2020

I am registered to collect GST/HST .....

It is the collection of GST in GST provinces..... and .... The collection of HST in HST provinces..... HST = 13 % for ON, and HST = 15 % for NL, NB, PE and NS

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I sell books. Books are exempt from the provincial component of HST. Therefore for a province like Ontario for postage HST = 13 % while for books HST = 5 %..

For GST Provinces no PST is charged for books.... PST is charged on the cost of postage.

There is no option on eBay to have a different tax for the price of books than for postage.. I must then include all taxes... GST and HST in the cost of an item.... This has been done for 10 years...

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It is at the bottom of all of my listings that I state......

Canadian residents - The applicable rates for PST and GST/HST are included in all prices.

My business number is also present at the bottom of all listings.... and with all invoices.

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If a seller is registered to collect GST/HST and then lists in US dollars on eBay.com, the best way to collect taxes from a Canadian buyer would be to include the tax in the cost of the item being sold and postage...

OP does sell one book..... Provincial tax , PST should not be collected if the book is sold to a Canadian buyer.

I do have to collect PST in the province of Manitoba if the annual total sale of taxable items.... not books... to Manitoba buyers is over $10,000.... Canadian dollars

cumos55 · ‎09-07-2020

If a Canadian seller is registered to collect GST/HST... than they collect GST on sales plus postage to buyers who live in GST provinces and HST in HST provinces.

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I sell books...

For books GST = 5 % to buyers in GST provinces... and... HST = 5 % to buyers in HST provinces

The full value for HST is charged on postage for Canadian buyers in HST provinces....

ricarmic · ‎09-07-2020

@reallynicestamps wrote:
The OP is based in Alberta which does not have a provincial sales tax ~~and does have the provincial debt to prove it~~.

We only have to register to remit provincial sales taxes if we have a physical presence in that province.
So every Canadian seller who is successful enough to be collecting GST will be collecting it on all Canadian sales, but will only be collecting PST in her own province.
So if I were collecting GST here in BC, I would also be collecting PST. If I were in Ontario it would be HST instead but...I am not clear about whether an Ontario seller who collects HST would only collect GST in other provinces or if she would collect HST in say, New Brunswick.

HST-- @ricarmic can you help here?

Yep Cumos beat me to it.....

hold.your.own.media · ‎09-10-2020

Thanks everyone for your input. I got 'er figured. Bulk editing the listings within ebay.com worked, and everything now charges the appropriate taxes! I'm including invoices within all Canadian sales that also state my GST#. The fun part will come at tax time..

This has been an exceptionally good year for me, as my profits on items sold are at 66%. Considering I was out of work for 4.5 months in 2020 & 9 months in 2019, selling off my personal collection came in rather handy. Sometimes it does pay to collect stuff hah.

reallynicestamps · ‎09-10-2020

Does AB collect sales taxes monthly? ON did when we had our shop.

ypdc_dennis · ‎09-10-2020

@reallynicestamps wrote:
Does AB collect sales taxes monthly? ON did when we had our shop.

GST/HST 2020 reporting requirements:

* Annual (under $1.5 million in sales)

* Quarterly ($1.5 to $6 million in annual sales)

* Monthly (over $6 million in annual sales)

A Seller is allowed to "upgrade" to more frequent reporting...

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4022/general-info...

-..-

hold.your.own.media · ‎04-19-2021

Yet another tax-time question: I got a GST# at the beginning of Sept. 2020 since I went over the $30k threshold. Started accepting GST then, and know how much I have collected from that point to Dec. 31st, 2020. When it comes to reporting everything for taxes, I assume I'm reporting on the whole year for COGS etc, it's just the GST that only covers the last 1/3 of the year. Anyone aware of any red flags I should be aware of, or things I could easily miss? Naturally not wanting to be audited, so I wanna be very transparent and provide everything I need. FYI I sell on ebay.com, not .ca, and am based out of AB.

Thx