eBay

maplecreekgoods · ‎06-11-2019

Books in Ontario are taxed at 5% GST.

Everything else is 13%

The sales tax table on Ebay only allows you to select one rate which is applied to all items.

How do I select different rates for different items? Thank you.

edit: talked to Ebay CSR. They said this option is not possible. They say I must overcharge sales tax on all my book items and provide tax refunds for all sales I make. This is ludicrous. Even Amazon allows you to select different tax rates based on product type.

ypdc_dennis · ‎06-12-2019

@maplecreekgoods wrote:
Books in Ontario are taxed at 5% GST.
Everything else is 13%
The sales tax table on Ebay only allows you to select one rate which is applied to all items.

One work around is to create a second ebay ID just for selling books.

cumos55 · ‎06-12-2019

Books are what I sell on eBay.... and only books in 2019

GST/HST are included in the price of the book and in the cost for postage.

All books are set at GST = HST = 5 %...... based on where the buyer lives ... GST versus HST provinces.. The percentage is equal to (5/105) x 100 = 4.76 % when GST or HST are included in the price of a book.

Remember HST is equal to 5 % for books sold to buyers in HST provinces.

Postage contains GST for GST provinces.... GST = 4.76 % when included in the cost of postage...

and for ON it is 13 % ... (13/113) x 100 = 11.5 % when included in the price of postage.

and for the Atlantic provinces.... NL, PE, NS and NB it is 15 %.... ......and becomes (15/115) x 100 = 13.0 % when included in the price of postage.

Using lettermail to all destinations in Canada.... GST is charged and becomes 4.76 % when included in the cost of postage. This is GST when the buyer lives in an HST province

------------------------

This works for me..... and has worked since January 2009.

My spreadsheet for sales on eBay is set up in such a way that everything is calculated....

and ... then on December 31 of each year The GST and HST collected on books and postage is known....

-------------------------------------------------------

When I sold books as well as other inventory... the GST/HST were included in the ... price of an item plus postage ..... of all non-book items sold....

That is ...GST provinces .... and then ... HST provinces... which includes ON versus the Atlantic provinces...

recped · ‎06-12-2019

I suspect the issue is the way the rate for Books in Ontario is done.

Books are actually charged the regular HST rate of 13% and then there is a separate rebate for the 8% Ontario share. It works much the same as Hydro bills work (full rate charged with a rebate as a separate line item).

Other than these two oddities are there any other things that are not charged full rate? (I'm not familiar with any).

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

cumos55 · ‎06-12-2019

Canada Revenue Agency allows a seller to charge the full HST on items such as books.

It is then the responsibility of the buyer to claim a rebate.... on the PST part of HST

This applies for all HST locations in Canada.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-12-2019

So to put it another way, the overcharge is adjusted when the seller remits tax to Ontario Revenue?

BTW- the usual reminder that sellers should NOT charge taxes unless they are registered to collect and remit taxes in that province and that sales taxes are not charged on exported goods.

The revenoors get tetchy about that.

Ontarians, for example, are not required to register to collect and remit taxes until they hit $30,000 in sales annually.

recped · ‎06-12-2019

@reallynicestamps wrote:
So to put it another way, the overcharge is adjusted when the seller remits tax to Ontario Revenue?

When you buy a book in Ontario the receipt will show HST 13% and then on a separate line there will be a PST Rebate (don't recall the exact wording) of 8%.

I'm not sure how the merchant does the adjusting in terms of how they report and remit.

Just looked it up, apparently the Feds also handle the rebate but it has to be requested using a special form.

https://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/tax/hst/

I'd guess the process is too complicated for eBay to integrate

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-13-2019

From your question, should we assume that you are registered to collect and remit GST through another business?

If so, it would be worth while to talk to your tax accountant about how adding a new online business will affect this.

Again, do NOT collect taxes unless you are registered to collect taxes.

And you also should be putting your GST# on every invoice you send.

cumos55 · ‎06-13-2019

Two things....

(1) The $30,000 number includes the sale price.... plus... postage.. The buyer pays one number for item plus postage. Postage is then paid by the seller, and becomes a cost for the seller.

(2) There was once a time where for the sale of a book at stores in Manitoba the total for PST plus GST was presented on a receipt and then the rebate due to the payment of PST was noted. This pay and rebate option was eventually removed from a receipt when a book was bought.

For buyers in Manitoba PST is not paid, and not indicated on a receipt when a book is purchased

reallynicestamps · ‎06-13-2019

There is no sales tax on books in BC either.

Somewhere I have a protest button with an image of Brian Mulroney and the words "Hi. I tax books." from the inception of the GST.

marnotom! · ‎06-13-2019

@reallynicestamps wrote:

There is no [provincial] sales tax on books in BC either.

Somewhere I have a protest button with an image of Brian Mulroney and the words "Hi. I tax books." from the inception of the GST.

I remember that one. It looks like it's also in stamp form.

https://www.stampcommunity.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=21991