Ebay charging taxes on taxes with sellers.

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Summary: The discussion centers on allegations that a major online marketplace is charging taxes on top of existing taxes, as reported by various sellers. gorydeath3 initiated the conversation, and several others, including mrdutch1001 and ilikehockeyjerseys, participated without offering additional content. brettjet38 and cardfandom replied to the initial content, with further engagement from recped and others, discussing this taxation concern. Although no explicit resolutions or further details were provided, the problem seems to resonate with multiple sellers experiencing similar issues.

I been with ebay since the first year. This account for 23 years. I just know my seller fee gets taxed. But then ebay taxes the total with the other taxes added.
Ex: item price $100
Shipping $20
Sales tax $4.40
Total $104.40
Then use that total for final value fee and then take off my sellers discount and add their other fees. The final total was $12.42 in fees which then ebay added another $1.61 in taxes for that fee. So I end up paying taxes twice on one item.

gorydeath3

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Posted 2 years ago·Last reply 5 months ago

11 comments

kh-shawn

·5 months ago

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Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.

brettjet38

·2 years ago

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If you already did not know & evidently you do NOT...

This TAX collection system was planned by your elected Canadian Government, not eBay!

It was in the 2021 Canadian Budget, you did read it right, as a voter you should always read what is going through the system in the pork rind, CBC and most mainstream media only tells you the "things" the GOV wants to be publicized...

Also, it applies to all "online marketplaces" Amazon, Etsy, and all others.

Any marketplace "Facilitator" that makes over $30,000.00CDN in sales has no choice other than to charge and collect the tax, this is not an eBay thing, it's a Government thing, put in place by the people you elected and put into office...

If you have an issue you can contact your local MP.

BTW - This is actually a worldwide thing, the UK, USA, Australia, and a whole slew of others already have a similar tax and many more shortly will.

And, yes it applies to USED GOODS sold through a "marketplace facilitator"

And the TAXES you are paying are based on the entire amount of the transaction you conducted on eBay, that's the Goods & Services bit...

This is the same thing I post every time I see this USED TAX nonsense, the issue is not eBay it is YOU for not reading about what your government plans and not reading eBay policy about fees charged...

cardfandom

·5 months ago

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I agree what eBay does is wrong. Hell the fees themselves have gone insane over the last few years. From 9-10% FVF to 16-18%. And all the double dipping on taxes they do. While we as sellers are not paying double, collectively we buyer+seller are. If a client is already charged for the item we should not be charged a second tax per item. It never used to be that way, only since Covid, it’s messed up most online small businesses. Frankly that’s why I choose not to sell more expensive because it pushes us sellers way out of a competitive market. Sell on your own site or social media.

recped

·5 months ago

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@cardfandom wrote:
I agree what eBay does is wrong. Hell the fees themselves have gone insane over the last few years. From 9-10% FVF to 16-18%. And all the double dipping on taxes they do. While we as sellers are not paying double, collectively we buyer+seller are. If a client is already charged for the item we should not be charged a second tax per item. It never used to be that way, only since Covid, it’s messed up most online small businesses. Frankly that’s why I choose not to sell more expensive because it pushes us sellers way out of a competitive market. Sell on your own site or social media.

1 - There is no FVF higher than 15.3% and that only applied to a few Categories

2 - Your 9 - 10% does not include the fees charged by PayPal (2.9% but higher nowadays)

3 - Read @flipistics post, the GST/HST you pay on fees can be fully refunded, this would also enable you to get refunds of GST/HST you have paid for ANY business expense including for example the GST/HST paid on Domestic shipping, tax paid on shipping supplies and any tax you have paid to acquire goods for sale.

Fees have gone up SLIGHTLY in the last 10 years but not by the amount you are suggesting.

cardfandom

·5 months ago

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So I only posted, and I do post out of to show support and advice to new sellers. Honestly, I’ve been dealing with eBay before 2008 so frankly while maybe I don’t have your feedback I do have some experience so please don’t throw at me that I don’t know what I’m talking about. I try to be as positive as I can. I get between 16-18% min deducted (depending on category) besides the bs taxes. It used to be 10% max on everything. 9% if you had the monthly store option. 8% or less if you’re Top Seller. This group looks like the new Reddit of eBay Community instead of the helpful group it used to be. If I could give you screenshots I would. As I say eBay is just not worth it as much as it used to be for buyers or sellers. And can I just ask, why it is so wrong to respond to an old thread. There’s no new one. It shouldn’t affect you guys. Don’t get so bent. Silly, anyway. Thanks for your input.

mrdutch1001

·5 months ago

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responding to an old thread with nothing but regurgitated irrelevant material is meaningless and irrelevant!

mrdutch1001

·5 months ago

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@kh-shawn

ZOMBIE THREAD FROM 2024!

john_koenig99

·5 months ago

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@mrdutch1001 wrote:
responding to an old thread with nothing but regurgitated irrelevant material is meaningless and irrelevant!

Old thread, yes. But the subject matter is far from irrelevant.

flipistics

·2 years ago

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@gorydeath3 wrote:
I been with ebay since the first year. This account for 23 years. I just know my seller fee gets taxed. But then ebay taxes the total with the other taxes added.
Ex: item price $100
Shipping $20
Sales tax $4.40
Total $104.40
Then use that total for final value fee and then take off my sellers discount and add their other fees. The final total was $12.42 in fees which then ebay added another $1.61 in taxes for that fee. So I end up paying taxes twice on one item.

The buyer pays tax on the item (not you), which eBay remits to the government.
eBay provides a selling platform to you as a service and charges you selling fees. The selling fees are not a tax. They do have to charge tax on those selling fees like any other company providing a service.
You buy postage to ship your item. Again, the shipping company is providing you a service and has to charge tax on it.

If you're registered to collect GST/HST you can get some or all of the taxes YOU pay as part of your business back, but you also have to charge tax on any items you sell as part of your business (including on places like Facebook). eBay handles this automatically for us, but some other platforms don't.

ilikehockeyjerseys

·2 years ago

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Every eBay seller should be registered for GST at this point. There is no real downside when eBay is already going to charge buyers the tax regardless.

Of course, if you're just selling some of your old stuff online then it might be a different story, but eBay isn't really a platform aimed at "garage sale" selling anymore.

If you register for GST, you can claim back any GST you pay on business expenses as in input tax credit. In short, you get back the GST you pay for your business inputs (stock, supplies, fees, postage, etc) minus the GST that is collected from your sales. If you fill out the proper forms, eBay is then collecting the GST on your behalf. So you end up with no GST to pay out (since eBay did that already, presumably), and a large refund of tax credits.

The old argument for not registering was that there was a competitive advantage to maintaining a small supplier status for some sellers who weren't going to exceed 30k in revenue. Since eBay collects GST regardless, assuming you claim your business activities on your taxes, there is zero point not to be registered.

(Keep in mind, I am not an accountant. The above could all be fiction. It is not accounting advice, or a substitute for speaking to an actual accountant. It is based on my experiences with no implied warranty...or whatever.)

mrdutch1001

·2 years ago

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and???

eBay does not hide the way in which fees are calculated....and it is seller responsibility to know these fees and how they are calculated.......