eBay charging HST on books?

[3islanders]

I don't suppose there's a way to get a rebate for eBay charging a full 15% tax on a purchase of books...?  Or is their loophole that you're buying "second-hand"?  I forgot about the new tax grab, just got soaked.  😞

(And yes, I chose to buy anyway because I'm tired of hunting for the book set and there they were.)

[marnotom!]

The word from eBay is that they’ll take responsibility for any taxes charged incorrectly or inappropriately under this new scheme, but it’s not clear how this works yet.

If I were in your shoes, I’d contact eBay through either Facebook or Twitter, as I’m going to get a better-trained eBay CSR than if I called a contracted out phone rep. Have a page like this one ready to show whomever you’re going to chat with online as it explains what the point-of-sale rebate of the provincial portion of NB HST is supposed to look like:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/gi-065/point-sale-r...

Good luck!

[3islanders]

I will check it out; thanks for the suggestion. It's somewhat nuts that FB or Twitter staff are better trained than the site's "contact us" people!?!!

[3islanders]

...well that was an entertaining waste of time. I sent a message to FB and am awaiting reply; in the meantime thought I'd try a site rep. Result: "online sales tax rules are different" (BS, Amazon does not charge 15%!!) and "we can't refund you anyway because we've already remitted it to the province" (or words to that effect). Suggested I apply for a rebate through the government (appears to have a minimum amount that I am under). Bleepin racket.

[3islanders]

...and "we haven't had this come up before". So, they're not really taking responsibility.

[marnotom!]

Well, tax overcharges for books are extremely unlikely if the item is listed in the “books” category, so I don’t think this is a matter of eBay avoiding responsibility.

[3islanders]

They were listed (erroneously?) under "collectibles" 😕 I mean, I guess that's why, because the automated system wouldn't identify books as such in a different category. Got a message back from FB wanting me to "verify my account" by clicking a link and entering a password. I guess you have to trust that this is legit, but being leery of such things, I haven't yet.