Canadian Sales Tax - where the money goes ?

[jankogames]

Hello !

I've been trying to reach an ebay agent for weeks trying to answer my question, they all transfer me left and right, nobody seems to have an answer. 

I am a canadian seller based in Québec, my accountant told me I needed to register to the Revenu Quebec to do my sales taxes report, which I did, but in one hand the Revenu Quebec is telling me that Ebay Needs to transfer the sales tax money into my QST number and I do the reports.

I've added my GST number into my account settings under Personnal info -> Type of ID. (I was not able to add my QST number which is 10 digits and it can only take 9) 

My first question is : Is this the correct place to enter my GST number ?

Second : Does ebay takes the sales tax money and they send it directly with their own sales tax number to the CRA, which in this case I would only need to do my tax report and send it as exempt of sales tax.

Or ebay has to transfer my sales tax money into my GST number so technically" I am the one paying it" ? (which they still haven't sent any money into my Revenu Quebec account) 

What is your way of doing those reports for the CRA or Revenu Quebec, if there's any Quebec seller this would help me alot or anyone from Canada that can answer my question it would be so helpful ! 

Thanks !!

[sin-n-dex · Accepted solution]

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@jankogames wrote:

Hello !

I've been trying to reach an ebay agent for weeks trying to answer my question, they all transfer me left and right, nobody seems to have an answer. 

I am a canadian seller based in Québec, my accountant told me I needed to register to the Revenu Quebec to do my sales taxes report, which I did, but in one hand the Revenu Quebec is telling me that Ebay Needs to transfer the sales tax money into my QST number and I do the reports.

I've added my GST number into my account settings under Personnal info -> Type of ID. (I was not able to add my QST number which is 10 digits and it can only take 9) 

My first question is : Is this the correct place to enter my GST number ?

Second : Does ebay takes the sales tax money and they send it directly with their own sales tax number to the CRA, which in this case I would only need to do my tax report and send it as exempt of sales tax.

Or ebay has to transfer my sales tax money into my GST number so technically" I am the one paying it" ? (which they still haven't sent any money into my Revenu Quebec account) 

What is your way of doing those reports for the CRA or Revenu Quebec, if there's any Quebec seller this would help me alot or anyone from Canada that can answer my question it would be so helpful ! 

Thanks !!

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Can't answer for QST.

For GST, it's a "zero rated in Canada" sale. (As opposed to zero rated because it's exported).

You report your sales in Canada, including zero rated sales, and then report how much GST is collectible for your remittance. You need to keep a copy of your sales orders (or some report from eBay) to show where your items were shipped to, and that sales tax was already collected by eBay.

Keep financial records, you'll need them if you get someone at CRA who doesn't understand the situation with eBay collecting taxes.

C.

[reallynicestamps]

The phone reps are subcontractors in Utah and the Philippines.

The Philippinos at least know that Canada is not a US state, if only because they have a cousin in Winnipeg working in a health facility. The Utah workers are in a minimum wage hellhole.

The eBay employees assigned to eBay's various social media are better trained, but are not by any means expert on Canadian tax law.

But they may be more useful.

Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service.

Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is. Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message. It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.


https://www.facebook.com/ebay— Message button in upper right on landing page.
#204760888466
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/


https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.


The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.

This may also be useful for your tax accountant.
 

[jankogames]

Thank you so much !!! ,that makes sens. I heard so many info from everyone, that I didn't even knew where to start lol. 

This is way much easier to handle, than to trying to see if ebay will transfer the sales tax money into my QST account number. 

So to confirm ebay will not and cannot transfer the sales tax money into another GSH/QST etc number than theirs ? 

Thanks again !! 

[sin-n-dex]

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@jankogames wrote:

Thank you so much !!! ,that makes sens. I heard so many info from everyone, that I didn't even knew where to start lol. 

This is way much easier to handle, than to trying to see if ebay will transfer the sales tax money into my QST account number. 

So to confirm ebay will not and cannot transfer the sales tax money into another GSH/QST etc number than theirs ? 

Thanks again !! 

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I don't know the answer to that, but my other Canadian friends on eBay let eBay collect the HST and file the sales under "sales in Canada including zero rated" and put zero HST as collectible.

The second sales line is for zero rated exports.

C.

[flipistics]

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@jankogames wrote:

Thank you so much !!! ,that makes sens. I heard so many info from everyone, that I didn't even knew where to start lol. 

This is way much easier to handle, than to trying to see if ebay will transfer the sales tax money into my QST account number. 

So to confirm ebay will not and cannot transfer the sales tax money into another GSH/QST etc number than theirs ? 

Thanks again !! 

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There's also a form you need to sign (eBay countersigns it) that gives them permission to collect and remit the tax on your behalf. You need to get that signed. Without it, my understanding is that you'd also be required to remit that tax even if eBay already has.

[jankogames]

Do you know where can i find this form and who provides it ? 

[flipistics]

@jankogames 

I have no idea where the actual link is now, but contact eBay, tell them you're a GST/HST registered seller and that you need a billing agent election form. Also ask them for the email address you need to send the filled out form to. There was original confusion on the address, so best to make sure you get the correct one.

[jankogames]

Thanks for this info, were you actually able to do this and have someone from ebay give you a correct answer for this form ? 

[reallynicestamps]

The phone reps have a terrible reputation for getting you off the phone as soon as possible even if that means giving you the advice you want to hear instead of the advice you need to have.

Here are your options for contacting Ebay Customer Service. Please be aware that for social media CS, you send them a Private Message and briefly explain what your problem or issue is. Feel free to leave your Name, address, phone number and/or your email address in this message. It is private and secure and it may help to speed up the response for you.


https://www.facebook.com/ebay— Message button in upper right on landing page.
#204760888466
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/


https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.


The social media Chat accounts are covered by trained eBay employees with some authority.
And you get a transcript so you can compare what you heard with what you were told.
 

[flipistics]

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@jankogames wrote:

Thanks for this info, were you actually able to do this and have someone from ebay give you a correct answer for this form ? 

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Yeah, I've got the countersigned form.  The process was a little chaotic initially, but I haven't heard of any further problems since.  I have no idea why they make it so hard for people to even find out about it.

There were some reports about the CRA telling people during an audit that they had filled out the wrong form and I'm not sure the exact end results of that (hasn't happened to me yet). I got the general impression that it was an issue of CRA training rather than a problem with the forms, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

[jankogames]

I tried to reach out to an ebay agent for the form, I've talked to 3 agent and they all have no clue about the form and refer me to the part where they send us tax invoices. 

I've contacted Revenu Quebec (Since they operate in behalf of the CRA in quebec) and the RQ guy told me to get a proof that they are collecting the taxes, I asked if I needed a signature or something, but it was vague, on what I understood, no signature is needed, just a proof that ebay collect the taxes. 

How were you able to reach out to someone that knows what's going on for us in Canada lol 

But thanks for your help ! 

[flipistics]

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@jankogames wrote:

I tried to reach out to an ebay agent for the form, I've talked to 3 agent and they all have no clue about the form and refer me to the part where they send us tax invoices. 

I've contacted Revenu Quebec (Since they operate in behalf of the CRA in quebec) and the RQ guy told me to get a proof that they are collecting the taxes, I asked if I needed a signature or something, but it was vague, on what I understood, no signature is needed, just a proof that ebay collect the taxes. 

How were you able to reach out to someone that knows what's going on for us in Canada lol 

But thanks for your help ! 

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devon@ebay 

luke@ebay 

Can one of you guys help him out with that?

@jankogamesMake sure you talk to ebay through social media, not the phone reps. The phone reps will have no idea what you're talking about.

Buried really deep in the tax policy pages is this:
"Please contact us at CanadaGST/PST@ebay.com for your copy of our jointly executed election forms, which you should retain with your tax files."

So maybe the first step is to contact them at the above address and see if you can get the election form directly from them, just in case the information has changed or something.

If that fails, I actually just took a look at the original email I got from eBay and it directed us here:
https://pages.ebay.ca/salestax2022/

Note that I believe they got the email address wrong there. I believe it's actually supposed to be CanadaGST/PST@ebay.com. Try emailing them first though to make sure you get the right form.

[jankogames]

Thank you very much for all the info you provided, you have been so helpful in a few messages. 

I will proceed with the email , if that doesn't work i'll try on the social media pages . 

Again, thank you very much 

[recped]

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@jankogames wrote:

Thank you very much for all the info you provided, you have been so helpful in a few messages. 

I will proceed with the email , if that doesn't work i'll try on the social media pages . 

Again, thank you very much 

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The forms can be found in the first post on this thread

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Canadian-Sales-Tax/Billing-Agent-Authorization-Tax-Form-Links/m-p/48092...

Click the English or French links to open/download a pdf file.