Canadian Sales Taxes - Questions

[velvet@ebay]

Hi everyone –

We know you might have questions regarding the email you recently received about eBay Canada collecting Canada Sales Tax (GST/HST/QST/ PST) on behalf of our sellers. Please feel free to leave your questions and comments here and we’ll get them answered as soon as possible. Keep in mind there could be a delay as we check with internal teams to ensure we’re getting you the right answers to your questions.

Thanks for your patience!

[mlecorre]

Today July 3rd I sold a Canadian Silver Bullion Maple Leaf, listed as 0.9999 silver Bullion.  The buyer was charged both GST and PST on the item.  My listing fee was based on the grossed up taxed amount to the buyer and not the amount that I received.  I was then charged GST on that fee.  Why was tax charged on bullion?  Why was the fee based on the full price after tax?  Third, I was charged GST on GST and PST the buyer paid.  Does that seem right to you?

[std002]

Please supply me with eBay sales taxes numbers for GST (Canadian government) and QST (Quebec government).

This is imperative that you include the sales taxes numbers in your invoices.

[reallynicestamps]

@chiefscrub 

I could avoid paying taxes on those items, locally, by buying/trading at many thrift shops, pawnshops, flea markets, Kijiji, Craigslist, Used, Facebook Marketplace etc. ...

Thrift shops charge appropriate taxes on used goods. as do pawnshops.

They are registered businesses. Fun fact, in most municipalities, dealers in used goods are required to take down the name and address of their suppliers who must show appropriate identification. This is to prevent the fencing of stolen goods.

Flea markets may not, although the dealers are paying the owners for their spot and the owners would be registered.  The dealers may also be registered, but include all their costs, including the appropriate taxes in the prices they charge.

Most, but not all of the other selling venues, are used by people selling less than the $30K annually and who are not required to register or remit tax.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

---

@std002 wrote:

Please supply me with eBay sales taxes numbers for GST (Canadian government) and QST (Quebec government).

This is imperative that you include the sales taxes numbers in your invoices.

---

velvet@ebay 

devon@ebay 

The only way anyone connected to eBay will happen to see your post is by attaching one of the names directly connected. The majority of people posting and responding are other sellers sharing their wisdom of years of selling on eBay. The above can at their discretion pass your suggestion on. It may or may not go any farther than that. But it never hurts to ask.  🙂

-Lotz

PS. Let tagging be your friend.

[reallynicestamps]

If Ebay collects the $1000 in taxes, what does that do to offset the taxes I paid for the product?

I could be arong but.

You pay suppliers $100 in taxes.

You sell $1000 worth of goods on eBay.

EBay collects $150 in taxes.

You have a tax credit of $100 which you can claim.

EBay has no tax credit for the $150. because they did not pay out tax to suppliers.

I am not a tax expert.

I can barely understand how to operate a calculator.

[buycanadabuy]

Has anyone made any sales since July 1st? Are the new tax to be collected by eBay system working as intended? I am kind of away so have put all my listing on away mode. However, per my tax table set up, all the listings viewed from eBay's side are still showing the old sale tax percentage. For example, for MB and SK, the listings are still showing 5% GST only, which would not be correct per new eBay sales tax system.

[ricarmic]

Yes I've made several sales since July 1st, it doesn't look like it is scaring away customers which is good.

I don't know what happens if one had tax tables set up. I did not have tax tables set up because I absorbed the cost of the taxes before July 1. Someone who did use tax tables before can probably answer.

(My guess is that they're irrelevant and ignored now regardless what was in them but remember that's a guess)

[flipistics]

The old tax tables appear to be non-functional. My sales have shown the correct tax applied under the new system. I DO still see the tables show in my listings along with my tax number though, which is potentially confusing.  I'd like to know if eBay plans to remove those, or if we're supposed to somehow.

[ricarmic]

Update! I have received the countersigned Billing Agent Authorization document back moments ago via email!

It included a notation that there are no further steps for me to complete!

So I  suspect others will get theirs soon! (Remember I sent mine in on June 2).

[esolutions_canada]

@ricarmic @flipistics 

How are taxes displayed on the sales record of your eBay Seller Hub? I made my first Canadian sale after July 1st to someone in Yukon and it shows zero under sales tax in the sales record on the .ca site. My items are listed in USD and when I try to buy them on the Canadian site, it doesn't seem to show taxes added either in the checkout step. Is eBay missing collecting GST/HST in this case?

Item subtotal US $188.88
Shipping US $10.00
Sales tax US $0.00
Discount US $0.00
Total US $198.88

Thought I would ask before trying to call eBay to be bounced around.

[ricarmic]

@esolutions_canada 

I'm not 100% sure I understand what you are asking, but if you are asking if something listed in US$ on .COM is escaping being taxed, I can advise that NO they don't escape being taxed if being purchased by a Canadian from me.

I checked a .COM item in US$ purchased by someone in QC and all relevant taxes were properly applied.

If I were to guess, either the buyer or your address doesn't show as Candada? All intra Canadian purchases should be covered, so my first suggestion would be to see if the buyer whilst in Yukon is registered in Canada or not (I often have buyers registered in one country that purchase and have shipped to a different country, presumably because their job has them moving to different countries).

That's my thoughts at the moment....

PS if it helps here is what I see on the packing slip:

Item subtotalUS $139.99

ShippingUS $0.00

GST/HST (eBay collected)US $7.00

PST/QST (eBay collected)US $13.96

DiscountUS $0.00

Total**US $160.95

[flipistics]

@esolutions_canada 

I think it's because you have your address set to ship from the states. I assume the taxes would normally be applied at the border, which of course they're not since you're presumably actually located in Canada.

I would contact eBay. I think this is a problem that might blow up pretty soon, especially when US tax forms (with the new reporting limits) start showing up. It could cause a huge nightmare with the IRS.

This is something eBay Canada really needs to fix too. It would be very helpful for a lot of people if Canadians could mark the item as being available to ship from either side of the border but physically located in Canada (and hence the ability to use calculated shipping on both sides). If that were the case, it would resolve all the other issues.

[esolutions_canada]

@flipistics 

Thanks for the detailed reply. Maybe that is the case. There are a lot of sellers in Canada that mark their items as shipping from the US since most of the sales are to US buyers and ship from the border (myself included) but if this doesn't get picked up, I can potentially see this being an issue with the CRA as there would not be any GST collected or remitted in this instance with the way it is currently set up.

[esolutions_canada]

velvet@ebay 

Can you follow up with this issue with your tax team regarding potentially not collecting sales taxes for Canadian sellers with items with a location outside Canada? I tried calling and talking with a couple of phone agents and they seem to only provide a generic scripted response that doesn't seem to address this issue, or they don't seem to understand any of the changes that occured for the Canadian tax changes as they are probably located in another country. Thanks!

[brettjet38]

If you already did not know 

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 or shortly will.

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

[modernbabyco]

Where do I send the completed form? I sent to the email address listed and it bounced back saying not delivered.

[auction_mate]

Where do I send the completed form? I sent to the email address listed and it bounced back saying not delivered.

I used the email below. and it says the email does not exist

CanadaPST/GST@ebay.com

[ricarmic]

The wrong email address got put into some documents.

This is the correct email address:  CanadaGST/PST@ebay.com 

Someone did a typo on the one......

[reallynicestamps]

@esolutions_canada 

I tried calling and talking with a couple of phone agents and they seem to only provide a generic scripted response that doesn't seem to address this issue,

The phone reps don't work for eBay.

They are minimum wage and poorly trained working for a subcontractor somewhere in Utah.

 If you have a question use the social media which are covered by actual trained employees.

Also you get a transcript which you can review to see if what you heard was what you were told.


https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851


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[flipistics]

Just as a follow-up to proper tax receipts, I poked around after using my shipping supplies coupon and eBay DOES appear to be providing a proper tax receipt (it's only visible to the buyer, which I think is probably fine). It appears to contain all the required information.

You can find it as a buyer under Order Details -> Other Actions -> View Tax Invoice

Just mentioning it here in case anyone has a buyer inquire about it.