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!

[pjcdn2005]

Perhaps it is time to close this thread as it is almost 2 years old and some of the info may have changed,

[bag-of-holding]

As a seller growing my activity, I have acquired a ton of inventory through eBay. I have been charged "import fees" which mostly should include HST. I cannot see that HST amount broken down anywhere, yet I need it to be able to claim Input Tax Credits and recover the HST, as is my right. In the absence of that, I have no choice but to use the full amount of Import Fees as my HST. If CRA enquires, I will also have no choice but to blame eBay for it, until that changes. Note that to make things even worse, import fees are not broken down in your downloable reports, and shipping fees often change after a while...

[marnotom!]

@bag-of-holding, your reference to "import fees" make me wonder if these purchases you made for your business were forwarded through the now defunct (in the US) Global Shipping Program (GSP), which charged "import charges."

If this is the case, the terms and conditions for the GSP state that it's not intended for B2B transactions, and your experience would likely explain why.  For items forwarded through the GSP, the taxes and duties (if applicable) due on the item were paid for by another party.  The "import charges" were the line item for you repaying that party.  You didn't actually pay the HST yourself and are not officially on record as having paid it.

I've seen it suggested by some reputable sellers that your best course of action is to declare the "import charges" as a business expense.  I'd check with your accountant to make sure that's acceptable to CRA, though.

[flipistics]

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@bag-of-holding wrote:

As a seller growing my activity, I have acquired a ton of inventory through eBay. I have been charged "import fees" which mostly should include HST. I cannot see that HST amount broken down anywhere, yet I need it to be able to claim Input Tax Credits and recover the HST, as is my right. In the absence of that, I have no choice but to use the full amount of Import Fees as my HST. If CRA enquires, I will also have no choice but to blame eBay for it, until that changes. Note that to make things even worse, import fees are not broken down in your downloable reports, and shipping fees often change after a while...

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My understanding is that you generally can't claim what you can't support / prove. Two wrongs don't make a right in the CRA's eyes. They'll blame both of you independently.  Sellers are running into the same issue on the tax paid on our shipping labels.  eBay has said that tax is included, but as far as I know, their word is not sufficient to support an ITC claim for it.  This is from the website detailing claims requirements for ITCs (for under $30 which most, but not all labels are):

" In situations where it is not clear from the documentary evidence either that GST/HST has been charged or what the amount of tax actually was, the documentation is not sufficient to support the ITC claim."