Tax when shipping out of province.

[crashingwavesmma]

Seems sellers are charged both GST and PST when shipping out of province (to another province).  This is incorrect and only GST should be applied unless shipping to a HST province.  

Anyone else expereince this or spoken to eBay about this incorrect tax collection?  

[reallynicestamps]

The entity charging and collecting taxes is eBay.

US buyers will also see their own state sales taxes on purchases from Canadian sellers, and European ones see their VAT.

sellers are charged(**) both GST and PST when shipping out of province

So your premise is wrong.

Exception - because there is always an exception- some sellers have B&M businesses which are registered to collect taxes and do so directly even with eBay sales.

** I assume this is a typo for "charging" since sellers do not pay sales taxes, buyers do.

Sellers do pay a fee to eBay for assessing, collecting, and paying these taxes.

It's complicated.

[crashingwavesmma]

Thanks for the input.  Here is an example... I am in BC and bought an item that is shipping from NS.  In that case, only GST should be charged... but I paid both GST and PST.  

[mrdutch1001]

Applicable Taxes are on the transaction(includes item price & shipping) and are applicable to the location of the buyer.

[crashingwavesmma]

Yes... I know that.  But they charged be me (in BC)... both PST and GST when they are only supposed to collect GST as the item shipped from NS.  

FYI - I am actually speaking with an agent.... and they just agreed that overcharged the tax and will refund the PST portion.     

[crashingwavesmma]

Makes you wonder how many buyer transactions had extra tax..... found a few more that eBay agreed had a tax overcharge and now going to review the last year plus... 

- Buying and receiving from the US, the Canadian purchaser should be only charged GST or HST.

- When buuing and shipping between provinces, onlyy the GST or HST (in the receiving province) should be applied.

Shocked looking back at how many out of province purchases had both GST and PST applied

[marnotom!]

Check your receipts or invoices from purchases from outside of BC that you've made from other internet sites.  I bet a box of Timbits that you've been charged PST on those purchases as well, if PST is applicable.

eBay is applying the taxes correctly according to Canadian rules for digital marketplaces.  eBay hasn't had a dedicated Canadian customer service department for ages.  The rep you spoke to is from outside the country and probably didn't fully understand your concern so just told you what you want to hear.

But do let us know if you do get a refund of the PST.

[crashingwavesmma]

marnotom! - please link the approriate tax code for shipments between provinces if you feel this is correct.  The information I found supposts my position.  I.e. when shipping frrom AB to BC, only GST applies... not BC PST & GST 

Submitted a few recent order #s today to the eBay 'specialist' that I was connected... and they agreed there was a tax overcharge... but it will be around 14 days for the refund.

I just never paid attention to this before... I actually ship pharmaceuticals both domestically and globally and knew about this and we do not charge the extra provincial tax on an out of province sale.  Just never paid attention to eBay.  

[marnotom!]

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@crashingwavesmma wrote:

marnotom! - please link the approriate tax code for shipments between provinces if you feel this is correct.  The information I found supposts my position.  I.e. when shipping frrom AB to BC, only GST applies... not BC PST & GST 

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Where did you find this information?

This is what I found at https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/taxes/sales-taxes/publications/pst-142-marketplace-facilitators.pd... :

Online marketplace facilitators must register to collect and remit PST if they facilitate an online marketplace seller’s retail sale of:

 goods that at the time of sale are located within Canada and are sold to a person in B.C.,
 software for use on or with an electronic device ordinarily situated in B.C.,
 accommodation located in B.C., or
 taxable services, other than accommodation, to a person in B.C.

Now if you're talking about PST being charged erroneously on pharmaceuticals, that's a different ball of wax.

[flipistics]

Why do you think only GST should apply?

[crashingwavesmma]

Thank you,

Interesting but a tad confusing.... will review in more detail.  The marketplace facilitator designation seems to make a difference vs regular business sale.  

[crashingwavesmma]

I sell from a physical store in BC... both domestic and international.  If I sell and ship to another Canadian province, I only charge the GST (unless they are HST).

I.e. a brick and mortar store located in AB or QC sells and ships to me in BC, they are only to charge the GST and not the BC PST.  PST is only applied if sold and shipped in the same province.  

I guess eBay is considered an online marketplace facillator and that changes the taxation rules (came into affect in 2023)

[marnotom!]

@crashingwavesmma, are you aware that eBay is also collecting and remitting GST/HST as well as PST/QST/RST on sales you've made through this platform and you shouldn't be declaring and remitting those amounts yourself for tax purposes?

There are other threads on this particular discussion board that go into this in some detail, but if you haven't filled out a GST506 yet and sent it to eBay, you should get on that as soon as possible.

[flipistics]

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@crashingwavesmma wrote:

I sell from a physical store in BC... both domestic and international.  If I sell and ship to another Canadian province, I only charge the GST (unless they are HST).

I.e. a brick and mortar store located in AB or QC sells and ships to me in BC, they are only to charge the GST and not the BC PST.  PST is only applied if sold and shipped in the same province.  

I guess eBay is considered an online marketplace facillator and that changes the taxation rules (came into affect in 2023)

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Ah, for most provinces they have threshholds where you have to register to collect provincial tax if you exceed those amounts in sales to their province. For example, I believe Saskatchewan requires you to register and remit for even a single sale to a Saskatchwan buyer (assuming the marketplace, like eBay, doesn't already do it).  Other provinces like Quebec are much higher (I want to say over $30k, but not positive).

Because eBay is a marketplace facilitator they probably exceed the minimums in an hour, let alone a year, and would be required to charge and remit the tax to each destination province. If you have your own website, then you'd only be required to charge and remit it once you exceed the minimums for each province.

You should definitely talk to a professional about it though. This is just based on my understanding of how it works and is not a guarantee that the information is correct.

[reallynicestamps]

I guess eBay is considered an online marketplace facillator and that changes the taxation rules (came into affect in 2023)

Exactly.