Upcoming Canada GST/HST Holiday

[flipistics]

Assuming it gets passed, it looks like the Liberals and NDP are going to introduce legislation for a GST/HST holiday between December 14th and February 15th for many types of goods (including books, toys & games, children's clothing, etc).  Adding this here for the visibility in the hopes that we can get an official response from eBay that they'll be ready for it assuming it does indeed happen.

devon@ebay 

[msau4301]

I had read about that also, I have no idea how retailers are even going to do this since it's only only select items (even wine and beer were on the list I read!), would need some tech savvy to set that up internally (though I though children's clothes and shoes were always tax exempt) so some would already have something in place but would be harder to do since it's only for two months and then has to change back.

Very good point to make sure eBay is aware of this and should pass on this saving to buyers but I won't hold my breath. Would be nice though!

[brle_5065]

I was thinking the same thing—you know the buyers are going to complain to the sellers, and all we can do is refer them to eBay. Then good luck! I'm still waiting for a refund on GST that eBay charged me for a pure silver coin 18 months ago. 

Honestly- the way they have Customer Service set up is insane- and not fair to the employees- you call eBay, and well- they call you- most of you can tell that Spanish is their 1st language- which is not an issue- but sometimes they have a hard time understanding the problem.   What's frustrating is that the same employee is responsible for fielding calls from the US, Canada, and the UK!  How does eBay expect their employees to know all the trade and tax laws in all three countries?    It's funny that eBay won't allow you to ship an item to Cuba from Canada (totally legal by Canadian law) because there is a trade embargo between the US and Cuba. 

[reallynicestamps]

devon@ebay 
Over to you.

https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resources-canada/news/2024/11/minister-wilkinson-highlights-the-gov...

Even more confusing for those paying Harmonized Sales Taxes, the federal government has no power over provincial or territorial sales taxes.
It will be interesting to see if Premier Eby here in BC follows suit by matching our (separate) provincial tax.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

devon@ebay 
Over to you.

https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resources-canada/news/2024/11/minister-wilkinson-highlights-the-gov...

Even more confusing for those paying Harmonized Sales Taxes, the federal government has no power over provincial or territorial sales taxes.
It will be interesting to see if Premier Eby here in BC follows suit by matching our (separate) provincial tax.

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Unsure if this is really based on one courier vs another (company policy) but according to the Canpar website there is no tax charged on the fuel portion of those fees. Because we can't get an itemized invoice for postage difficult to know where tax is or isn't getting charged or if everyone is doing the same way. Also doesn't help that fuel gets updated weekly and can change between time the buyer pays and eBay labels bills. 

https://www.canpar.com/en/shipping/fuel_surcharge.htm

Fuel surcharge rates will be applied to the sum of the service rate, transportation related surcharges and additional specialized services. Taxes and any administrative fees are excluded from the fuel surcharge calculation. The Canpar Express domestic fuel surcharge is set based upon the average weekly price of diesel fuel reported by Kalibrate Technologies Ltd, a company that monitors diesel fuel prices across Canada. The table above illustrates the fuel surcharge to be applied based upon the average weekly price reported by Kalibrate Technologies Ltd one week prior to the effective date.

For many small and even medium sized businesses removing the tax on a limited number of listings will be an accounting nightmare. It's good bet that a company like Amazon could do it. eBay iffy at best. They understand the all or nothing approach. Not so good when it comes to exempt or different rate. AB citizens are still waiting for the reduction to taxes promised by UCP during the last election. Probably won't happen until its time for the next election. 

-Lotz

[brle_5065]

Gotta ask- who is Devon?  Does he know anything about Canada? Canadian Shipping issues? Issue with Canadian sellers with stores not being able to offer discounts because of a tech issue that appears to be only happening on the .CA site?  I promise not to harass him- it's would be nice to actually have a contact that has a clue what's happening.

Brian

[reallynicestamps]

devon@ebay  is stationed in the USA but his job seems to be community relations here and in the USA. I think we see velvet@ebay  here sometimes too.

Devon runs , less and less often, the seller questions post.

[devon@ebay]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

devon@ebay  is stationed in the USA but his job seems to be community relations here and in the USA. I think we see velvet@ebay  here sometimes too.

Devon runs , less and less often, the seller questions post.

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Hi @reallynicestamps and @brle_5065! Just as mentioned I am located in the USA and split my time between here and the US as well as the CAFR Communtiy boards.