Ebay is not charging sales tax from US buyers any more?

[lud-4367]

I had a couple of sales since the beginnig of July. They started charging sales tax from canadian buyers of course. However, they didn't charge tax from an US buyer this time which never happened before ever since they changed a policy. What's more, when I purchased something from an US seller, they also didn't charge tax. Is this some kind of error, or ebay is not charging sales tax from internation transactions?

[msau4301]

There are a few states that were/are exempt from the internet sales tax (I think about 45 states have it, I have seen the odd sale that does not have it - I can't remember which states don't have to (yet). Possibly the sale was to a state that hasn't made the change yet.  As for buying from a US seller, unless it's through Global Shipping I don't believe taxes are charged at time of purchase, though duty/import may be due depending on value when you receive it.  The July 1st change I thought was just for Canadians selling to Canadians, everything else should have stayed the same. (At least I think!?)

[reallynicestamps]

Possibilities:

Your buyer lives in a no sales tax state like Oregon.

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/5-states-no-sales-tax-200158038.html

The US seller cannot charge you Canadian taxes (usually).

We have a $150 duty-free allowance*  and a $40 tax-free allowance for imports from the USA.

GSP shipments have import fees made up of duty, sales tax, and a service charge, which they charge you when you purchase. These fees are not broken down.

The sales tax on Canadian to Canadian purchases has only been charged since last Friday (July1). If you paid before that, no tax.

*This was part of the new NAFTA as of July 2020.

[recped]

Besides the possibility it's going to a tax free State (Delaware, New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana & Alaska), it's also possible for ANY US buyer to get an exemption if they have a resale certificate (works the same as Canadian PST).

eBay is not currently collecting GST/HST/PST on purchases from outside Canada, this is still the domain of Canada Customs. Why this gaping hole was not covered by the new rules for Marketplace tax collection is a mystery, Canada seems to be an outlier in this regard.

[marnotom!]

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@recped wrote:

eBay is not currently collecting GST/HST/PST on purchases from outside Canada, this is still the domain of Canada Customs. Why this gaping hole was not covered by the new rules for Marketplace tax collection is a mystery, Canada seems to be an outlier in this regard.

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Could it possibly have something to do with the de minimis for taxes from sales from CUSMA countries being entrenched in the CUSMA agreement?

[reallynicestamps]

That's the $150/$40 I mentioned above.

Another thought.

GSP purchases are not supposed to be B2B. So all duty and taxes are rolled into the 'import fees' because this is not a necessary number for a consumer to know.

He might want to know it, but GSP is not required to supply it.

[darak10]

your second paragraph states this in alot more polite terms than I would.  This omission / blind spot could end up really harming Canadian e-commerce retailers bottom line as it puts us at a distinct disadvantage especially if there are countries out there who can sell into our market and ship here cheaper than what the extra tax adds up to for an in house purchase.  As it stands on many items, many UK and EU retailers already can.  

And when was the last time customs actually charged me or anyone else for an item from the EU or UK or wherever that was over the supposed limit 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 bucks?  I cant even remember, I do remember it was before 2010 though.  Because they seem to be stuck in the pre-internet dark ages of doing it by hand, they dont even try collecting anymore.  Someone should remind them this thing called the internet exists now and we have these new fangled contraptions called computers that can do amazing things to address issues like this.  

[reallynicestamps]

The duty free allowance for most of the world is still $20 as it has been since the 1980s.

Sales taxes are charged when the value is over the same $20 duty- free.

And CBSA has been ignoring those duty free allowances for decades, because it costs more to assess and collect the import fees than the customs officers are paid.

BUT

If you order from the USA, the new NAFTA (CUSMA?)  comes into play and the duty* free allowance for imports from the USA rises to $150-- and CBSA will be collecting on those, just as they would have in 1990 or 2010.

HOWEVER ,

And this can be seen in archived threads that are 5000+ posts long, couriers could not ignore the law the way CBSA/Canada Post did on postal shipments.

So buyers would be told on their doorstep to pay up on the $19.99Cdn/$15US item  PLUS a $25or more "customs brokerage " service fee.

*The tax free allowance for US imports is $40.