HST Filing Refunds - No eBay Tax Amount

[fallsavenue]

It's dreaded tax time and I'm a little confused about shipping fees on our tax invoices. Hope someone can help me.

On our Tax Invoices, eBay has separated shipping fees into Shipping Fees and Non-eBay Shipping Fees. I assume this separates Canadian and US shipping labels (??? could be wrong) and their sum is listed on the Finacial Statement under Shipping Labels.

Only one month doesn't add up and I could care less, only a $10 difference in my favour - tyvm.

My question is where is the shipping label tax line? I spent probably about $1K on CAD labels and would like to claim the hst like I always do but there's no figure given. 

Do you all just reverse tax it so 1k is $115.04? (at 13% ON rate)

And is eBay keeping this money? I mean it's nowhere and I looked everywhere. On shipping labels page, it only gives a final amount. There's no breakdown to display tax.

Thanks!

*Posted in wrong place first time - sorry for duplicate!

[busybeas_books]

simple answer (but not the one you want) is you didn't pay any HST on the postage, eBay did.

[recped]

---

@busybeas_books wrote:

simple answer (but not the one you want) is you didn't pay any HST on the postage, eBay did.

---

simple but incorrect.

@fallsavenue 

eBay does add GST/HST to the cost of any shipping label used to send to a Canadian address. They bury the amount instead of a separate line item (actually required for any transaction over $20).

There have been longstanding requests for eBay to change this but nothing has happened, they don't even admit that it's an issue.

I never print labels via eBay but as far as I know they do not even provide the breakdown in the monthly "Tax Invoice" as they do for fees paid.

Reverse engineering is the only alternative BUT you have to calculate based on the DESTINATION Province

not the Province you shipped from.

If you ever have a GST audit you MIGHT have a problem so having documentation that shows you calculated correctly might be of help prevent your ITC's from being disallowed.

Remember, only shipping within Canada is subject to GST/HST.

[fallsavenue]

Thank you for your response @recped. Good to know I'm not losing my mind. So eBay keeps it then and claims it - how nice.

Yes, I'm aware of the provincial tax rate differences, I was just using the ON rate as an example. I can easily figure out the tax using a speadsheet formula so will be claiming the actual amount. 

Do other sellers realize how much they could be losing? It's not a lot for me, maybe $120, but it's my cash and I'm entitled to it.

@busybeas_books  Um no. eBay remits tax only. My label so my money paid the tax. All eBay does is build it into the cost instead of breaking down the cost and tax.

When I order stock from auctions to have shipped, they charge me postage and handling. Though there's no tax actually showing on the invoice, I paid hst on both the goods and service so reversed calculated the tax. I was HST audited last year (with no issues) and was told by my CRA agent that this was accepable.

[regs43]

---

@fallsavenue wrote:

Do other sellers realize how much they could be losing? It's not a lot for me, maybe $120, but it's my cash and I'm entitled to it.

---

Yes a few of us have brought it to the attention of the ebay people who monitor these boards, and nothings been said or done by them re this issue. We started asking a few years ago now!

[recped]

I don't think eBay"keeps" it and then claims it.

Do other sellers realize how much they could be losing?

It's true, a lot of seller who are below the $30,000 threshold do not understand that they can get a refund of all the GST/HST they have paid on eBay fees, shipping withing Canada, goods purchased, shipping supplies etc. etc.

Prior to eBay collecting taxes it was an advantage to not be registered and be able to sell without taxes that buyers would pay but now that advantage is gone.

As you know, if you are in Ontario your eBay fees are 13% higher, your shipping costs within Canada are 5 - 15% higher, your shipping materials are 13% higher and they can get all of that back by filing one very simple form once a year (or quarterly as I report).

It's called "flushing money down the drain".

[fallsavenue]

@regs43 I didn't notice it last year which burns my butt however, it wouldn't be nearly as much since I mostly shipped to the US. This year, eBay's domestic UPS and CP rates were pretty good (beat my usual rates with ICS and Purolator) so most all my domestic labels were bought on eBay. Should've known there had to be a catch!

So I have to ask. Is this even legal? We know for a fact there's hst on domestic labels and by law, hst and the hst # has to be displayed on the receipt, regardless of value.

Gawd, I hate tax time.

[fallsavenue]

@recped Right? I keep telling fellow sellers to register and that you don't need to make 30k anymore yet they still decline. One reason may be that other sites (like Etsy) don't collect/remit the taxes for sellers who are registered so those sellers have to build it into the price which is beyond ridiculous and unfair.

I once got into an argument with a seller trying to talk another out of registering. I told them they were both nuts - 13% is a nice chunk of change tyvm. And annual filing is easy too, very simple form and easy to calculate since taxes paid are clearly stated (unless you buy eBay labels of course!) on all our supply/stock receipts and onsite financial summaries.

Ahhhh, when you're adding up your own cha ching, it's not so painful.

Taxes on seller fees are like forced savings w/o interest to me and let me tell you, I'm broke thx to the orange man. Can't wait for my hst refund this year!

[fallsavenue]

Just realized, I did a search for this topic prior to posting and nothing relevant turned up. @recped said it has been discussed. WEIRD!

[flipistics]

---

@fallsavenue wrote:

@regs43 I didn't notice it last year which burns my butt however, it wouldn't be nearly as much since I mostly shipped to the US. This year, eBay's domestic UPS and CP rates were pretty good (beat my usual rates with ICS and Purolator) so most all my domestic labels were bought on eBay. Should've known there had to be a catch!

So I have to ask. Is this even legal? We know for a fact there's hst on domestic labels and by law, hst and the hst # has to be displayed on the receipt, regardless of value.

Gawd, I hate tax time.

---

It's a good question, and one we've been trying to deal with for a few years. I THINK it might be legal assuming they're actually charging the tax (at least for labels under $100), but it's unclear whether or not we can actually claim the ITCs without more evidence.

There's a lot we don't know. For example, eBay does upcharge slightly on the labels (which is fair), but are they actually charging us tax on the upcharge? What is the amount of the upcharge, and is it taxed at a GST or HST rate? Are eBay labels pass through or supplied by eBay (in other words, who is the actual supplier that deals with the tax, because that information IS required to support a claim)?

I've personally chosen not the chance it. If I ever get audited, I'll definitely ask that question and amend the return in my favour if they indicate it can be 🙂  I'm also now buying my labels elsewhere for almost everything except expedited lite and tracked packet USA. Shop around. There's good (in many cases better) options out there now!

[busybeas_books]

For the within-Canada packages I've sold in the past few years (3-4 a month) eBay's charge is still less than through Canada Post even counting in CP's tax as an ITC. Getting a report of eBay's charge tax breakdown would be nice. Not holding my breath.

No Stallion or other carrier convenient to me here, rural Nova Scotia, and GST is 15%. Figuring out eBay postage tax payment to claim yourself would need to be done for each shipment (or each province destinations). Not worth the time/effort/audit risk. 

[fallsavenue]

We should get our money back. I use another label provider and buy CP labels on a selling site, both clearly show the tax breakdown on domestic shipping. The label provider also provides a breakdown by province.

Regardless, all business transactions are taxed. Not sure why anyone thinks eBay has some special arrangement.

eBay's domesic rates are pretty darn good. I get better US rates elsewhere but rarely for domestic so think the tax is the discount. Often, eBay UPS domestic is $2-3 less than my provider. So, we get cheaper labels which gives us an incentive to buy eBay's labels and eBay gets the commission and the ITCs.

In the end, it's still less for me to buy an eBay label to BC than the 5% I'd get back as an ITC but I'm entitled to my refund. A spreadsheet will give the exact amount paid (by prov.) in a few mins. Guess it depends on how much you spent on labels. For me, the refund is over $100. Definitely worth my time!