Since no one else is posting - Canadian selling to the US and their sales tax fiasco

[dutchman48]

If you are in Canada, selling on .ca,  and selling to the US will Ebay have to collect tax on those transactions?

What if you are in Canada and selling on .com, same question re collection of tax.

Australia is trying to charge tax on everything sold to any one in Australia and want to make Ebay, Amazon and everyone else accountable for collecting and remitting it.

[ricarmic]

There was a thread on this (the Australian aspect) quite some time ago, as I recall nobody who's posting here would ever have to worry about the Australian thing anyway, they're targeting very large sellers..... unless I've missed something since then.....or there are some very large sellers one the boards!!!

(As I understand it eBay wouldn't qualify because they are not selling anything....other than their fees which they're already having to charge taxes for)

[momcqueen]

Since as an ebay seller based in Canada, I have zero impact on the decisions made by the USA government, I resolve to not get excited until a law is passed or edict is issued about this. It comes up periodically on ecommercebytes; it sounded to me as if ebay is working fairly hard to oppose this direction. For whatever assurance that offers. 

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2018/04/16/federal-government-backs-states-in-fight-over-sales-tax/

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2018/04/08/ebay-sellers-would-face-crushing-burden-with-overturn-of-q...

[dutchman48]

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@ricarmic wrote:

There was a thread on this (the Australian aspect) quite some time ago, as I recall nobody who's posting here would ever have to worry about the Australian thing anyway, they're targeting very large sellers..... unless I've missed something since then.....or there are some very large sellers one the boards!!!

(As I understand it eBay wouldn't qualify because they are not selling anything....other than their fees which they're already having to charge taxes for)

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Here is some light reading in regards to Australia and some is quite current.

https://www.google.com/search?q=australia+collecting+tax+on+internet+sales&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=...

[ricarmic]

The minimum threshold is that same that I remember before:

your GST turnover from sales that are connected with Australia and made in the course of your enterprise, meets or exceeds the registration turnover threshold of A$75,000 (or A$150,000, if you are a non-profit body)

I'm a very very long ways from being over A$75,000 annual Aussie sales per year......

[cumos55]

The US situation could get very crazy with state, regional and city taxes.

It will be even more crazy if the seller has to collect each of the taxes and then remit the taxes to the correct authority.

Will Canadian sellers on eBay.com be affected?

Will sellers on eBay Canada be affected... or ....Will their sales to US buyers be affected when parcels cross the border... There is already a taxation when a sold item goes from Canada to the US

Items sold by US sellers  and valued more than $20   are taxed when they cross the border into Canada..... (.....they should be taxed).

As a seller on eBay Canada I do not want to have anything to do with the taxation on sales to US buyers.

In Canada we have a sales plus postage level of $30,000 before we have to register to collect, GST/HST on sales to Canadian buyers.

What will the amount before taxation is necessary  in the US?

It is internet sales that triggers  this question with respect to  taxation in the US

[pjcdn2005]

It’s unlikely that anything like that will happen for sales to the US because there is no federal sales tax there. Most US sellers don’t have to collect state tax for other states so I really doubt that international sellers will ever have to collect it.

[pjcdn2005]

I realize that the laws regarding US sellers collecting tax from other states may change but I still think that it is unlikely that international sellers will have to follow and do the same.

[kawartha-ephemera]

This sales tax discussion has been going on for years now but until today I wasn't aware anyone around the world had actually enacted legislation.

Seems the Australians have and will be
expecting marketplaces like ebay and re shipping companies to collect and remit their GST at a rate of 1/11 of the sale including shipping.
I wonder whether ebay and Amazon will comply or just abandon Australia?

Excerpt from ATO article (taxation arm of Australian Treasury)

"From July 2018, Australian goods and services tax (GST) will apply to sales of low value goods imported by consumers into Australia.

Businesses that meet the registration threshold of A$75,000 will need to:

register for GST
charge GST on sales of low value imported goods (unless they are GST-free)
lodge returns to the ATO.
These businesses may be merchants who sell goods, electronic distribution platform operators (online marketplaces ie: ebay) or re-deliverers. For goods imported in a consignment over A$1,000, any GST, customs duty and clearance charges will be charged to the importer at the border under existing processes.

This new law is designed so that businesses:

will not charge GST on a sale when GST will be charged at the border, because an item is
worth over A$1,000
a tobacco product, or
alcoholic beverage
will not need to charge GST on a sale if it is clear that multiple goods will be shipped to Australia in one consignment worth over A$1,000 – GST will be charged at the border instead."

https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/International-tax-for-business/GST-on-low-value-imported-goods/

[rose-dee]

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@kawartha-ephemera wrote:

Seems the Australians have and will be
expecting marketplaces like ebay and re shipping companies to collect and remit their GST at a rate of 1/11 of the sale including shipping.
I wonder whether ebay and Amazon will comply or just abandon Australia?

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I think many countries are looking for any place they can stop the gaps and ensure that they collect full taxes on imported goods by shifting the responsibility onto sellers at the point of sale.  

This can be a manageable issue if done properly.  For example, VAT for EU sales made through Etsy is collected at the time of sale, but that site has done a admirable job of making the otherwise onerous task easier for its sellers -- they do the collecting and remitting on behalf of the seller.   Where applicable, the VAT is automatically added to the online order, the customer pays it, and Etsy remits it to the applicable authority.  The seller never gets involved.  This system also helps sellers avoid the problems of buyers refusing an item at the Customs office if the taxes are a shock.  Since charging and remitting internationally taxes could be such a complicated and time-consuming situation for small sellers, I thought this was exactly the right way to handle it.  I can only hope that if the time comes when Australia (or any other jurisdiction) imposes tax collection on eBay at point of sale, that eBay will follow this example. 

[ypdc_dennis]

I don't expect sales tax management and collection on behalf of sellers via ebay to happen (except via GSP) until after Adyen becomes the money handler for ebay.

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The A-river.COM is already collecting sales taxes for some USA states (2017, WA) on behalf of sellers (both American and foreign who sell on .COM). This is transparent to the seller -- A-river pays the state directly, the seller does not need to deal with the paperwork.

...

The A-river.CA currently works the same way as eBay.CA -- Canadian sales taxes are handled by the seller directly.  Sales to an American on .CA are treated as the buyer being an importer into the USA and responsible for their own sales tax.

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