Ebay tax nonsense

[Mcgyver]

I bought a tap and die from a UK vendor on ebay. The package arrives via mail and fortunately, being of modest value, no one is standing on the stoop demanding HST.

But reading the invoice inside I see I'm charged 20% VAT. That's not right and a quick search confirms UK firms are not to charge VAT on exports. I write the seller, a business, RDG, and they say "Take it up with ebay, they imposed the the charge and do not remit the money to us".

WTF? I want my 7.99 pounds back!

ebay keeps the money? Sends it to the CRA (20 not 13)? If that's the case the package should have been marked taxes paid or something....but it was not.

Feels wrong but Ebay seems to make it impossible for anyone to contact them.

Any ideas?

 

[DavidR8]

File a complaint with the seller as they should not have charged you VAT.

 

[PeterT]

I thought VAT was always removed too, but this seems to be coming up more often. I wonder if its just their 'label' to comply with what our friends in Ottawa passed into law? Not quite sure that would add to a round number like 20% though?

Update from eBay Canada and collecting Canadian sales taxes

Dear Community members, Pursuant to the guidelines announced in Canada's 2021 Federal Budget and recent provincial sales tax amendments, eBay Canada Limited ("eBay") is now collecting Canadian sales taxes (GST/HST/QST/PST) on applicable sales to Canada-based buyers. As of July 1, 2022, for...

community.ebay.ca

 

[architect]

In the US, Ebay started collecting sales tax for remittance but I don't think that should be the case for UK. From what I understand, the tax is only applied based on the address and in this case no VAT should have been applied. I've ordered from a few UK vendors (not via eBay) in the last years and none of them charged me VAT.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

I bought a tap and die from a UK vendor on ebay. The package arrives via mail and fortunately, being of modest value, no one is standing on the stoop demanding HST.

But reading the invoice inside I see I'm charged 20% VAT. That's not right and a quick search confirms UK firms are not to charge VAT on exports. I write the seller, a business, RDG, and they say "Take it up with ebay, they imposed the the charge and do not remit the money to us".

WTF? I want my 7.99 pounds back!

ebay keeps the money? Sends it to the CRA (20 not 13)? If that's the case the package should have been marked taxes paid or something....but it was not.

Feels wrong but Ebay seems to make it impossible for anyone to contact them.

Any ideas?

It appears as if Ebay has chosen to now apply taxes to any item purchased through "ebay canada" as if that is a tangible sale of a physical item sold within Canada regardless of where the actual product is coming from.

They're also charging the tax for all sales, regardless of whether or not a seller is required by law to charge GST... private sales from individuals not in the business of reselling small goods who make under something like 40k are not required to charge GST.

ebay is also not allowing any sales tax exemptions so that first nations and charities are hit with taxes that should not be applied to them.

I object to ebay's one size fits all policy and corporate laziness that leads them to not have exemptions, so I dont purchase or sell through ebay any longer.

That all said, the HST applies when the item hits our shores so I dont object to paying that tax, but 20% VAT, no way.
RDG sells direct via their own site. Maybe cancel get a refund and return the item and buy direct?

Of the two I dont know which is lying about the VAT... but I suspect getting a refund for just the tax is not in the cards

 

[Crankit]

I looked back at a purchase i did from RDG through ebay and they didn't charge me any tax.... something new i suppose but i will definitely keep that in mind if i order again.

 

[slow-poke]

The way I see it this is just the beginning. They will need to raise more and more tax money to pay for all the out of control spending. Completely predictable. Seems like they are stepping up the enforcement of HST via Canada Post from the US as well. Package yesterday from the states and had to get the CC out for a small amount, in the past the small stuff just got waived. Keep in mind they are raking in massive tax revenues at the moment, when the recession hits the tax coffers are going to get hit and the deficit is going to go to some entirely unsustainable level. Yikes for our kids!

 

[Mcgyver]

I looked back at a purchase i did from RDG through ebay and they didn't charge me any tax.... something new i suppose but i will definitely keep that in mind if i order again.

It only became became obvious with RDG's invoice that was in the package. To use round numbers, the item was listed at say 18 pounds. The invoice from RDG shows a price of 15 pounds and 20% VAT of 3 pounds. Yeah, my reaction as well.

So I write RDG who say talk to ebay, that they (RDG) did not receive the 3 pounds from ebay and that its ebay who's added the 20% VAT.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

That sounds like a nice little racket Ebay has going on there skimming off all the VAT they shouldn't be taking, and not forwarding it to the people they should be giving it to, if they were to be taking it in the first place. How much of this goes unnoticed by people who don't know any different.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

That sounds like a nice little racket Ebay has going on there skimming off all the VAT they shouldn't be taking, and not forwarding it to the people they should be giving it to, if they were to be taking it in the first place. How much of this goes unnoticed by people who don't know any different.

ebay submits taxes to the tax department of the nation where the sale transaction occurred. The should not have applied the VAT but they're not scamming anyone they're enforcing national tax codes of the EU, Canada, the UK and most others.

the tax codes allow exemptions for small volume sellers, but ebay says it costs too much to bother so they tax every transaction and send it to the governments of the nation where the sale occurred. Don't use a marketplace facilitator that actually handles the financial transaction if you want to assure the vendor can ensure that taxes are handled properly.

I'll note that from the days I used to use ebay 10-15 years ago to now, the sellers have gone from mostly individuals to mostly small businesses engaged in commercial enterprises. Many were found not to be paying applicable sales taxes causing the introduction of laws to apply to online marketplaces.

Now, non-applicable tax collection is another matter. Who is lying about who is getting these dollars that should not have been collected. Who faces the greater risk of fraud charges? Maybe we need to investigate

 

[rodm1]

Aliexpress charges tax to..

 

[PeterT]

I ran out of time to check, is the Ebay collection only on new items, like from a store, or any merch including used?

 

[Tecnico]

I realize that this doesn't help most that deal with ebay vendors but for @Mcgyver, dealing with RDG, there is the option to deal with them directly and deny ebay their due cut PLUS any tax/charges they may see fit to tack on. I don't think ebay does you any favors on shipping either.

I did an order with RDG recently and was entirely satisfied with their service including provision of data so I could self clear the package. Package was shipped by DHL.

I used to like dealing with private parties through ebay but it has turned into another, more expensive animal, almost like they're trying to compete with Amazon. It used to be that you paid the (private) seller directly without ebay getting involved and taking their cut.

I don't know what can be done about the VAT charge but I'd be inclined to make some waves and see what comes of it. Export sales are supposed to be VAT exempt.

D

 

[Tecnico]

Aliexpress charges tax to..

In my experience AliEx is a bit sly, for bigger things like the DRO scales I bought they ship by FedEx and charge all the taxes etc. but for smaller things they slide under the radar, even marking things as a gift(!). (Crossing fingers) I haven't been hit with taxes yet.

Maybe it's part of the sweetheart deal they have with Canada Post for shipping costs?

D