topic Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage in Buying

EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

ambler57 — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 01:40:39 GMT

Be aware ebay is wrongfully charging 10% GST on the postage cost at checkout when buying from an international seller when buying on ebay Australia.GST should only apply to the item and NOT the postage costs

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

brerrabbit585 — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 01:46:13 GMT

When GST has been charged on consignments worth over $1,000 it's always been charged on item price + postage. The only thing that's changed is that it's not limited to items/consignments worth over $1,000.

GST = Goods & Services Tax. Postage is a service. It's also part of the total cost to get the goods to you.

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

lyndal1838 — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 02:20:54 GMT

Ebay is not wrong.....the GST applies to item and postage.

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

ambler57 — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 02:28:29 GMT

I have just spoken to customer service & they agreed GST is applied to the item cost and should not apply to the postage cost from international sellers and have offered a refund ......so who knows who is right

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 02:37:06 GMT

It's not customer service

GST = Goods and service tax

Postage is a service

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

lyndal1838 — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 02:40:15 GMT

@ambler57 wrote:
I have just spoken to customer service & they agreed GST is applied to the item cost and should not apply to the postage cost from international sellers and have offered a refund ......so who knows who is right

Do you really think that Customer Service in another country is going to have a clue about the GST in Australia?

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

clover0007 — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 03:19:34 GMT

hi sorry for my ignorance but i have just started selling on ebay after a break away from it and dont understand the gst component at all. if i sell a book for say $10 do i get charged a 9.9% ebay fee and then an additional 10% gst on top of that.

@lyndal1838 wrote:
@ambler57 wrote:
I have just spoken to customer service & they agreed GST is applied to the item cost and should not apply to the postage cost from international sellers and have offered a refund ......so who knows who is right
Do you really think that Customer Service in another country is going to have a clue about the GST in Australia?

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

kopenhagen5 — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 03:52:27 GMT

If you sell a book at 10 plus 3 postage you will be charged fees of 10.9% on 13.

That includes the Netflix tax (GST) on fees only.

The recent GST on imports under 1000 is if you are selling into Aus from overseas.

And that is invoiced as an additional 10% by eBay to the buyer.

(Unless an agent is used such as the GSP)

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

brerrabbit585 — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 06:41:47 GMT

From this ATO webpage: https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/International-tax-for-business/GST-on-low-value-imported-goods/Information-for-consumers/

Using an electronic distribution platform (EDP)

An EDP is a service (such as a website) through which you can buy goods from various merchants. The EDP operator will generally charge GST on:

low value goods you import
delivery costs and other fees.

NOTE THE LAST LINE!!

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

lyndal1838 — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 07:14:03 GMT

It is one thing to charge the GST on the superinflated GSP shipping charge, but IMO it is offensive to charge another fee to do so.

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

brerrabbit585 — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 09:11:42 GMT

My point in this case was to show that GST is charged on the postage, not just the item cost as the OP said.

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

snags-shark-teeth — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 23:57:18 GMT

GST is not ebays fault it is the aust government who want it. Technically speaking GST can be applied to anything as it is a goods and services tax, postage is a service. GST is unfair to the people but there is nothing any of us can do it about it.
Make more money is your only answer.

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

bidder_57 — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 14:08:09 GMT

I don't think it's fair to charge gst here whilst VAT is charged ove in England so the government is getting tax for something that we also pay tax to the seller. Not right!! Also Vat and tax is payed on overseas stuff too which is included in the prices we pay, so we pay tax here for nothing provided here. The only tax we should be paying to the Australian government is for the money made here in Australia. And the only tax we should be paying is for the fee charged by ebay for providing the service which we pay too. And that's only for selling which we already pay. Ebay does not charge buyers for buying. It is free to buy. Australian government getting money for no reason other than coruption and greed. Just a money grab. Think about it people.

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

lyndal1838 — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 14:12:50 GMT

You have certainly shown that you do not understand the GST at all.

The BUYER pays the GST, not the seller and it is paid to ebay not to the seller. Ebay remits it to the ATO.

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

bidder_57 — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 14:48:44 GMT

Lol. I understand it very well. Better than you do. lol.
The sellers here are charged a fee by ebay which includes GST that goes to the government. The services like postage and couriers here in Australia charge GST HERE. If the seller is a business or sells enough (And is required to pay GST for their good and services) then they (should) pay GST HERE because they charge the GST HERE in Australia. Australian GST is for goods and services provided HERE. It is charged by providers HERE and passed onto the government HERE.
If we buy something from overseas, guess what? those providers, seller or postal services charge an amount which is included in the amount we pay from here then that goes to their governments through their tax system because that's where the money is earned and the goods and services are provided from and TAXED. We as buyers PAY that. No Australian provides goods and or services other than ebay and the sellers and postage/couriers providing the goods and services here within Australia which ALL (other than the personal sellers) include GST.
Read a book. All governments tax offices love ignorant people.
We should only be paying taxes on what it provided by Australian business'.
If the government wants to charge import duty then that's a different story. But they should still not be able to tax us on delivery if the service is provided by companies overseas.
Again the government is simply charging a tax that it has no involvement with and fooling stupid people.
If they want to collect money for things they have nothing to do with then call it for what it is. Corruption, theft, graft or a toll or duty. It's NOT GST because the goods and services are not in Australia. The ATO needs to rethink this. And they will because this government does believe in taxes at any cost. They'll rename it.
An investigative journo should look at it.

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

gutterpunkz05 — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 15:15:38 GMT

you do not understand it at all. It is allright to be cranky about it, in fact I do not think you will find too many that are happy about it.

But the fact remains that GST and import fees, now applies on Low value imports and shipping costs, the same as it has always done on imports over $1000 By the way, when you import something from overseas. you are not required to pay VAT Etc

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

padi*0409 — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 23:46:37 GMT

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

bidder_57 — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 02:27:07 GMT

so if someone sells something in the UK to someone overseas they don't pay any taxes on that income? wow.

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

bidder_57 — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 03:00:54 GMT

Ooop took too long to edit.
It is the same as Import Duty.

GST should only charged for g/s originating here in Australia.

Vat comes out of what we pay to UK merchants.

They should call it for what it is, an import duty.

And it only really goes to point out how much of a grab it is and been for all these years to importers. Charging money on things that do not originate from here in Australia.

I don't have a problem paying GST for g/s here in Aus but being charged for by Australia for a service that is provided in another country is not right. It might be the law but still not right. (They need to look at the waste and corruption here in Australia before taxing/penalising(?) people on services that are provided by business' in other countries. It's like sitting in a tavern you don't own and charging people for walking in or out of a door. Or the crusaders charging protection money to the pilgrims (in many cases from the crusaders themselves if they did not pay. lol)

Re: EBAY is wrongly charging GST ON postage,GST only applies to the item price and not postage

gutterpunkz05 — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 06:42:02 GMT

@bidder_57 wrote:
so if someone sells something in the UK to someone overseas they don't pay any taxes on that income? wow.

Learn how importing and exporting works. If I sell something to England, it is sold GST Exempt. As the English buyer is not required to PAY GST in Australia.

If I buy from a person in England, it is sold to me VAT Exempt, as I am Not required to pay VAT or any other taxes in England.

Now due to recent changes to low value imports into Australia, which brings low value imports into line with those exceeding $1000.

If I buy something from the same seller in England, via ebay, I still do not pay VAT in England, but ebay are now required to add

GST to my total import, IE: Item + shipping and I may also be charged additional import fees.

If I sell an item to the same buyer in England, there is no change and the item is still sold GST exempt, as the buyer is still not

required to pay GST in Australia.

Now, If buyiing direct from international sellers, that is not via ebay, If that seller exports more than $75,000 of goods to Australia per annum, they are required to be registered for GST with the ATO (As if they were Aussie Company) and they are now required to add the GST to any items + shipping that are to be imported to Australia.

I have allready been advised by a number of International companies, from which I import direct, that they are now required to add GST to my orders, where as in the past my orders have been exempt from International VAT/GST style taxes, and only subject

to GST and import fees at point of entry, if they exceeded $1000