topic Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items? in Buying

Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

netscrounger — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 06:15:28 GMT

The Australian government imposed GST charges on online sales to protect "Brick and mortar" businesses, I get that, but why an I expected to pay an extra $30 on a set of obsolete used motorcycle carbs that I'm buying from a private seller in the US? What a scam! Cancel my bid thanks!

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

gutterpunkz05 — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 06:55:00 GMT

Dont blame ebay, GST is applicable on used goods, even in Australia. Note when purchasing via ebay, the Government does not care if it is a commercial or private sale, as they have made the platform providers responsible for the GST. Not individual sellers.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

imastawka — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 07:05:31 GMT

No-one here can cancel your bid.

We are just members like yourself.

Ebay does not read here

Ask the seller to cancel through the item in your purchase history,

but don't be surprised if they won't.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

kopenhagen5 — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 07:44:52 GMT

It's the import tax that has always been there for items including shipping over $1000, now it applies to items under $1000.

You could say we have been getting away with not paying the tax for 18 years.

If you bought the same second hand items in Aus you wouldn't be charged the tax as it's an import tax.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

maranock — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 07:52:29 GMT

Why do so many people think that GST doesn't apply to used items?

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

joztamps — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 07:55:29 GMT

@maranock wrote:
Why do so many people think that GST doesn't apply to used items?

Probably because that was one of the exclusions mooted in the political horse-trading that went on at the time of its introduction.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

maranock — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 07:58:19 GMT

That was 18 years ago and as far as I know second hand goods were never actually exempted. After all this time people should know that GST is applied.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

joztamps — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 07:59:55 GMT

People should know lots of things.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 08:01:56 GMT

And why do some think postage is not a service?

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

romali1960 — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 08:09:27 GMT

Perhaps a more pertinent question is why is GST bein charged on te total cost of the item putchased and the cost of shipping and handling? The EBay site which explains Buying also contains a list of GST exept items which lists "international mail" as exempt. Since shipping and handling is frequently just postage is is right to charge GST on postage?

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

joztamps — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 08:17:48 GMT

The exemption you mention is for "international mail" from Australia to overseas.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

davidc4430 — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 11:34:52 GMT

@romali1960 wrote:
Perhaps a more pertinent question is why is GST bein charged on te total cost of the item putchased and the cost of shipping and handling? The EBay site which explains Buying also contains a list of GST exept items which lists "international mail" as exempt. Since shipping and handling is frequently just postage is is right to charge GST on postage?

think about federal elections, remember all the spending promises?

now your know one of the ways the govt pays for the trinkets they give us.

take it from one hand give a little back with the other.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

khulu74 — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 20:58:16 GMT

Australian lib. politicians are stupid enough and out of mind imo.There is not a single government in the developed countries that gives private companies such a privilege to collect gst/vat from its members for the government. It is absurd. Tax / duties collected by government agencies (in some countries by Post offices, in some countries by governments taxation offices) This system is open to Scam government. On top of that where is the tax exceptions ? UK has it up to £35, Germany has it up to €45, France has it, USA has it. EU countries have it. Their citizens don’t pay Import taxes to ebay or any other private company. If the CN 22/23 shows the declared goods under the bracket (without postage costs) they are free from tax&duties. I can’t belive people still defending this lib governments nonsense unfair online gst thing without looking other countries procedures & practices.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

k1ooo-slr-sales — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 08:57:53 GMT

@khulu74 wrote:
Australian lib. politicians are stupid enough and out of mind imo.There is not a single government in the developed countries that gives private companies such a privilege to collect gst/vat from its members for the government. It is absurd. Tax / duties collected by government agencies (in some countries by Post offices, in some countries by governments taxation offices) This system is open to Scam government. On top of that where is the tax exceptions ? UK has it up to £35, Germany has it up to €45, France has it, USA has it. EU countries have it. Their citizens don’t pay Import taxes to ebay or any other private company. If the CN 22/23 shows the declared goods under the bracket (without postage costs) they are free from tax&duties. I can’t belive people still defending this lib governments nonsense unfair online gst thing without looking other countries procedures & practices.

not defending anyone here, just posting my opinion about thresholds (what you called exceptions), and eBay collecting the GST.

If the GST was collected/payable through Customs or the delivery service, then thresholds would encourage buyers to ask sellers to falsify the customs declaration, either in true value and/or nominating the item as a 'gift'. Having eBay collect the GST eliminates the opportunity for tax avoidance through falsified documents.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

khulu74 — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 10:22:27 GMT

yes i am asking this, where is the threshold?! These custom exemptions is in every country but Australia now. Even in third world countries governments give their citizens their residents rights to buy goods from overseas without paying any taxes. There shold be like up to $30 or $50 threshold for Astralians .. ebay, amazon or any online platform can calculate these gst over $30-$50 but no this lunatic liberal government took our freedom to buy online. If you think a small man can declare their online overseas purchases falsely in custom forms if this your concern i am sure these global companies can have more tricks for scamming our government. 🤣

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

k1ooo-slr-sales — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 11:15:23 GMT

@khulu

there will be no threshold in Australia.

Nobody has removed anybody's freedom to buy online.

If you are going to make a case against the GST on low-cost imports you need to stop making outrageous statements and stick to facts.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

digital*ghost — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 11:55:36 GMT

@khulu74 wrote:
yes i am asking this, where is the threshold?! These custom exemptions is in every country but Australia now.

To get the answer you're looking for, the question isn't why doesn't Aus have a threshold, but why do the other countries?

The answer is (kind of) two-part.

Part A - in other countries, the cost of the collection method used outweighs the revenue gained by taxing low-value items. If someone buys a $5 item, how many governments would spend several dollars to get ~50c in revenue? Most countries have a collection system where they spend funds and resources to collect taxes and duties before the buyer can take delivery - in the UK, where they have one of the lower thresholds (£15) the buyer has to pay a £9 fee on top of the VAT in order to cover the costs of collection. Thank goodness we didn't get that kind of system (GSP services not withstanding, I guess).

Australia decided to implement the vendor-collects model, which eliminated that problem and meant they (and in turn also means we) don't shell out large adminitration fees for every package processed and received from overseas - businesses who are collecting GST are likely to incur costs and add them into their pricing one way or another, but I doubt it would be anywhere near what we would have been charged per package if they had gone with the collection at the border method with a lowered threshold. They worked out it was not worth the costs to collect GST that way on packages valued under $1000 - think about that for a moment. A package valued at $900 would mean $90 in GST, but it wasn't worth the resources to collect it? It's probably part-testimony to inefficiency of current methods, and part-testimony to the high costs. Other countries have thresholds for these kind of reasons, not because they are granting "rights" to their citizens (it's not like there's a threshold on local goods before GST, or VAT, or sales tax applies).

Part B - There are actually other countries that have imnplemented $0 thresholds on imports. I am willing to bet if more countries adopt the same collection method Australia has, those thresholds would quickly disappear. All EU countries have a vendor-collects model for digital items and services, with a 0 threshold, and there are now at least two US states paying sales tax on every online purchase, from anywhere in the world, with 0 threshold.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

brerrabbit585 — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 13:25:21 GMT

There are some countries where private citizens aren't allowed to buy ANYTHING from overseas so please get your facts right before you start making claims about what other governments do.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

c_mount — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 14:56:52 GMT

Legally it shouldn't be! Tax was already paid when those items were originally purchased.

Re: Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

khulu74 — Mon, 23 Jul 2018 16:25:19 GMT

Yes some third world countries citizens aren’t allowed to buy anything from outside their countries like north korea 🤣🤣 yeah my facts 🤣🤣🤣