How eBay will collect the GST on items that are less than $1000 from overseas.

[go-tazz]

What it means on Ebay and how they will "do" it:

eBay is considered an Electronic Distribution Platform operator (EDP) under the new legislation, so eBay is responsible for collecting the GST on low value imports and paying it to the Australian Government.

From 1 July, eBay will add GST to a buyer’s total at checkout when:

• The item location is outside Australia
• The delivery address is inside Australia
• The order value is <=1,000 AUD

The buyer’s payment will then be split:

• The order value (item price + postage costs) will go directly to the seller as it does today.
• The GST portion will go to an eBay-owned PayPal account. eBay will then remit this GST directly to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Orders over $1,000 will not have GST collected by eBay. GST is already collected at the border from the importer and to eBay’s knowledge that is not changing.

Buyers:

Buyers will still see the prices set by sellers on search results and listing pages, but you might see 'GST may apply' on items located outside Australia.
At checkout, buyers will see an extra 10% GST added on eligible orders (if the order total is <=1,000 AUD, the item is located outside Australia, and the delivery address is inside Australia).

For Refunds:

If the buyer's purchase is refunded, they also get the GST back. The amount of GST refunded will be in proportion to the item price refund. For example, if a buyer receives a full refund, they get the entire GST back. If the buyer receives a 50% partial refund, they get 50% of the GST back.

GST will be refunded when the item refund is processed through eBay (returns, cancelled transaction, eMBG) or via PayPal (seller voluntary refund, PayPal claims).

Any refunds processed outside eBay’s systems are not eligible for a GST refund.

Sellers that lie about the item location:

We take item location misrepresentation seriously on eBay. As part of eBay’s Selling practices policy, we have deployed technology to prevent and detect violations across listings and transactions. Sellers found in violation of this policy are may be subject to listing removal, warnings, suspensions by eBay, and may be at risk of compliance action by the Australian Tax Office.

[porcelain_dolls_by_me]

"We take item location misrepresentation seriously on eBay."

And if you belive that do I have a deal for you!!!!!!

[davewil1964]

As has been mentioned elsewhere, if eBay start getting hit for GST from Chinese sellers misrepresenting location, they may indeed start policing it a bit more.

Nothing like the hip pocket nerve getting hit to sharpen the focus.

[imastawka]

From 1 July, eBay will add GST to a buyer’s total at checkout

Buyer pays GST.       GST goes into ebay's Paypal account to pay ATO.

What will ebay care if it's all automated?

Or where the heck the seller is?

Spoiler

 Please convince me otherwise......................

[davewil1964]

Because it will only apply to goods purchased from non Australian based sellers.

if, however, eBay start getting hit for foreign goods that eBay 'think' are in Australia, eBay might well start paying attention.

A big if, admittedly. It assumes the ATO has access to eBay's records (not that big a stretch) and that eBay will be honest.

[countessalmirena]

It's quite staggering how many corporate warlords are tumbling down lately to face the consequences of less-than-honest actions.

eBay is sure to be honest, and Pinocchio invented soufflé.