How is Ebay calculating the GST on purchases sent to Australia?

[camicat1]

I have noticed    that the amount being added to purchases   for "import charges" is  far more than the 10% GST now levied on items sold into Australia 

Here are  just two  examples I encountered tonight. In both cases the "GST"   or "Import Charges" is far more than the    legal rate of 10%. How is this being calculated and who is getting the additional money?

Item (1) US $42.99 Postage US $23.50 GST US $6.65

Order total US $73.14

Items (5) US $112.75 Postage US $31.16 Import charges US $19.67

Order total US $163.58

[camicat1]

I just did a random check of  some  private sellers not using  Pitney Bowes and all are adding far more than the 10% GST. The  amounts vary from 15-19% of the price of the goods, not the required 10%. The explanation given  as information is that the Australian Government charges 10%. No explanation is given for the extra.

There is nothing more to be gained from pursuing this topic here. I will need to contact eBay

[countessalmirena]

Are you including the cost of shipping in your calculations?

The GST is to be charged on the item price + shipping/postage price.

[camicat1]

Yes of course I have- I checked the ATO website to see what should be charged before I first posted here.  Some of the amounts are correct, many are not, and it is not just Pitney Bowes at fault . I notice there are now several other threads raising this issue

As I noted  above there is not much point in pursuing this here. I will have to approach eBay for some asnwers as to how they are applying the new rules to their sellers.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@camicat1 wrote:

I just did a random check of  some  private sellers not using  Pitney Bowes and all are adding far more than the 10% GST. The  amounts vary from 15-19% of the price of the goods, not the required 10%. The explanation given  as information is that the Australian Government charges 10%. No explanation is given for the extra.

There is nothing more to be gained from pursuing this topic here. I will need to contact eBay

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if you are buying from private sellers on eBay they should not be adding GST to their items as it is eBay who will collect the GST, nothing to do with eBay sellers unless, as some members have posted, eBay defer to Pitney Bowes for GST collection on GSP items.

[brerrabbit585]

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@camicat1 wrote:

I have noticed    that the amount being added to purchases   for "import charges" is  far more than the 10% GST now levied on items sold into Australia 

Here are  just two  examples I encountered tonight. In both cases the "GST"   or "Import Charges" is far more than the    legal rate of 10%. How is this being calculated and who is getting the additional money?

Item (1) US $42.99 Postage US $23.50 GST US $6.65

Order total US $73.14

Items (5) US $112.75 Postage US $31.16 Import charges US $19.67

Order total US $163.58

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You're still insisting that sellers are charging you more than 10% but it's not the sellers charging anything, it's ebay who calculates the GST when you go through checkout.  Your first example above is charging GST correctly, yet you insist it's more than 10%.  

42.99 + 23.50 = $66.49 US.  10% of $66.49 = $6.65 US, exactly as they've charged it.  If you've got this wrong, I suggest you're probably calculating all the others wrong as well, except the items being posted through the GSP.  Nobody knows what Pitney Bowes is charging for or whether they can do it legally, so chase that up with the ATO but do your sums properly on the others before you waste their time.

[chezshed]

Paypal are collecting the gst and pitney bowes another ebay co are double dipping by the looks

[chezshed]

Obvious answer buy nothing that is shipped via pitney bowes... it was always ridiculously expensive and now this blatant rip off needs answering

[davewil1964]

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@chezshed wrote:
Paypal are collecting the gst and pitney bowes another ebay co are double dipping by the looks

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Paypal are collecting the GST on behalf of eBay and it goes into a separate account for remittance to the ATO.

Pitney Bowes is a global logistics company established in 1920 (it took me 30 seconds to check that) who subcontract to eBay for postage from the USA for eBay's Global Shipping Program.

PB do, indeed, charge for their services and charge GST on the admin costs as well as the service.

Easy answer - don't buy from sellers who use the GSP. You might find your options are limited (or nonexistant) but, hey, you won't get ripped off.

[simon_bax]

I'm sure it's legit but why include the shipping cost when calculating GST? Seems like a rort.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@simon_bax wrote:
I'm sure it's legit but why include the shipping cost when calculating GST? Seems like a rort.

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the simple answer is that shipping cost is a service, and it makes collection of GST easier if it is applied to the transaction total.

Having shipping free of GST would encourage avoidance by Aussie buyers asking sellers to drop the item price and increase the shipping by the same amount. E.G. a US$150 item with US$30 shipping might become a US$10 item with US$170 shipping .

You might think this example I have given is not likely to happen, but we all know how much Aussies love paying tax!