Import GST charge calculation based on pre-discount price, this doesn't seem right?

[foxfrontier]

Ebay seems to be charging GST based on the "pre-discounted price", for example I purchased an item..

Item Price: $10.38

I used a 5% discount voucher (coupon code), so effectviely $9.86 pre-tax

Credit card charges

1) 9.86 (paid to seller)

2) 1.04 (paid to ebay for "GST")

Total $10.90 charges

If I were to buy a 10.38 +10% GST item in any Australian store it would cost = $11.42

Then if I get a 5% discount it would = $10.85

Not $10.90.. so there is currently a 5 cent error in ebay's favour.

I'm not worried about my 5c of course, but multiply that by the whole of Australia and ebay is skimming a tidy profit there!!

For me the reason this is annoying though, is that I buy items for my business and because the tax is not adding up to 10%, my accounting package requires me to jump through hoops to reconcile it.

Fair enough it it were "correct", but I don't think ebay is correct in this calculation?

[*tippy*toes*]

---

@foxfrontier wrote:

---

@gutterpunkz05 wrote:

Now lets see ATO overrule ebays T&Cs, Not going to happen.

---

Wow some scarey comments raised in this thread.. seriously.. in this day and age multi-national companies can't just waltz in, set up shop and write their own rules that override the law of the land, if that were the case, do you really think eBay would be collecting GST in the first place!?

If you know anything about GST in Australia then you will know I've raised a pretty valid point about how eBay are communicating with the buyer. If the accountants & lawyers have made a slip up in the wording (doubtful, but, it's a very recent piece of legislation) then it could be costly!

For example, they clearly market these discounts as "percent off discounts" in a lot of places, including the T&C's for the offers themselves, go and check them out! - the fact eBay pay the seller the full amount is AFAIK never disclosed to the buyer, or hidden away in the fine print in the site T&C's, it's not on the tax invoice, or even the offer T&C's pages, where it should be as well.

Think about it, there is a sale with a seller, gst collected by ebay, and ebay chipping in part of the cost though a "voucher"... but hangon, if eBay isn't the seller, then why are they giving us a voucher/credit/whatever, have we actually conducted a transaction with eBay, the seller, PayPal, who do we have the relationship with? I think it's far from clear cut, whether eBay can just call this a voucher considering we aren't even transacting with them (rember the money goes direct to the seller).. but if they can, then maybe eBay can even claim an input tax credit on the voucher (discount) itself, just as a business would with a refund.

I do get it guys, it's just a thought experiment and it doesn't need to be re-explained by another "non-Australian expert" keyboard warrior.. we are transacting with eBay and it's being passed through to the seller less a voucher, but little (umm "legal") details like this really do matter and need to be included in an official document from eBay, say a "tax invoice". Sorry but ignorance or "anchient systems" won't cut it as an excuse. Yes I know it's probably all above board and they most likely have an ironclad ruling in the vault from the ATO.. but I would'nt write anything off until the ATO actually take a look into this case.. of course I'll keep you posted. 🙂

---

Just to give you the heads up, this is the AUSTRALIAN forums. Therefore, there are only one or 2 members out of thousands who aren't in AUSTRALIA. We are all AUSTRALIAN. No non-Australians that I know of here, have posted in this thread.

Time for the tin foil hats and foil house mods to be done me thinks.

[foxfrontier]

---

@*tippy*toes* wrote:

I think it's you that doesn't get it. You buy an item for $100. GST is $10. You buy an item for $100 and use a voucher for 10%. You pay $90 out of your pocket. You buy an item for $100 and have a voucher for 90% off. You pay $10. The GST is still $10 in all scenarios BECAUSE THE ITEM COST $100.

The voucher is irrelevant. It's all about the amount that was showing when you hit buy it now, or win an auction.

It really isn't that hard. I'm guessing that the ATO person agreed with you because in my scenario, you told them you paid $90 (or $10), not the listed price of $100. 

---

Hehe I'm glad you only work on a forum (at least I hope someone has paid you for the 7860+ comments you've racked up here) and don't have to understand and technically implement these kinds of systems in the real world.. glad you have such a strong grasp on how eBay has managed to structure this multi-national tax and discount scheme from all financial and legal perspectives.. or do you just assume whatever you want, trust that they got it right, screw the details and she'll be right mate! good on ya, lol 😜

[*tippy*toes*]

Why would I get paid for my comments? My 7000+ comments are nothing compared to others who have over 100,000. They dont get paid for there's either. I already have a very high paying job. I don't need handouts for comments on a message board.

I do have a strong grasp on the ebay and GST thing. So have the others who have replied to your comments. The difference is, you don't have a strong grasp, because you can't get it through your head that the GST is for the total listed price. NOT what you paid at checkout.

I think this thread will probably die pretty quickly now because everyone is sick of repeating themselves.

[padi*0409]

                                                    

[padi*0409]

---

@*tippy*toes* wrote:

I think this thread will probably die pretty quickly now because everyone is sick of repeating themselves.

---

"you can lead a horse to water" Tippy, ........................................

[foxfrontier]

---

@*tippy*toes* wrote:

Why would I get paid for my comments? My 7000+ comments are nothing compared to others who have over 100,000. They dont get paid for there's either. I already have a very high paying job. I don't need handouts for comments on a message board.

---

Oh, I do appologise for the personal attack (whoosh), lol, I just don't know why someone would spend their time writing over 7000 comments for eBay for free (or didn't you get that?)..I guess you like helping people, but.. you're not really helping here, ie. what you added was already discussed in detail 2 pages ago.

I'm just trying to get clarity (for all of us) maybe at a level you are not used to dealing with.. anyway.. I'll take my final answer from ATO, who didn't just write this off as flippantly as you and some other posters have.. but then, they only work there, what would they kow.. of course I was really sneaky about how I worded it (not really, that was just sarcasm). In fact I gave them a link to this thread (long before it got out of hand), so they will be glad to see so many experts have chimed in and done their work for them!!

And it sounds like eBay has nothing to worry about, so don't worry this forum will go on. 😜

[enigmabear]

Sorry, eBay neither read nor run this forum

Nobody here works for or 'protects' ebay nor is anyone paid to post here

eBay staff don't even know your comments are here (nor anyone else's) 

As for what ATO staff know, at the start, only what they are told and then they work from there

Anyway, good to know the ATO have nothing better to do than read this thread (hi ATO) and they won't close down the forum

Phew

[lyndal1838]

You keep carrying on about not getting a Tax Invoice fom ebay.

Have you done what I suggested any posts ago.....look at your paypal receipt.   It has everything you need for the ATO.

There is a record of the cost price f the item, any postage paid, the discount/voucher amount paid by ebay for you and ends with the total cost of the transaction paid to the seller.

Under that information is a statement of the GST included in the transaction.....10% of the TOTAL amount sent to the seller, regardless of where that money came from.

[foxfrontier]

---

@enigmabear wrote:

Sorry, eBay neither read nor run this forum

Nobody here works for or 'protects' ebay nor is anyone paid to post here

eBay staff don't even know your comments are here (nor anyone else's) 

As for what ATO staff know, at the start, only what they are told and then they work from there

Anyway, good to know the ATO have nothing better to do than read this thread (hi ATO) and they won't close down the forum

Phew

---

Forgive me for thinking that a domain like community.EBAY.com.au might have 1 or 2 eBay staff manning the boards.. I'm logged in here with my eBay account **bleep**.. lol, it's just as lax as the information they are providing to buyers and the way they throw around wording like "discount", coupon, voucher as they please.. I welcome the fine print covering all of this and an improvement to the communications being sent to Australian buyers..

Before the next person pipes up, yep I see the word "community" - but you do know eBay is responsible for things that get posted on it's domain by it's community? Or have you not been following what is happening to other sites that have been shut down because of the postings of their community.. yes I know, it's not the same thing, not the same country, wahtever, calm your farm! (they are responsible though)

If you want to be helpful to the ATO (and the rest of us here), can you please just point us to the wording in eBay's T&C's that actually explain the discount/voucher system, as it applies to the Australian low value GST imports system? I am yet to see anything resembling that whatsoever!!

And to pre-answer those who haven't understood the thread.. yes the T&C's cover regular sales and refunds (both are as expected), but I have seen nothing when it comes to how "discounts" are treated - I am interested in the "fine print" and whether this discount structure is even valid.. and I'm sure the ATO are too.

[enigmabear]

Then you would need to report the company that moderates this forum to the ATO, would'nt you

Be interesting to know if you told the ATO that you bought the item 'from ebay'

and that people 'being paid by ebay' to comment are saying such and such