Incorrect total being shown on Australian Tax Invoices (on imported goods)

[therealkelshy]

Hi All,

Recently I've been purchasing some items from outside of Australia, for my business, and paying by credit card as per my usual process for eBay. Upon attempting to reconcile my bank statements it's become evident that the eBay "Tax Invoices" do not reflect the actual total amount charged to my card. 

Details from the bank:

 

Details from the "Tax Invoice":

The correct total amount is available on the "Order details" page, on the right-hand side under the heading "Payment info":

Why can't this information be used to generate an accurate Tax Invoice document?

The eBay CS team say that it's all hidden 'currency exchange fees' charged separate and totally independent of eBay. I call bull**bleep**, if that was the case, why is the actual total and an accurate conversion factor available to eBay to display as per above?

[gutterpunkz05]

The eBay CS team say that it's all hidden 'currency exchange fees' charged separate and totally independent of eBay. I call bull**bleep**, if that was the case, why is the actual total and an accurate conversion factor available to eBay to display as per above?

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You can call bull bleep as much as you like, but CS is correct,  what you are looking at is the exchange rate only, on top of that banks charge international transaction fees.  Paypal does not charge international transaction fees, which is reflected in there conversion rate, compared to banks.

[therealkelshy]

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@gutterpunkz05 wrote:

You can call bull bleep as much as you like, but CS is correct,  what you are looking at is the exchange rate only, on top of that banks charge international transaction fees.  Paypal does not charge international transaction fees, which is reflected in there conversion rate, compared to banks.

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If that's the case why do the total in the Payment info section and the transaction amount from my bank statement match then?

[sandypebbles]

Why not pay an accountant to tell you what you want to hear?

You don't want to believe eBay cs or other members 

[therealkelshy]

My accountant tells me that Tax Invoices are usually accurate and that I need to sort out the discrepancy with the supplier before reconciling my transactions (as they do not match the documentation i.e. the "Tax Invoice" provided by eBay).

[sugar249]

Unless you are audited the tax dept wont even know about the slight difference,   and they will understand how the real world operates as the others have already mentioned.

Obviously you need a new accountant who understands the real world, and international exchange rate variations.

Last time I checked the ATO penalty for a $5 discrepancy was one year and 5 days in jail. 

[therealkelshy]

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@gutterpunkz05 wrote:

You can call bull bleep as much as you like, but CS is correct,  what you are looking at is the exchange rate only, on top of that banks charge international transaction fees.  Paypal does not charge international transaction fees, which is reflected in there conversion rate, compared to banks.

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As a more comprehensive reply to this; 1) the bank may charge an international transaction fee, but that is not included in the transaction total amount. Bank fees are charged monthly at the end of each calendar month in a separate transaction. 2) Yes, the exchange rate is clearly printed in the information box under the "Payment info" heading. The "Tax Invoice" was generated with a different exchange rate than the one that was applied to the payment. This is why the "Tax Invoice" shows an incorrect amount (97.81) in AUD. You can verify this buy multiplying the correct total amount in AUD (102.26) by the exchange rate (0.64423) to obtain the total in USD (65.88).

To fix the issue, they could either leave the Tax Invoice entirely in USD and print the final exchange rate on it - from 'Payment info' (leaving the end-user to calculate the conversion) or calculate out the actual amounts in AUD using the correct rate.

Like I ask in my original post, all the information is there to create an accurate Tax Invoice, why would they intentionally supply something that's not accurate?

[gutterpunkz05]

So you have an exchange rate of  (0.64423) as applied by Visa by the looks of it.  at the same time, what was the official RBA exchange rate, in a lot of cases as with paypal fees are incorporated into the exchange rate.

You can contact your bank for verification,  but yes  visa does have mark up built into their conversion rates, IE: hidden fees.

Current rate via  Visa  0.684215

Current rate via RBA  0.6615

[therealkelshy]

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@gutterpunkz05 wrote:

So you have an exchange rate of  (0.64423) as applied by Visa by the looks of it.  at the same time, what was the official RBA exchange rate, in a lot of cases as with paypal fees are incorporated into the exchange rate.

You can contact your bank for verification,  but yes  visa does have mark up built into their conversion rates, IE: hidden fees.

Current rate via  Visa  0.684215

Current rate via RBA  0.6615

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I really don't think this is an accurate representation of what's happening in this case, and my reasoning is this: during the checkout process I selected to have my card charged in AUD, not USD. This is reflected in the bank transaction information where it states the card was charged in AUD (the last line of the reference field). Therefore eBay was dictating what the exchange rate is (and they may have added a little bit more in - and that's ok), my objection remains why this isn't documented correctly on the tax invoice.

The cynic in me suspects that it might be a tax minimisation "technique", the optimist - just some kind of technical oversight.

For clarity, this is what you see in the checkout:

[davewil1964]

Here's a hint.

As already mentioned, talk to your accountant.

If you don't have one, get one. I'm sure the fees will be more than offset by the savings you will make. Haha.

You are not going to get free tax advice from unpaid members of eBay.

Stop flogging a dead horse.

There's three hints. Two hint bonus.