Seller refused to revise billing address on invoice

[nmelc]

HI guys,

I've bought an item and got an invoice for it. However on the invoice they have put the same address (which I provided at check out) for both billing and delivery address. I now need to correct the billing address for my tax purpose and the seller keeps refusing. He advised that the invoice is locked with Ebay and Paypal and there is no way he can revise. I just want to find out if this is correct or if there is anyway he can do it?

thanks,

[joxamara]

I don't get the issue - a tax invoice for tax refund purposes only has to show the seller/supplier's details on it anyway.  Otherwise we wouldn't be able to claim items purchased from department stores, Australia Post for example - anywhere that we would normally recieve a bsic checkout reciept.  Or am I missing something and doing my record keeping all wrong?

[lyndal1838]

No, you are not missing anything in the general sense joxamara.

If it is a general receipt from a store checkout you are pretty safe as long as you can show that the purchase was for goods that are used in your business.

However, if it is a very expensive item it is better (and safer) to have a receipt made out to the business although thereare ways around it.

My OH and I have a small business and we buy some items such as printer ink and car wash from department stores and supermarkets with cash or business debit card.  There is nothing on the till receipt to say who has bought it or the business it was bought for but we have never had a problem with the ATO.

However, I also pay a regular quarterly bill for the business.  Unless I decide to send a cheque or use b-pay I have to use a credit card as they will not accept the debit card attached to the business account.  In a very convoluted transaction I have to transfer the money from the business account to my credit card and then pay the bill.  I have to have receipts for every step of the transaction.

I am sure there must be a simpler way but that is what I was told to do by the ATO.

[nmelc]

I'm not trying to cheat ATO, this is for genuine purpose. And technically, they should be able to change the details as if customer has made a mistake by providing wrong details? And yes for any high valued item, you can always ask sellers/ retailers to have your details printed on the receipt.

Anyway, still can't get any helpful reply from seller so I guess I just have to work with what I got.

Thanks all for your comments.

[digital*ghost]

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@nmelc wrote:

 And technically, they should be able to change the details as if customer has made a mistake by providing wrong details? And yes for any high valued item, you can always ask sellers/ retailers to have your details printed on the receipt.

Anyway, still can't get any helpful reply from seller so I guess I just have to work with what I got.

Thanks all for your comments.

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Some businesses will allow a buyer to make changes to order details after purchase, some will not. These kinds of details can actually be important, not just for record-keeping, but billing and delivery addresses are some of the things used / cross-referenced when things like a credit card is used to make a payment online (for verification purposes). These will automatically create a record, and as I said before, changing the details of that record may present problems for the seller.

What I'm trying to say is that just because something is possible, it doesn't mean it's advisable, or even safe, for a seller to do, depending on the terms and conditions of the payment processing services used. At this stage, I only use PayPal, but if a larger volume seller uses various platforms and payment processors, it's likely they have to develop very specific practices that are compliant with all of them. 

The other thing is, using different details than what's on the seller's official (and, on eBay, unchangeable) records, will mean your records will differ from theirs, which also has the potential to cause problems. It's just one of the reasons why I really don't like it when a buyer messages afterwards asking to change the delivery address. PayPal and eBay T&Cs aside, it means I have to create additional and independent records of the details, which also means when I look up the order details, there's not really anything to indicate or show an update to them, which is a problem if something has gone wrong with the order and I don't remember the details were manually altered. 

[lyndal1838]

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@nmelc wrote:

I'm not trying to cheat ATO, this is for genuine purpose. And technically, they should be able to change the details as if customer has made a mistake by providing wrong details? And yes for any high valued item, you can always ask sellers/ retailers to have your details printed on the receipt.

Anyway, still can't get any helpful reply from seller so I guess I just have to work with what I got.

Thanks all for your comments.

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There is no suggestion that you are trying to cheat the ATO.

All I have tried to do is suggest ways around your problem that will satisfy the ATO's record keeping requirements.

You don't need replies from ebay sellers specifically....you need advice from small business owners as to how they would handle your problem.

If you are so paranoid that the ATO will not accept that as the business owner the goods are for use in your business rather than for personal use, then sign a Statutory Declaration and keep it with the original receipt.   Unless you are actually audited no-one will ever be any the wiser.

If the goods were paid for from private funds rather than your business account you can do as I have already suggested...transfer the exact amount of the payment from your business account to your private account and keep a record of the transfer with the paperwork in your business records along with a copy of the money coming from your personal account and being paid to the seller.