Why is Ebay charging GST on used items?

[netscrounger]

The Australian government imposed GST charges on online sales to protect "Brick and mortar" businesses, I get that, but why an I expected to pay an extra $30 on a set of obsolete used motorcycle carbs that I'm buying from a private seller in the US? What a scam! Cancel my bid thanks!

[khulu74]

+ i wouldn’t be surprised if the government put + scanning tax on every package enters Australia..oh maybe these + package scanning tax can be collected by online vendors again..this would brilliant!! gst on low value + scanning tax ..yeah i see some people here happily accept this great idea as well..🤣🤣 Those people who accepted ebay’s fvf on postage on this forum now accepting here the gst on low value item, im sure they ll accept package scanning fee as well & try to shut up others who s speaking against these unnecessary taxes. 

[maranock]

There is no choice but to accept these things, what do you expect people here to do about it? That does not mean we like everything that is foisted upon us.

The general public has no real say on government policies, unless there is enough people who are willing to protest on the streets there is nothing that we can do. Ebay policies are the business of the company and small timers like you and me will not be listened to. Like any business they do things that will gain them the greatst profit, and they will have considered every impact on their business model.

[digital*ghost]

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@khulu74 wrote:

+ i wouldn’t be surprised if the government put + scanning tax on every package enters Australia..oh maybe these + package scanning tax can be collected by online vendors again..this would brilliant!! gst on low value + scanning tax ..yeah i see some people here happily accept this great idea as well..🤣🤣 Those people who accepted ebay’s fvf on postage on this forum now accepting here the gst on low value item, im sure they ll accept package scanning fee as well & try to shut up others who s speaking against these unnecessary taxes. 

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I won't speak for anyone else, but I don't care one way or another if people speak against the tax here, or anywhere else. I can't see anyone else trying to shut people up about it, I just see a lot of people angry about it, coming to the forum to rant about Gerry Harvey, the government, other countries' tax systems, and how unfair it all is, primarily sans facts, rationale and respect for anyone else who provides a reasoned counter-point in response. 

This scenario has occurred countless times, on countless topics, and it's ridiculous. 

"OMG, new tax, now I have to pay more, so unfair - [insert random thing that has nothing to do with tax in Australia in an attempt to show how horrible the new tax is]"

"That random thing isn't actually correct, and / or here's some of the reasons why things are different in Australia; and yeah, no one loves paying more for stuff, but this tax has been in the works for years - the time to protest it was years ago"

"**bleep** are you some kind of government stooge? You must love paying tax if you don't agree with my incorrect facts and have the same outrage I do. Quit trying to shut my voice down - freedom of speech!!!!"

But hey, gather the protestors in the forum - there's literally dozens of you, I'm sure - continue to rant and rave, don't actually pay any attention to what anyone else says unless they take on the exact same stance as you, don't discuss or debate facts / opinions in a rational way. To really get in the zone, just hurl insults at anyone who doesn't fall in line and believe / say the same things you do (calling them "sheep" seems to be an ironic favourite), and ride that high all the way to parliment to change the laws, because that's clearly the most productive way to get things done. 

🙄

[brerrabbit585]

Love it!! Spot on!!

@ khulu, North Korea isn't the only country that doesn't allow imports from private citizens. I'm in a craft group on facebook where people from several countries say they can't buy certain things in their country at all and can't buy from overseas, and other countries where they have to pay exorbitant prices in their own country because they're not allowed to use their credit cards to buy from outside the country. Greece is one country, India is another, but they aren't the only ones.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

@brer

don't let the facts get in the way of a good story rant

[brerrabbit585]

And if you don't know the facts, just make them up as you go along.

If you say something often enough and loud enough you'll eventually believe it yourself, and if you believe it yourself you'll surely be able to convince a few others you know what you're talking about.

[khulu74]

Yes i know i lived in Europe in 3 different countries. Yes i know every county has its own restrictions in the world on some items if you import like narcotics, horse hair, playing cards, in some countries toys, borad games etc.  what am i saying is in Greece there is treshold up to €150 if you bring goods with you in to the country or if you buy from overseas if declared value on the avkage under €150 (excluding insurance and postage cost) you are free from tax.  Generally in most developed countries, governments give their citizens treshold, so our idiot liberal government killed this. Before it was under $1000 now $0.. + the idea of bringing in to private companies in to collectng tax online purchases then passing to the government is a huge mistake..

[lyndal1838]

How do you think the GST collection works if it is not collected by private companies and remitted to the ATO?

It has always been that way....why would you think it would be any different now?

[digital*ghost]

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@khulu74 wrote:

  Generally in most developed countries, governments give their citizens treshold, so our idiot liberal government killed this. 

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In most, but not all, so it's not really a relevant point (by which I mean the reverse could be used as a point just as easily as the way you've used it - eg other countries don't have a threshold, so why should Austalia?). Plus, it seems like you're still presuming other governments are providing this threshold out of some semblance of generosity, rather than because of the impracticalities of applying it to lower values with their current collection system. If you have sources to back that up, then cool. If not, then it's not a valid point. 

We still have the $1000 threshold on other duties that become payable on imports, at least. 

[khulu74]

Sorry but No, it hasnt been that way for overseas purchases till the government decided to change the tax collection way. I don’t remember any overseas private business or selling platform that collected tax from me and hold that money in their private accounts for Australian government and remitted to ATO..And i dont know any developed country gives such a permission to any overseas compan(y)ies to collect tax for their government. I lived in Germany and France their politicians are not that naive for god sake this system is open to abuse by the overseas companies. So, our government says approximately 4000 overseas online businesses registered for tax collection. Those companies are not Australian they are in overseas and Australian government has no ability to check real numbers of the sales/purchases. They can easily change the sale numbers, values.. there is tons of ways to avoid giving these collected monies to ATO. On top of it who monitors their online sales. +This will give some very good extra money to registered overseas companies before they pass collected tax sum to ATO. That’s why there is treshold in every country and most of the governments officers look to the declared value on the custom papers and custom tax collected by governments agencies .. 👍