GST on second hand goods, is this true?

[psrhlt]

Message from Ebay saying GST will be applicable to Ebay sales. Is this for new products only or both new and second hand?

[familyisall9]

PS  Oops... my error.

UPDATE:  eBay did not apply GST on top of the Final Value Fee.  I dug around and found the GST charge buried at the bottom of a Paypal receipt I received for a purchase I'd made from China that cost $9.65 (GST $0.97).

[imastawka]

But I did enjoy your previous post.

[ozmetalfan]

Yep. Just bought a 2nd hand book from uk... they slapped GST on it!
Thought it might only apply to NEW books or something crazy like that?!?

[imastawka]

It applies to all imports.

[ogrilp400]

just to show how much of a rip off this is, the item doesn't even have to come to Australia. I want to buy an item in England, for my bike in England. Because I am buying it here, I have to pay GST. Its an item that I wont even touch and I still have to pay GST from another country!

[warranyah]

If you change your delivery address to a UK address, no GST is applied. That is what I've found anyway when i have had ebay purchases delivered to my niece who lives in Cumbria.

[daysontheroad]

**bleep** EBay and the Australian Federal Government. I refuse to pay for the item. It's a 27 year old used car part that could be as dead as a door nail, and after committing to buy, I was then told there is a further US$62 GST payable. They can keep it, because I can buy a similar used part in Australia and not be charged any GST.

[daysontheroad]

And after looking on the ATO website, it still remains unclear what type of used goods purchased from overseas GST is payable on. This is absolute lunacy and robbery by EBay to be collecting GST and there is no means of establishing if EBay is passing on the alleged GST they are collecting to the government or are sending it back to Switzerland and keeping it for themselves. Next time you pay your seller fees, take note that eBay sends the payment to Switzerland, and everyone knows that that's the country known for Swiss bank accounts and tax evasion. I think that EBay are stealing the so called GST that they are charging on used overseas goods. Not only this, but they are also adding GST on the shipping cost of those items.

[daysontheroad]

I refuse to pay GST on used goods coming from overseas and will cancel any purchases that I made because at the time I clicked to buy the item, it never stated there was any GST payable. Only after, eBay demanded extra money be paid. How is it lawful that an item that is 27 years old from the Ukraine is taxable by the Australian government? Is there any life left in that item after it has been used in a vehicle that long? I'm a private buyer and not a business, and now these parasites are out to suck the last drop of blood out of their victims. I refuse to pay for the item. It's all theirs to keep. I don't mind paying GST on brand new goods, but not on things that might well be dead on arrival.

[lyndal1838]

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@daysontheroad wrote:
**bleep** EBay and the Australian Federal Government. I refuse to pay for the item. It's a 27 year old used car part that could be as dead as a door nail, and after committing to buy, I was then told there is a further US$62 GST payable. They can keep it, because I can buy a similar used part in Australia and not be charged any GST.

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Actually you will be charged GST on a second hand item bought in Australia if you buy it from a business or seller who is registered for GST.

ALL low value items (Under AU$1000) have GST pyable on them when they are imported whether new or used.

If you choose not to pay for your purchases the seller could open a NPB claim against you.