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?

[marwi5023]

In fact a private citizen can sell millions of dollars of second hand goods without having to pay GST if they want.
Unless someone was privy to what they were doing and dobbed them in.
There are plenty of ways to interact with buyers of second hand stuff that don't require eBay.
Lyndel should quantify her statement just a little otherwise it is just a half truth.
The point of language is to make sure people know what you mean.
To make her statement true she needs to add the proviso that GST is payable on second hand goods when the seller is running a business that has a turnover above $75000.
Feel free to chastise me for being pedantic but a half statement isn't true.

[marwi5023]

Sorry, spelt Lyndal wrong. No offence meant

[lyndal1838]

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@marwi5023 wrote:
In fact a private citizen can sell millions of dollars of second hand goods without having to pay GST if they want.
Unless someone was privy to what they were doing and dobbed them in.
There are plenty of ways to interact with buyers of second hand stuff that don't require eBay.
Lyndel should quantify her statement just a little otherwise it is just a half truth.
The point of language is to make sure people know what you mean.
To make her statement true she needs to add the proviso that GST is payable on second hand goods when the seller is running a business that has a turnover above $75000.
Feel free to chastise me for being pedantic but a half statement isn't true.

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OK, point taken.  That also means that you expect everyone to qualify that GST is payable on new goods when the seller is turning over $75000 or more as well.

That qualification is a given really.

If you read the boards you will mostly find that my posts are in answer to members who are outraged that GST is being charged on any second hand goods....full stop!  My statements that second hand goods have always been included in the GST is simply a statement of fact without needing any qualification.

Private citizens can sell new goods also without paying GST but no-one seems to think it necessary to qualify all the GST regulations for that.

I would like to see anyone sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of second hand goods in a year without paying GST.....they would have trouble convincing the ATO they are not running a business.

[marwi5023]

It's very easy to sell many thousands of dollars of classic car parts without anybody but the purchaser knowing.
10 years ago I sold a massive collection of car parts for over a hundred thousand dollars in less than twelve months

[lyndal1838]

So you obviously did not declare it in your tax?

[marwi5023]

No, I've never declared anything to do with my hobbies as income. I paid tax on my hours working in my job.
I've had been buying cars and selling parts since I was seventeen

[lyndal1838]

You are still supposed to declare it even if it is not taxable.

[p4kvic]

have just brought a second hand telephone bell from france and ebay have added this so called gst of 10% to purchase price,GST on SECONDHAND goods **bleep**

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@psrhlt wrote:

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

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[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@marwi5023 wrote:
No, I've never declared anything to do with my hobbies as income. I paid tax on my hours working in my job.
I've had been buying cars and selling parts since I was seventeen

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if you were buying the cars to sell off the parts then the ATO would not consider that as a hobby.

You might think it's a hobby, your family might call it a hobby, but the ATO might think otherwise.

The ATO have a webpage "Online selling - hobby or business?" where they pose questions to help assess whether the activity was a hobby or a business for tax purposes.

One key point is that the ATO might consider a person's online, or offline, activity as a business even if the person does not register as a business.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Starting-your-own-business/In-detail/Online-selling---hobby-or-busin...

With data matching technology always on the improve the ATO will catch more and more "hobby sellers" regardless of the turnover threshold the ATO has on eBay members.

[chameleon54]

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@k1ooo-slr-sales wrote:

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@marwi5023 wrote:
No, I've never declared anything to do with my hobbies as income. I paid tax on my hours working in my job.
I've had been buying cars and selling parts since I was seventeen

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if you were buying the cars to sell off the parts then the ATO would not consider that as a hobby.

You might think it's a hobby, your family might call it a hobby, but the ATO might think otherwise.

The ATO have a webpage "Online selling - hobby or business?" where they pose questions to help assess whether the activity was a hobby or a business for tax purposes.

One key point is that the ATO might consider a person's online, or offline, activity as a business even if the person does not register as a business.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Starting-your-own-business/In-detail/Online-selling---hobby-or-busin...

With data matching technology always on the improve the ATO will catch more and more "hobby sellers" regardless of the turnover threshold the ATO has on eBay members.

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Sounds a lot like what I have done over the years. When it was smaller scale, I would go to vintage car parts swap meets and set up a stall. I would have a look around and buy a few things I wanted myself and sell a few things to pay for my day out. I would do up a few old cars for my own use, buy a few wrecks for parts and sell off the bits I didnt need. That was a hobby and I didnt declare my activities to the ATO.

Now I buy vintage & classic car parts and similar items specifically to resell for a profit. I have no intention of using the parts myself. That is a business and I declare all of the profits to the ATO.