ATO Request for Data

[clarry100]

This is the first time we have received one of these since we have been trading on eBay.

Anyone else?

[grandmas_house]

I wish them luck with that... I don't have a static IP address, and seriously, they can have whatever they want, they will get it anyway. My post was merely to point out that I was advised by Ebay CS that the email had not been sent by them. 

[clarry100]

You are correct in that the email we got was definitley NOT in our ebay messages INBOX.

I just checked the FROM address on the email and here is what I got.

"eBay (ebay@e.reply.ebay.com.au)"

So if ebay are denying that this email address has zip to do with them then I wonder just what the scammer has in mind.

Unless that potential scammer is actually the ATO disguised as ebay to trick sellers into declaring their income to them thus scamming them out of taxes.

Just a thought!

[juliejaffa74]

Is a request for this much information one of the people who are going lock up you computer and demand a ransom to unlock it? if you click on the link.

[clarry100]

The only clickable link in the body of the email is a link to the ATO web site and that is a genuine and correct link.

So there is nothing embedded in the email that can take you to a scammer's site to extract information.

There are no attachments so nothing there to run and install malware on your machine.

We have anti-virus software that scans all incoming mail and that never detected anything in it.

So I believe it is clean and harmless. Nothing in it to be gained from any scammer.

Its very odd if ebay are disowning it.

[lyndal1838]

Clarry, it happened last year.  Just as many members were being told it was a fake as were being told it was legit.

In the end an ebay staff member posted on the boards to confirm that it was legit but still there were those that refused to believe it.

I just cannot understand all the fuss.   It is just a message informing members what action ebay is taking in relation to a request from the ATO.  Nobody is asked to do anything or click on anything.

[clarry100]

True Lyndal. We always declare our sales each year in a tax return anyway. My original post was curious about why this is the first year we have ever received such a message. We are clean and all good to go. But it seems there ccould be others on here that should be a little concerned never having declared income above the threshold especially if they also have a 9-5 job. The ATO are a bit like the RCMP, they always get their money.

[lyndal1838]

Yes, Clarry, they do even if it does take a while.

I sat and watched while a collegue of ours in the same industry went for 10 years without paying GST or income tax or even submitting returns, all the while getting fines for non-compliance.  It was 10 years before the ATO finally bankrupted him.

I wonder why you have never had the notification before this year.   The limit was $20,000 but that was across all IDs...I am sure you would have qualified.

[clarry100]

Yeah dunno why we have never seen this message before.

That's what prompted me to open the post in the first place. Just curious if others had received it too.

We've been over the reporting threshold pretty much since we started trading on here 3-years ago. Since we operate more than one selling ID.

We've always reported all our sales at the strong advice of our tax accountant so we have nothing to fear at all. He is able to make sure legally that we dont cross any tax thresholds and CentreLink are happy too. We still show a profit but just not taxable.

So I just don't understand why people fail to report the income as they will catch up with you sooner or later as your story above conveys. As computer technology and inter-departmental data sharing improves it will become easier for them to cross-match.

[joethenuts]

the trouble is ,there are heaps of sellers online ,sunday markets,and so. that think they dont have to declare to the ato. if they buy and sell.

[asianantiquemaps]

I got the same letter from ebay about Australian Tax office asking for 2014/15 data. I'm based in australia but have a store on ebay.com. But my question is, how do find your total sales from July 2014 to June 2015 in ebay?? I have looked at my seller dashboard, invoicing etc..but I cannot see any easy way that ebay can tell me how much I've sold in the 2014/15 tax year. I can only find by month. That's not really helpful. I've looked through most of the postings here, but couldn't see any solution. 

if ebay are providing the info on 2014/15 sales to ATO, how come I can't easily get that info myself? Also, under privacy laws, surely ebay have a legal obligation to also provide you with the same info they are giving the ATO?

I know others here keep monthly records, or go to PayPal to get the info, but I find it very unbelievable that such a simple piece of info is something that eBay doesn't or can't provide?? I mean, it a few drop down boxes with dates in them....seriously....

i havent kept monthly records because I didn't think I'd reach the threshold needed last year.

Any advice or thoughts are appreciated