Netflix tax

[stickerswa]

Just got an email from ebay...

From 1 July 2017, Goods and Services Tax (GST) will apply to fees on eBay.com.au, due to new legislation in Australia (the "Netflix Tax").

Businesses registered for GST will not be affected by this change if you register your Australian Business Number (ABN) with eBay here.

Anyone else feel a fee increase coming to cover this....

[found-in-australia]

Digital*Ghost,

Chances are that whoever is giving this advice at Ebay doesn't actually understand how the Australian GST works. If, say, they are in the USA, they are probably confusing it with how state sales tax works there - more or less, if a business or reseller has the appropriate tax number for the relevant state, they are not charged the sales tax while all other buyers are.

Ebay Australia probably should consult an Australian accountant to clarify what their obligations are, and actually understand the basics of the law.

Kind Regards,  Kevin

[lizzyamelia]

"Apparently the GST on imports was pushed back for another 12 months, so that's something"

Someone should tell the pollies as they mentioned in parliament this week that it comes into effect in 5 weeks.

[imastawka]

I think they know, by now - 12 month reprieve

http://www.afr.com/news/govt-labor-in-talks-over-delaying-gst-on-online-sales-20170530-gwgafn

[digital*ghost]

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@found-in-australia wrote:

Digital*Ghost,

Chances are that whoever is giving this advice at Ebay doesn't actually understand how the Australian GST works. If, say, they are in the USA, they are probably confusing it with how state sales tax works there - more or less, if a business or reseller has the appropriate tax number for the relevant state, they are not charged the sales tax while all other buyers are.

---

More than likely, but you'd think they'd do a little research so they can help their members understand what's going to happen. Well, it's eBay, so you probably wouldn't think they'd do that, but one can hope (against hope).

Re: GST on imports (unfortunately the article to the AFR article is blocked for me and says it's accessible to subscribers only). My info on that is second (or third?) hand - it was mentioned in a seller group on FB, as told to audience members at a seller convention, by a rep from Australia Post (who also apparently said that they money they'll receive from delivering international mail is increasing January). 

[bigbrickshop]

There is info on the ATO site for overseas sellers and how they charge the GST.

The way I read it is if eBay uses the simplified system they will only have to charge GST to consumers (anyone not registered for GST).

They do not provide a Tax Invoice and cannot claim Tax credits.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/International-tax-for-business/In-detail/Doing-business-in-Australia...

[digital*ghost]

Ah, ok, Cheers. I guess they would first have to verify via the ABN if the business is registered for GST, and exempt the account if they are.

I wonder what that will mean for businesses running multiple accounts? 

[bigbrickshop]

Yes, if you are regiatered for GST there is a link in the email that takes you to a page to apply for exemption.

[lizzyamelia]

the linked article is only available for subscribers of afr

[banter0416]

Yes but how does this work? How do they match the ABN being entered to eBay sellers? I cannot see any way they have personalised this form - even though I received one for each eBay store email address I use. It looks like a generic form and as I mentioned previously business name is optional. Surely a better way to do it would for sellers to add the ABN to their seller's account. Someone sent a link through earlier (3 in fact) to the same form, what's to stop someone here using those links to enter their ABN. I don't really understand how they can match the ABN to the seller. I have one ABN that is related to two eBay stores and one registered business. Very badly communicated email.

[jfmgray]

So does this mean an eBay postage label for a B1 Box will, in effect, now cost $8.14 ($7.40 plus 10% GST)?  Not sure if this GST ruling may also apply to paypal fees??  Might follow up with the ATO to get confirmation that the "netflix" tax uniformly applies to all eBay fees.