Haven't really kept up to date on recent GST changes with ebay purchases. Just bought something off ebay for approximately $12 and got charged an additional 10% on checkout/payment (strangely it comes up as two separate amounts on my card instead of a single total transaction..). Just wondering whether this is applicable for all purchases going forward or only some sellers?
Thanks
GST explained in image. If the item is outside of australia, you'll get slugged a 10% GST charge during checkout.
I can remember in the early days many sellers listed items ex. GST (as this avoided ebay fees being charged to the GST portion of the sale), eBay cracked down hard requiring all sellers to list/sell at GST inclusive prices - seems there is a double standard for OS sellers now. They effectively get a discount on eBay fees vs. local sellers who have to list and sell inclusive of GST.
I do not understand how this works???
We are not purchasing from eBay, so how are they entitled to collect the GST?
It is up to the seller to declare the goods properly so that we as an individual / company / whatever can be assessed for import duties, tariffs, etc with customs.
It's no different to the goods purchased that I just exported to France. I do not charge GST (except on the shipping) as they will be liable for any duties owing under their own importation laws there.
https://www.ato.gov.au/business/international-tax-for-busine…
Our government law now states (most) electronic distribution platforms must collect the gst on behalf
Thanks.
So from what I understand reading your link, if I use my business eBay and PayPal account (registered for GST), I should be exempt from it on low value purchases.
Yes you will be exempt if you quote an ABN. However be careful
1) If your ABN is not GST registered then you are liable to pay GST and cannot quote it. Not every ABN is registered for GST
2) The purchase must be related to business use. If it is for private use then you cannot quote your ABN. You are making the purchase as a private individual and therefore are unable to quote your ABN for these transactions.
This is going to be a big area for the ATO to track non compliance as many will not read the rules properly and simply quote their ABN to avoid GST even though they will be liable for this.
I was wondering how eBay and GST work? I want to buy something that is eligible for the phenom 10% discount. It is advertised on ebay.com.au but the item comes from over seas. Ebay help not much help. It seems from them I won't know till I get to paying for it - which probably means I can't back out at that point
Add it to your cart instead of buying immediately
GST for International transactions are applied on the sellers end.
GST on low value imported goods
From 1 July 2018, goods with a customs value of AUD1000 or less (low value goods) may attract the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at the point of sale if imported from overseas by consumers in Australia.
Therefore, you will not be charged GST unless the goods are over $1,000AUD value as normal if the seller has not done so which is based on their $75,000 Registered for GST status.
I buy a few Blu rays from overseas via eBay. I have noticed that eBay collects GST on the total amount (including postage) when I pay.
Was the gst included in the advertised price? Or did they add 10% at the checkout?
The GST wasn't included in the advertised price. I expected that eBay would charge GST since it was an overseas seller sending items from the USA. I didn't expect it to also include GST on the postage charges as well.
EBay charges gst even on $1 item. You get charged twice, one from the seller and another one from eBay.
Ebay only charges gst from the buyer once depending on the items location and the buyers address.
I've been wondering if ebay is going to pay the government that money or keep it for themselves, and how will we ever know?
EBay by law had to register for GST. It is legally bound to pay GST collected to the Government. The problem is more all the administration costs that the Government will need to pay to the ATO to collect and audit overseas suppliers to Australia. As eBay’s records are not Australian based an audit of whether the GST is being correctly charged and administered is going to be very costly. We’re not talking about aussie dollars only but multiple currencies that have to be converted to Australian dollars before it can be sent here plus all the time spent reconciling the differences between the date the item was purchased and charged to the buyer and the date the GST is being paid to Australia, converted from the foreign currency which could be more or less on the date it is paid. You and I as taxpayers will pay for the admin costs on these petty amounts collected.
As Quantumcat advises. Add to cart and check out. Just before you select payment method it will advise you the total cost including GST. At this point you can back out of the sale if you don’t like it. Note that this is only for buy it now purchases. If it is an auction then you need to wait until you win it and then you can’t back out of it.
Note that per some past posts, even though you receive 10% off, the GST is levied on the full value of the item and on the shipping fees. So you will receive 10% off the item cost but the GST is based on the full original cost. I don’t know if this is fixed yet or whether this is how it is meant to work. (Then again the tax office probably is not sure either!)
The way around the GST is if you know someone in the country you are buying from, have it delivered to them and they can send it to you. This however only works if the GST is significant because you will be paying postage from their location to yours. The other option is if you know someone who is travelling a lot from that country to Australia they can bring it in for you. If your GST bill is around $100 then it generally works out cheaper this way, however it depends on the size and weight of the package.
This GST is falsely raising revenue for the government and will cause another black hole in their budget. The cost of administering the GST on low value imports is more than triple the GST collected. It is just to satisfy big business and does not benefit the public. You see little touting from the Government about how much revenue this is raising because they know from the productivity commission that the collection costs severely outweigh the revenue gained.
Yet another Malcolm Turnbull Liberal party blunder that is costing you and me money.
Quantumcat and ibuy - thankyou; this is the correct answer (just found out).
Surely Dan Murphys is registered for GST. Why isn't there any mention of GST at the checkout?
overseas seller ?
the checkout should show gst if added