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A simple Google search brought up 2 references from Ebay itself, beyond a generalized policy outline they seem to default to "for additional details see your tax lawyer"

 

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/tax-policy?id=4348

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to pay taxes when I sell on eBay? 

Sellers are responsible for paying taxes associated with their eBay sales, in accordance with all applicable laws. eBay can't give tax advice, so talk to a tax professional with any questions.

Do I have to pay taxes for items I sell outside of the US?

If you're a US-based seller with inventory outside the US, you might have additional tax obligations. Find out more in our Seller Center - opens in new window or tab.

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/taxes-import-charges?id=4121

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Sellers' tax responsibilities

You are responsible for paying all fees and taxes associated with using eBay as an eBay seller. For more information on eBay's tax policy and your obligations, see our Tax policy and User Agreement.

Your tax-related responsibilities may include:

Paying sales tax on eBay sales

Paying income tax on eBay sales

Informing overseas buyers about import charges

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of South Dakota - opens in new window or tab in June 2018, which removed the requirement that certain retailers have a physical presence in a state in order for that state to impose sales tax obligations on retailers. Regardless of where you're physically located, if you do business in certain states, those states may require you to collect applicable taxes on your transactions. 

For more information on these new tax requirements, we recommend that you consult with your tax advisor. If you do not have a tax advisor, you may want to reach out to Avalara - opens in new window or tab and/or TaxJar - opens in new window or tab.

Charging sales tax on eBay sales

If you're required to charge sales tax, you can set up a tax table and apply it to your listings. We'll then add the tax to the buyer's total at checkout. You're responsible for paying the sales tax to the appropriate authority.

Contact a tax professional to determine whether you need to charge sales tax on your eBay sales, or if you have questions about any other taxes. We can't provide tax advice or guarantee that our sales tax features meet all tax requirements.

 

 

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I don't get charged a tax when I buy from Sprue Bros. or Hannants  so I don't know why Ebay is doing it. If I buy from a hobby shop selling kits on Ebay in my own country then yes I should expect to pay taxes but not from the US or ???

 

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Have you maybe run into the Global Shipping Program? Some sellers use it, but no idea what the benefit is for them. eBay determines what taxes/duties you would owe and "takes care of it" for you. It's supposed to make international shipments easier, but in my experience it's a complete scam because eBay has no idea what you might get charged by the customs person looking at it. You could have over paid, or you may need to pay more. It's a scam.

 

This program also has shipments go through one of their own logistic centers, so your tracking number (if you have one) will only be for that first leg. In my experience it actually takes longer because it sits at the logistics center for a couple days before actually heading to you.

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I have seen the taxes and duties attached to several auctions that I would like to bid on and I live in Canada. I really wonder if that is getting paid to the Canadian government as I would doubt that. In many cases I get charged nothing to get my auction wins to my door so I think it is pretty presumptive of them. If I see that added to the auction lising I simply move on and look for another seller that does not have it. 

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I do the same as Chris, no global shipping for me!!! It takes longer since there is an extra stop and the knobs (I say that with all the respect I can muster) who 'guess' at the duty & taxes; then don't even have the courtesy to advise one that they are going into your paypal account and removing 'X' dollars??????????? I say guess, because in the last 5 - 10 years of online shopping only 2 - 3 packages that have gone through Canada Customs have been dinged with - any - charges!!! I asked a merchant about the global crap program and he said evil bay encourages sellers to enroll but it is not mandatory!?!?! Maybe a tax attorney or accountant will pop up and explain the fine print!!

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On 7/2/2019 at 5:39 AM, Specter1075 said:

Have you maybe run into the Global Shipping Program? Some sellers use it, but no idea what the benefit is for them. eBay determines what taxes/duties you would owe and "takes care of it" for you. It's supposed to make international shipments easier, but in my experience it's a complete scam because eBay has no idea what you might get charged by the customs person looking at it. You could have over paid, or you may need to pay more. It's a scam.

 

This program also has shipments go through one of their own logistic centers, so your tracking number (if you have one) will only be for that first leg. In my experience it actually takes longer because it sits at the logistics center for a couple days before actually heading to you.

The Global Shipping program collects the local tax at arrival point according to local tax rules, like here in Norway.

Basically it "ease" the local import tax collection. In Norway, until end of 2020, the tax free import limit is NOK 350. Any value above that (including cost of shipping) will be fully taxed from first cent. So if your goods have a value of NOK 350,01, full import tax applies plus a processing fee. Combined this easily amount to nearly the same as the tax free limit. 
An example: Just had a shipment arrive (not from Ebay) with a value declared at 50USD = NOK 426, and was charged with NOK 267 in import tax and fees. 

After Jan 1st 2020 the tax free limit will be removed altogether here in Norway. 

I don't like it one bit for all the reasons already stated, but Ebay don't benefit from it only the local tax authorities. Non the less - any seller with Global Shipping Program I avoid like the plague. 

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This is a new thing for me. I live in New England and this happened recently. I am talking about the same sellers I did business before. Ebay changed smt or there is a new policy by the government (fed or state level) :|

Edited by foxmulder_ms
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GSP is very convenient in my experience as occasional seller. I ship to US address and pay US shipping charges. It also protects from unfair negative feedback as US shipping center personnel inspects received items and as long as they're sent to buyer, any negative feedback can be removed. I don't know how they calculate import charges for buyer but I think it is also safer for buyer at least in case of dispute.

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11 minutes ago, Niels said:

GSP is not mandatory, but I fear it will in the future. As for your regular sellers joining up to GSP - well, that's their choice. 

 

Well that makes buying off of ebay easy for me as if this is listed on there I will not buy it and go somewhere else. 

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I am not sure this is the GSP - Ebay recently started charging state sales tax for a few states. They charge this tax based on the buyer's state, regardless of where the item is coming from. Not sure where you live but Connecticut is one of them.

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2 hours ago, Helmsman said:

GSP is very convenient in my experience as occasional seller. I ship to US address and pay US shipping charges. It also protects from unfair negative feedback as US shipping center personnel inspects received items and as long as they're sent to buyer, any negative feedback can be removed. I don't know how they calculate import charges for buyer but I think it is also safer for buyer at least in case of dispute.

In the instances I've ended up buying from someone using GSP, there has been absolutelly NO inspection of the item by the shipping senter - they just put on a new label, f**** up the tracking number provided earlier without notifying the new tracking number, yet charges way too much for both the service (what service?) and the customs clearance. 

 

No, I don't like the GSP ☹️

Edited by Niels
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7 hours ago, Helmsman said:

GSP is very convenient in my experience as occasional seller.

I agree. I, too, am an occasional seller. Were it not for GSP I would not even offer my items to buyers outside the USA, as the extra shipping expense and hassle for an international buyer would not be worth it to me. GSP makes the shipping domestically or internationally pretty much the same for me as a seller.

 

My observation on taxes: Sellers never "charge" taxes. Governments "charge" taxes. Governments often but not always (depending on several variables) require sellers to "collect" taxes on their behalf and remit them. It's pointless and unfair to complain that Seller A "charges" tax and is therefore bad while Seller B does not and is therefore good. In both cases the seller is usually just following applicable law. In instances where the seller is not required to collect tax, the government usually has a law that requires the buyer to remit the tax directly. Those laws are usually very difficult to enforce, so buyers often ignore them, but they are there nonetheless. 

 

As a buyer, if I don't like the total cost of something (price plus shipping plus applicable tax) I just pass. 

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8 hours ago, KursadA said:

I am not sure this is the GSP - Ebay recently started charging state sales tax for a few states. They charge this tax based on the buyer's state, regardless of where the item is coming from. Not sure where you live but Connecticut is one of them.

 

 

 Details here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonymarks/2018/06/29/u-s-supreme-court-reverses-long-standing-law-on-collection-of-sales-taxes/#71489f5d58df

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The Supreme Court, last year, rules that states can now collect internet sales tax, even if the business is not in that state. More than likely, these Ebay taxes are the new tax collection rules coming into effect.

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Ebay has been applying tax on certain auctions for a few years.
I dont know how they decide what does and doesnt have taxes applied but some do and some similar items dont.

 

You are supposed to pay export tax on all the items you sell, and the buyer is supposed to pay import taxes too.

 

Its nothing new and its not big bad ebay trying to take your money either.

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Except eBay is not working in conjunction with CBSA (in the case of Canada), and therefore is only taking its best guess at what taxes should be levied. There is no guarantee that you won't pay more when the item arrives, and there is no guarantee that you would have paid anything at all. If we are talking about the global shipping program, and not states collecting sales tax, then it is absolutely big bad eBay acting foolishly if for no other reason than because it slows the package down unnecessarily. The border people still need to look and assess the contents when it passes through, so where is the benefit to having eBay take on the levying of duties?

Edited by Specter1075
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Pitney bowes charges me some extra suddenly after payment at ebay. I also had to pay extra for items that contained rubber (Preiser landing strips), custom charges.

The Global Shipping Program is a mystery? Some years ago i bought some adversay patches and had to kneel down for some $$, where they went dunno?

 

Take it or leave it.

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i am not going to get in to specific political party talk or about any one group or party or person or whatever. But since it's relevant to this conversation I will say that if you're not in favor of having to pay any extra taxes and fees for things such as this, Ebay, amazon etc... then perhaps consider that when it comes time to vet the people and policies you vote to put in place. It's hard to be sympathetic when governments do what people allow them to do and even worse vote them in knowing what they intend to do. Live by the tax, die by the tax...or something like that. Ok, that is all.

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If the buyer lives in Australia ebay will charge them (the buyer) 10% GST (goods and services tax) . The Australian government brought this in about 18 months ago. Hannants and Amazon, along with a few other bigger retailers do. They (the retailers) collect the tax and return it to the Australian government.

There are "rules" that outline who is supposed to collect the tax (one being that the retailer had to do over a set amount of business with Australia customes0 , but it was always unclear how this would be enforced.  Most smaller retailers don't have to. Amazon for a while geoblocked Australians from the Amazon.com site saying it was to difficult to collect. Something we all thought was strange as they seem to charge different taxes depending on the state in the US you are. They directed us to the .com.au site which has less choice and is often  more expensive (even with shipping) than the .com site. This has been now been changed (although for many things there is still a local company that is much cheaper than Amazon.)

 

As an aside the reason most people in Australia don't buy from the US anymore is the postage rates. They are very expensive compared to Europe and the far east.

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21 hours ago, a4s4eva said:

If the buyer lives in Australia ebay will charge them (the buyer) 10% GST (goods and services tax) . The Australian government brought this in about 18 months ago. Hannants and Amazon, along with a few other bigger retailers do. They (the retailers) collect the tax and return it to the Australian government.

There are "rules" that outline who is supposed to collect the tax (one being that the retailer had to do over a set amount of business with Australia customes0 , but it was always unclear how this would be enforced.  Most smaller retailers don't have to. Amazon for a while geoblocked Australians from the Amazon.com site saying it was to difficult to collect. Something we all thought was strange as they seem to charge different taxes depending on the state in the US you are. They directed us to the .com.au site which has less choice and is often  more expensive (even with shipping) than the .com site. This has been now been changed (although for many things there is still a local company that is much cheaper than Amazon.)

 

As an aside the reason most people in Australia don't buy from the US anymore is the postage rates. They are very expensive compared to Europe and the far east.

 

GST in Canada stands for Government Screwing Taxpayers.

 

Thank you Australia for giving this to us. It was supposed to be a temporary tax to pay down the deficit. Now it is permanent.

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5 hours ago, Scooby said:

 

GST in Canada stands for Government Screwing Taxpayers.

 

Thank you Australia for giving this to us. It was supposed to be a temporary tax to pay down the deficit. Now it is permanent.

 

 

I'm not sure if this is TIC. But a quick google seems to show Canada introduced GST in 1991 whereas Australian introduced it in 2000.  So you've only got yourselves to blame

 

.

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