But that’s what the thread is about. Here are just two examples I encountered tonight. In both cases the «GST» or «Import Charges» is far more than the legal rate of 10%. How is this being calculated and who is getting the additional money? There are several threads on this board which have mentioned this very issue. As best we can determine at this point, it seems that Pitney Bowes are charging an additional amount, presumably for admin associated with collecting the GST. This isn’t legal in Australia, but with PB being outside Australia, it’s anyone’s guess as to how this will play out with the ATO. 10% of the item cost plus postage, collected by ebay. The Sydney Morning herald is doing a piece on the big overseas sellers who are still resisting collecting the GST. I have sent this information to them as showing the other side of the problem where some are clearly profiteering. Almost every state in the USA collects some form of tax, with different rates in different states and this does not seem to attract additional charges for administration.
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The Sydney Morning herald is doing a piece on the big overseas sellers who are still resisting collecting the GST. I have sent this information to them as showing the other side of the problem where some are clearly profiteering. Almost every state in the USA collects some form of tax, with different rates in different states and this does not seem to attract additional charges for administration. Others have this sorted easily. The seller hasn’t «sorted this»; eBay collects all GST on overseas items listed on eBay, sold to customers in Australia, where the total including shipping is less than $1,000. Or rather, «all» except for items being sent via the GSP, it seems. Bay themselves, where they are collecting the GST, are «eating» the administrative costs of this, which are considerable. The Chinese seller in your example has done nothing in connection with the GST, and will not be remitting any funds to the ATO. It struck me as hilarious particularly as from what you are saying ebay cannot manage a similar transaction when dealing with USA sellers.
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Something screwy about all this. Anyone who sells on eBay has to abide by eBay’s rules but they seem to apply them in different ways for different countries. There is no need to differentiate although this is what is happening. I just did a random check of some private sellers not using Pitney Bowes and all are adding far more than the 10% GST. The amounts vary from 15-19% of the price of the goods, not the required 10%. The explanation given as information is that the Australian Government charges 10%. No explanation is given for the extra. There is nothing more to be gained from pursuing this topic here. Are you including the cost of shipping in your calculations? Yes of course I have- I checked the ATO website to see what should be charged before I first posted here. Some of the amounts are correct, many are not, and it is not just Pitney Bowes at fault .
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As I noted above there is not much point in pursuing this here. I will have to approach eBay for some asnwers as to how they are applying the new rules to their sellers. I just did a random check of some private sellers not using Pitney Bowes and all are adding far more than the 10% GST. The amounts vary from 15-19% of the price of the goods, not the required 10%. The explanation given as information is that the Australian Government charges 10%. No explanation is given for the extra. There is nothing more to be gained from pursuing this topic here. Bay they should not be adding GST to their items as it is eBay who will collect the GST, nothing to do with eBay sellers unless, as some members have posted, eBay defer to Pitney Bowes for GST collection on GSP items. Here are just two examples I encountered tonight. In both cases the «GST» or «Import Charges» is far more than the legal rate of 10%. How is this being calculated and who is getting the additional money?
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6.65 US, exactly as they’ve charged it. If you’ve got this wrong, I suggest you’re probably calculating all the others wrong as well, except the items being posted through the GSP. Nobody knows what Pitney Bowes is charging for or whether they can do it legally, so chase that up with the ATO but do your sums properly on the others before you waste their time. Paypal are collecting the GST on behalf of eBay and it goes into a separate account for remittance to the ATO. Pitney Bowes is a global logistics company established in 1920 (it took me 30 seconds to check that) who subcontract to eBay for postage from the USA for eBay’s Global Shipping Program. PB do, indeed, charge for their services and charge GST on the admin costs as well as the service. Easy answer — don’t buy from sellers who use the GSP. You might find your options are limited (or nonexistant) but, hey, you won’t get ripped off.
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