Thread: Bought my first item on Ebay today after GST

Just guessing but I reckon it would be up to the vendor to claim it from the ATO and pay it back to the customer. I suspect they won't bother.
I wonder if these o/s businesses have ABNs and are required to submit their BAS? I think not, so, how is the GST tracked and paid?

Make sure you get issued a tax invoice (Which I doubt many will provide)
A lot of sellers on Ebay don't even issue a invoice receipt. I wonder if when it gets here the authorities will double dip you if no documentation is provided. Some o/s might cash in on the GST and not pay it to the ATO.

So ebay is considered the seller rather than the vendor itself? I presume ebay then pays the GST to the ATO via the BAS framework? Ebay would then pass the GST on to the vendor as a fee? Could be a nasty little surprise for the vendor if they are not expecting it!

So is ebay or the customer creating the gst portion?

Is it possible that the supplier is simply going to pocket the gst unless the australian government audits their ebay account?

Originally Posted by Roverlord off road spares

Make sure you get issued a tax invoice (Which I doubt many will provide)
A lot of sellers on Ebay don't even issue a invoice receipt. I wonder if when it gets here the authorities will double dip you if no documentation is provided. Some o/s might cash in on the GST and not pay it to the ATO.

Yep. I reckon it's all about making private imports more expensive just to make Gerry happy.
So, what has this achieved? Personally, I no longer shop in Gerry's shops. More that his goods are generally still over priced and of poor quality.

Originally Posted by cjc_td5

So ebay is considered the seller rather than the vendor itself? I presume ebay then pays the GST to the ATO via the BAS framework? Ebay would then pass the GST on to the vendor as a fee? Could be a nasty little surprise for the vendor if they are not expecting it!

And what of the items you don't purchase from ebay.
I recently purchased some Hella tail lights for the Crump & Cornish from an obscure automotive parts shop in the UK. Hella Australia have no interest in importing these tail lights. I doubt this UK business would sell more than a thousand or two dollars worth to Australia.
Who collects the GST?

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

And what of the items you don't purchase from ebay.
I recently purchased some Hella tail lights for the Crump & Cornish from an obscure automotive parts shop in the UK. Hella Australia have no interest in importing these tail lights. I doubt this UK business would sell more than a thousand or two dollars worth to Australia.
Who collects the GST?

As I have said on other threads on this topic, I presume the vendor has to collect the GST the same as an Australian based vendor does, and pay it to the ATO via the BAS system. I wonder if the $75k threshold still applies? I made my comment above as it appears that ebay may be stepping into the vendor role in this case?

I can't for the life of me see how it can work really.....

I am pretty sure Ebay collects the GST and passes it on to the tax department.
The bloke I have bought the item from is a small trader and would not be registered for GST.

There was an article about it that I read today.

But it is interesting that some Ebay items do not add the GST automatically. I am looking at a radiator from China and no mention of GST although the vendor says it is the buyer responsibility. How is it collected ?
It turns out That the main targets of the legislation are Ebay, Amazon and Kogan and others like them that take orders then ship direct form HK or elsewhere. Kogan reckons they will have a 20% hit to profit.
Regards Philip A