Canada wants Ebay sellers to pay up..

[greggy]

The Canada Revenue Agency just won a court decision

 

I always laugh when I see headlines like this - when was the last time Revenue Canada *lost* a court battle to get MO' MONEY? If it happened, I bet a few judges will find "audit" notices in their mailbox.

 

Awhile back they successfully lobbied to find several (supposedly) tax-free lottery winners liable for tax, because that made up a 'significant portion of their income" - no sheit Sherlock, I think $5.6 million is a significant portion of anyone's income.

Well Correct me if im wrong but the Lottery winnings are still tax free or they would tax all winnings from everyone but they never do.

 

But the interest from the winnings is taxable as income is what the rulling was applied to

Yes

[aardvark88]

Canada Rev Agency will probably start auditing Power Sellers on eBay.ca. Perhaps they will send their top emissary, greggy, to eBay.ca headquarters which is in a suburb of Vancouver, BC for their top vendor list?

[topofthetotem]

Canada Rev Agency will probably start auditing Power Sellers on eBay.ca. Perhaps they will send their top emissary, greggy, to eBay.ca headquarters which is in a suburb of Vancouver, BC for their top vendor list?

Greggy is like a mythical financial ninja. The mere mention of his name makes grown men weep and jaded women swoon.

[Jason Truong]

So, how long before they start taxing regular sellers?

[That Ron Dude]

Revunue Canada is right to try to get a piece of this $5,000,000,000 per year business. This would generate about $1 billion in taxes, which would pay for schools, hospitals and transportation (as well as the inevitable renovations at Stornaway). According to the CBC this morning, they are already watching the Canadian sellers but it is easier to link the pseudonyms to people and addresses if they get a list from ebay. Now they are going to get it.

 

I realize that their aren't many taxi drivers or restaurant service personel that declare all their tips either, but wouldn't it be nice for those who are paying their share of the tax burden if they did?

 

The compicated questions can be answered by an accountant, or at least by my accountant, Ron Savlov, who advises me on these matters. He is in the Toronto telephone book.

 

By the way, on the 6:45 am CBC report, Michael Holinka said that this was not an investigation of ebay sellers who use ebay as an alternative to a yard sale. He then gave the specific example, "This is not about me selling off my comic collection". He said that this was about people who have large retail businesses that are difficult to trace because of ebay and paypal. He said that the paypal accounts could be depositing the profits in the Cayman Islands.

 

You know what the biggest tax racket is in comics? It has nothing to do with ebay. It is taking a worthless collection, or buying a worthless collection, then donating them to a hospital or school for cover price and writing it off as charity. I think we'll be hearing about the tax people clamping down on that very soon.

 

[joe_collector]

By the way, on the 6:45 am CBC report, Michael Holinka said that this was not an investigation of ebay sellers who use ebay as an alternative to a yard sale.

 

Can I see that in writing please, as well as a guarantee that it will never happen?

[joe_collector]

Canada Rev Agency will probably start auditing Power Sellers on eBay.ca. Perhaps they will send their top emissary, greggy, to eBay.ca headquarters which is in a suburb of Vancouver, BC for their top vendor list?

 

I know you're joking, but I'm starting to think greggy is an actual mole. After all, what better way to investigate the biggest comic book sellers, than to ingratiate one of their own into the CGC system.

 

Someone needs to update a The Departed DVD case...

[Mr. Zipper]

Well, Canada has to find a way to afford paying that Universal Healthcare....

 

Maybe free healthcare isn't really free.

 

[Ares]

You know what the biggest tax racket is in comics? It has nothing to do with ebay. It is taking a worthless collection, or buying a worthless collection, then donating them to a hospital or school for cover price and writing it off as charity. I think we'll be hearing about the tax people clamping down on that very soon.

We can do that here?

[Ares]

Well, Canada has to find a way to afford paying that Universal Healthcare....

 

Maybe free healthcare isn't really free.

es its paid throught taxes but Its much more affordable than USA

[MichiganFlynn]

Revunue Canada is right to try to get a piece of this $5,000,000,000 per year business. This would generate about $1 billion in taxes, which would pay for schools, hospitals and transportation (as well as the inevitable renovations at Stornaway). According to the CBC this morning, they are already watching the Canadian sellers but it is easier to link the pseudonyms to people and addresses if they get a list from ebay. Now they are going to get it.

 

I realize that their aren't many taxi drivers or restaurant service personel that declare all their tips either, but wouldn't it be nice for those who are paying their share of the tax burden if they did?

 

The compicated questions can be answered by an accountant, or at least by my accountant, Ron Savlov, who advises me on these matters. He is in the Toronto telephone book.

 

By the way, on the 6:45 am CBC report, Michael Holinka said that this was not an investigation of ebay sellers who use ebay as an alternative to a yard sale. He then gave the specific example, "This is not about me selling off my comic collection". He said that this was about people who have large retail businesses that are difficult to trace because of ebay and paypal. He said that the paypal accounts could be depositing the profits in the Cayman Islands.

 

You know what the biggest tax racket is in comics? It has nothing to do with ebay. It is taking a worthless collection, or buying a worthless collection, then donating them to a hospital or school for cover price and writing it off as charity. I think we'll be hearing about the tax people clamping down on that very soon.

 

Don't get me wrong, I can understand how they would want to track down sellers who sell full time on eBay tax free right now, but what bothers me about this is that it's a precedent to EVENTUALLY grab and tax down small time sellers. As a fellow Canadian, you know already how much of our paychecks we lose, I struggle enough as it is to meet my bills and still have a little something for myself, how long until Revenue comes after me for selling off my Playstation collection a few years back?

 

Canada has long been touting a surplus that's only going to continue to grow while cities like Toronto and our beloved and incredibly inept mayor wastes money to line his pockets and threatens his citizens with community centre foreclosures in areas that are well known to violent crime, might as well give everyone there a handgun and tell them to play in traffic.

 

We pay taxes on every single thing we buy, we get taxed when we work, now they want to tax us for buying sports tickets, toll boothes, etc etc, where does this stop? I realize your intentions are well meaning, but this is clearly an excuse to target any and all Canadian sellers looking to make a few dollars. Your analogy of taxi drivers and restaurant services is horrible, many in the restaurant business don't even make minimum wage, how dare they not report that twenty bucks in tips! They already get taxed for the small income they make, if someone gave me twenty dollars for mowing the lawn, should I have to report it? Should we call the feds on children who get fifty bucks a week in allowance and don't report it? How about lemonade stands? If you feel that waiters and taxi drivers should be taxed on those few extra dollars then why not start taxing everyone for any service performed? Any Canadian who works a part-time or full-time job already shares in our tax crippling system.

 

I'm not one who cries foul on this subject (despite my words). I work hard, I pay my taxes like I should because I know where it usually goes, but I shouldn't have to live in fear that one day they'll bust down my door because I sold a couple of things some years ago.

 

Yes, they say they aren't targeting low end sellers, but they will. If they can target squeegee kids to report that twenty five cents (if that) in change they get, they'll come after anyone.

 

This is going to get far worse, just wait.

[COI]

As a fellow Canadian, you know already how much of our paychecks we lose, I struggle enough as it is to meet my bills and still have a little something for myself, how long until Revenue comes after me for selling off my Playstation collection a few years back?

 

Canada has long been touting a surplus that's only going to continue to grow while cities like Toronto and our beloved and incredibly inept mayor wastes money to line his pockets and threatens his citizens with community centre foreclosures in areas that are well known to violent crime, might as well give everyone there a handgun and tell them to play in traffic.

 

We pay taxes on every single thing we buy, we get taxed when we work, now they want to tax us for buying sports tickets, toll boothes, etc etc, where does this stop?

 

My butt is still sore from those years where I made 6 figures. I think the "upper middle class" gets hit the hardest. I don't use a lot of the services that I'm supposedly paying for and the services I actually need and use have been steadily diminishing.

 

And then there's social insurance......

[Mr. Zipper]

Most disconcerting is the fact that most people that sell on ebay are probably selling at a loss. Think of the neighborhood garage sale. Most stuff at a garage sale is sold at a small fraction of its original cost simply because someone would rather try to recoup **some** of the costs rather than throw it out entirely. And ebay is essentially a giant electronic garage sale.

 

Sure, there are those that have turned it into a business and make consistant money by buying low and selling high, but what percentage of the sellers does this apply to? Seems to me that most people are casual sellers that are just trying to unload something they bought years ago. How do these people prove they are selling at a loss... who keeps receipts for everything they've ever bought?

 

To me this simply looks like another government money grab, and the slipperly slope ends up on the doorstep of the poor humps trying to sell off some old LPs and DVDs.

[aardvark88]

captain,

How do u mean "social insurance" benefits? Are u referring to your CPP plan which u are allowed to take out early at age 60 or the free $$ u get from old age security at age 65 ($502/month) NON-contributory plan?

 

[greggy]

Most disconcerting is the fact that most people that sell on ebay are probably selling at a loss. Think of the neighborhood garage sale. Most stuff at a garage sale is sold at a small fraction of its original cost simply because someone would rather try to recoup **some** of the costs rather than throw it out entirely. And ebay is essentially a giant electronic garage sale.

 

Sure, there are those that have turned it into a business and make consistant money by buying low and selling high, but what percentage of the sellers does this apply to? Seems to me that most people are casual sellers that are just trying to unload something they bought years ago. How do these people prove they are selling at a loss... who keeps receipts for everything they've ever bought?

 

To me this simply looks like another government money grab, and the slipperly slope ends up on the doorstep of the poor humps trying to sell off some old LPs and DVDs.

greggy will explain one aspect of the Canadian Income Tax Act before he laughs anymore about the fear in this thread.

 

Old LPs and DVDs would normally under a class of property called "personal use property". (PUP).

 

PUP is defined in the Income Tax Act as follows:

 

"personal-use property" of a taxpayer includes

 

(a) property owned by the taxpayer that is used primarily for the personal use or enjoyment of the taxpayer or for the personal use or enjoyment of one or more individuals each of whom is

 

(i) the taxpayer,

 

(ii) a person related to the taxpayer, or

 

(iii) where the taxpayer is a trust, a beneficiary under the trust or any person related to the beneficiary,

 

(b) any debt owing to the taxpayer in respect of the disposition of property that was the taxpayer's personal-use property, and

 

© any property of the taxpayer that is an option to acquire property that would, if the taxpayer acquired it, be personal-use property of the taxpayer,

 

When PUP is sold, there is a deemed adjusted cost base (ACB) of $1,000. ACB is essential your cost but are some potential additions and subtractions to it but that is pretty well immaterial in our case.

 

Since the deemed ACB is $1,000. there will be only a capital gain when the sale of the property is over $1,000. Most items will never reach this level. If there is a capital gain, only 50% of it is taxable and the actual tax depends on your tax bracket and/or other deductions.

 

Please note that there is no such thing as a PUP loss so if you sell an item for less than $1,000, you can't apply the loss against any other PUP gains or other regular capital gains.

 

**There is another set of capital property called listed personal property (LPP)**

 

It is defined in the Income Tax Act as follows:

 

"listed personal property" of a taxpayer means the taxpayer's personal-use property that is all or any portion of, or any interest in or right to, any

 

(a) print, etching, drawing, painting, sculpture, or other similar work of art,

 

(b) jewellery,

 

© rare folio, rare manuscript, or rare book,

 

(d) stamp, or

 

(e) coin;

 

In this case, I'm sure that comic books don't fall in category ©. LPP has the same minimum of $1,000 but the proceeds of disposition also has a minimum amount deemed to be $1,000. The difference will LPP is that they can be offset against any LPP gains for the year. Any unused loss can be carried back 3 years or forward 7 years to offset any past or future LPP gains.

 

***Of course, if you are buying and selling on a regular basis, the Government may argue that you are running a business and any profit you make be taxed at the regular rate.

 

I know how Government bureaucracy works so who knows how they would use the information. Believe me, I'm sure that they would rather go after a limited number of higher amount, higher profile cases than concentrate on the smaller sellers.

 

End of lesson but I'm sure that there's more to the story.

[AlexH]

Wow, a post from Greggy that was...USEFUL!!!

[greggy]

Wow, a post from Greggy that was...USEFUL!!!

Are you going to stop crying now?

[CycloneComics]

greggy will explain one aspect of the Canadian Income Tax Act before he laughs anymore about the fear in this thread.

 

 

Isn't this exactly what Revenue Canada wants the general population to have.I know I am scared of them because they have an unlimited amount of money for lawyer fees if you ever decide to fight them.They never give up and will fight you until you are flat broke.

 

Not that there is anything wrong with that, I think all revenue canada employees are the hardest working people on the face of the planet.

[ShoNuff-migration]

Well, Canada has to find a way to afford paying that Universal Healthcare....

 

Maybe free healthcare isn't really free.

Yes its paid throught taxes, but Its much more affordable than USA.

 

And it works great. You only have to wait five years to get treated for something that will kill you in four.

 

 

 

[AlexH]

Wow, a post from Greggy that was...USEFUL!!!

Are you going to stop crying now?

 

I only cry when I see pictures of you dressed up as Wonder Woman.