Paying taxes when ordering online from abroad
Discussion
Bought some stuff for a woman in Canada today.
My billing address is the UK.
The delivery address is obviously Canada.
I noted no PST and GST (their equivalent of VAT) was added to the total amounts charged. Its worth mentioning that this tax is added at the till when shopping in Canada, not on the goods as advertised.
Surely with the delivery address being Canada, PST and GST should apply. I presumed they would not have been added if the delivery address was outside Canada, and instead Id be lumped with a duty/import tax.
Its midnight, I'm tired and I've probably missed the obvious... which is what, exactly?
My billing address is the UK.
The delivery address is obviously Canada.
I noted no PST and GST (their equivalent of VAT) was added to the total amounts charged. Its worth mentioning that this tax is added at the till when shopping in Canada, not on the goods as advertised.
Surely with the delivery address being Canada, PST and GST should apply. I presumed they would not have been added if the delivery address was outside Canada, and instead Id be lumped with a duty/import tax.
Its midnight, I'm tired and I've probably missed the obvious... which is what, exactly?
No, you've got that about right. It depends on how the Canadian sales taxes work, but generally sales taxes are charged at point of supply - i.e. if it's supplied to you in the UK you pay UK VAT. I think the seller's looked at it, said "ooh, it's being sold abroad, no sales tax" and left it at that.
The decent thing is to tell them. I'd be surprised if they tried to reclaim the tax after the fact, but they'll need to account for the error.
The decent thing is to tell them. I'd be surprised if they tried to reclaim the tax after the fact, but they'll need to account for the error.
Strangely Dave, the seller is www.amazon.ca
I presumed id got it wrong as they are giants in the retail industry and must know what they are doing.
I presumed id got it wrong as they are giants in the retail industry and must know what they are doing.
Mobsta said:
Strangely Dave, the seller is www.amazon.ca
I presumed id got it wrong as they are giants in the retail industry and must know what they are doing.
I was thinking it was going to be a kindly grandma in a log cabin. I presumed id got it wrong as they are giants in the retail industry and must know what they are doing.
Since it's Amazon, they "must know what they're doing" like you say, so best not to say anything. 
Mobsta said:
Bought some stuff for a woman in Canada today.
My billing address is the UK.
The delivery address is obviously Canada.
I noted no PST and GST (their equivalent of VAT) was added to the total amounts charged. Its worth mentioning that this tax is added at the till when shopping in Canada, not on the goods as advertised.
Surely with the delivery address being Canada, PST and GST should apply. I presumed they would not have been added if the delivery address was outside Canada, and instead Id be lumped with a duty/import tax.
Its midnight, I'm tired and I've probably missed the obvious... which is what, exactly?
We have 3 taxes:My billing address is the UK.
The delivery address is obviously Canada.
I noted no PST and GST (their equivalent of VAT) was added to the total amounts charged. Its worth mentioning that this tax is added at the till when shopping in Canada, not on the goods as advertised.
Surely with the delivery address being Canada, PST and GST should apply. I presumed they would not have been added if the delivery address was outside Canada, and instead Id be lumped with a duty/import tax.
Its midnight, I'm tired and I've probably missed the obvious... which is what, exactly?
PST - set at the provincial level
GST - set at the federal level
HST - is a combination of the above
It depends what you bought and where its being delivered, as Alberta has no PST, but does have GST (5%), while Ontario has a combined HST (harmonized sales tax, 13%)....have a look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_taxes_in_Canada
If none of the above applies, consider yourself lucky!
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