The Tax Man Cometh – Thanks eBay
eBay Canada says it will disclose information on its “power sellers” to Canada Revenue Agency this week. The release of data is in response to a ruling by the Federal Court of Appeal last April.
The court ordered eBay to turn over to the tax agency the names and gross sales figures of Canadians who earn at least $1,000 a month from online sales for three straight months.
In a recent letter to affected customers, eBay said it strenuously objects to the federal requests, but it must comply.
At least they warned them.
In 2006, Revenue Canada started looking into whether power sellers had reported all their eBay earnings on their 2004 and 2005 income taxes.
It’s estimated about 32,000 Canadians make all or part of their income selling on eBay.
Meantime, many more Canadians are shopping online, with 2007 sales rising to $12.8 billion, Statistics Canada says.
November 17th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Hate to tell you, but the IRS has already been on this statewide for some years. How are these purveyors different from my local second-hand shops? except that they do not have to obey local ordances, pay sale tax (GST) and report their profits to their government? Heard an interesting interview on CBC from an American who said he already had to file a profit/loss statement with the IRA. Should those professional traders who are making a proft have to file a similar statement with CRA?
November 17th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Hate to agree with the taxman, but some people are making tens of thousands of dollars with ebay stores. I think the 1000 dollars a month for 3 months in a row rule is fair, it will protect the people who sell things occasionally while making sure the high volume, high money sellers pay their dues.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:26 am
I agree with Tony on this. The Government is actually being quite fair in these requests. Colour me surprised. The small time seller(which by the way is the reason E-Bay exists in the first place) will not be affected at all by this, and why should those who are making $1000.00 / month not pay tax on their income?
November 19th, 2008 at 8:14 am
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