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Thursday, September 27, 2007
The CRA in cyberspace
I hope no one thought they could avoid the long arm of the Canadian taxman by setting up shop on Ebay. They're about to get a rude awakening. The Canada Revenue Agency just won a Federal Court order forcing Ebay Canada to hand over all information on high-volume sellers from 2004 and 2005 so the CRA can make sure they paid tax on that income. I guess Ebay's privacy policy isn't much good when the taxman is involved.
Posted by Matthew Stuart on September 27, 2007 in Web/Tech | Permalink
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Comments
...i was starting to get tired using eBay. Not as good deals anymore as well try getting PayPal to help you with deals gone sour.
I use usedcalgary or that jjj one.
Posted by: tomax7 | 2007-09-27 2:36:19 PM
Nevertheless tomax7 it is still disgusting. Right up there with going after and hounding waiters and waitresses for their tips.
Posted by: Alain | 2007-09-27 3:41:41 PM
Why on earth should someone in Canada who runs a virtual store through Ebay be exempt from paying income tax on the money earned from selling stuff on the Internet?
Good for the CRA. People who consider themselves conservatives shouldn't be applauding tax cheats.
Posted by: Some Random Guy | 2007-09-27 4:02:37 PM
Once knew an older waiter who put three kids through university- earning minimum and tips. I don't know what he did about declaring the tips but they were his wages for doing a good job. Should he be dinged- yes, if you make the rest of us pay our share. But the tax law allows for numerous loopholes so take advantage of them to the best of your ability.
Posted by: DML | 2007-09-27 5:19:48 PM
What about the panhandlers, are they exempt or are they declaring the loons and toons?
Posted by: taxman | 2007-09-27 9:28:27 PM
What some are missing is that unfair and excessive taxation actually encourages and feeds the black (underground) economy. Add to this misuse of tax dollars by governments and it is a wonder that most of us continue to comply.
Posted by: Alain | 2007-09-28 12:49:54 AM
...and eBay is that underground economy. But recently anything coming from the States now gets dinged GST at Customs.
Also adds delivery time. Used to get stuff within the week from the US to Calgary, now sometimes 2.5-3 weeks.
Posted by: tomax7 | 2007-09-28 1:59:05 PM
tomax7 not only that but they add a $5 handling fee on top of the GST. You may have only a small amount of GST but no matter they tack on the extra 5 bucks.
Posted by: Alain | 2007-09-28 2:37:53 PM
And why do you think that the government is so in favour of electronic banking? It is almost impossible to keep anything secret anymore. The underground economy is still there but it has to be cash, face to face and between people who trust each other.
Posted by: DML | 2007-09-29 9:47:25 PM
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