ROCKAUTO Has Begun Charging Tax On Shipping Fees

bobby621 wrote: ↑ Just letting everyone know Rockauto has begun charging tax (13% in Ontario) on their shipping fees to Canada. I placed an order on the 30th and everything was normal (tax was only charged on the parts total/duty total included in the shipping), today I went to place another order and i found something odd when totaling everything up, the tax wasn't adding up correctly, after trying to figure out what was going on it finally became evident that Rockauto was/are charging tax on the shipping fees.

I realize tax is added on the shipping fees if it's within the same country/province but i'm not sure if Rockauto, who ship from the US can charge tax on shipping fees if those packages are being sent out of country.

Kiraly wrote: ↑ Yes this is normal. When importing goods you pay GST/HST on the total amount you paid, inclusive of shipping. CBSA/CRA doesn't care how much of your payment is for the shipping and how much is the actual item. You paid X amount for the item, so that's what is taxed. I put a $3.23 thermostat in, with $12.70 shipping the total is $15.93. The GST/HST added is 79¢, which is 5%; the normal tax rate for BC.

Looks like Rockauto is using a customs broker to import stuff into Canada ("If tax is identified by name (GST/HST in Canada, VAT in the EU, etc.) on your order, we will pre-pay it (and any applicable import duties) for the package to which it applies . The carrier will deliver that package with no additional charges"), so this is actually a good thing. Much better to pay Rockauto the taxes in advance than to leave it up to Fedex, who will make you pay the taxes, and then charge you brokerage fees on top of that.

bobby621 wrote: ↑ Just letting everyone know Rockauto has begun charging tax (13% in Ontario) on their shipping fees to Canada. I placed an order on the 30th and everything was normal (tax was only charged on the parts total/duty total included in the shipping), today I went to place another order and i found something odd when totaling everything up, the tax wasn't adding up correctly, after trying to figure out what was going on it finally became evident that Rockauto was/are charging tax on the shipping fees.

I realize tax is added on the shipping fees if it's within the same country/province but i'm not sure if Rockauto, who ship from the US can charge tax on shipping fees if those packages are being sent out of country.

Kasakato wrote: ↑Can you post a copy of the order confirmation?

ReadAllTheDeals wrote: ↑Just another reason to buy local and pay a little extra for some real customer service.

Kiraly wrote: ↑ Yes this is normal. When importing goods you pay GST/HST on the total amount you paid, inclusive of shipping. CBSA/CRA doesn't care how much of your payment is for the shipping and how much is the actual item. You paid X amount for the item, so that's what is taxed. I put a $3.23 thermostat in, with $12.70 shipping the total is $15.93. The GST/HST added is 79¢, which is 5%; the normal tax rate for BC.

Looks like Rockauto is using a customs broker to import stuff into Canada ("If tax is identified by name (GST/HST in Canada, VAT in the EU, etc.) on your order, we will pre-pay it (and any applicable import duties) for the package to which it applies . The carrier will deliver that package with no additional charges"), so this is actually a good thing. Much better to pay Rockauto the taxes in advance than to leave it up to Fedex, who will make you pay the taxes, and then charge you brokerage fees on top of that.

Kasakato wrote: ↑ I think I've figured out whats going on here. OP is concerned HST was charged "on shipping" which is technically correct since its part of the landed cost. However you are not directly paying "tax on shipping," otherwise you'd pay tax twice.

Tax is charged on the landed cost which includes: Parts + Shipping + Duty

Lets say we order a $10 brake part made in a non-except country and therefore duty applies:

Part: $10
Ship: $10
Duty: $2
Total import value: $22
HST on import value of $22: $2.86
Total paid to RA: $24.86

HST was not applied to the shipping charge itself, rather to the import value. HST is zero rated since its an international package.

bobby621 wrote: ↑ Sure, posted.
Order was placed April 30, Subtotal for parts before the discount was $314.05.

When placing an order now you are charged tax on the full shipping fee (in my case) $56.63, an extra $7.36 added to the total.



I only buy local if I need a few things, if I'm buying lots of stuff I'll use Rockauto. If i were to buy everything i just ordered from Rockauto locally it would've cost me easily over $550, I compared already.



When and from who did you order the thermostat from?
They just began doing this within the last few days, something must have changed on their end, I've been ordering from them for the last 10 years.

ReadAllTheDeals wrote: ↑Just another reason to buy local and pay a little extra for some real customer service.

Kiraly wrote: ↑ Never ordered from Rockauto before. Just tested it out today to see what the charges would be.

dollarsign wrote: ↑ In that image you posted OP, you didn't get charged gst on the shipping. It even says the $56.63 is non-taxable at the bottom.

You got charged $39.58 which is 13% of $304.44.

bobby621 wrote: ↑ That's my order from April 30, as of a few days ago it changed, go to the site, add in a few parts, calculate shipping and you'll see what I'm talking about.

lennyandcarl wrote: ↑ It's going to be a lot more than a little extra compared to Rock Auto!!!!!

dollarsign wrote: ↑ Ya, just realized that. I tried a few parts and it appears they are taxing the delivery.

ReadAllTheDeals wrote: ↑ It depends. My last order was significantly cheaper locally.

bobby621 wrote: ↑ I was checking out some prices on Upper control arms and other suspension parts, I was surprised Rockauto was more expensive then partsavatar.ca, but all the stuff I got this previous order was all cheaper, i saved close to 37%. If the border was open i would've had my order shipped to a depo in Buffalo and save even more. i know so many guys who buy rims and tires from the US, have them shipped to a depo or shop in the States, have the shop install them, and then drive back home.

engineered wrote: ↑ I buy all my rims/tires there and bring them back with me duty free (up to $800) when I visit the USA

bobby621 wrote: ↑ I was checking out some prices on Upper control arms and other suspension parts, I was surprised Rockauto was more expensive then partsavatar.ca, but all the stuff I got this previous order was all cheaper, i saved close to 37%. If the border was open i would've had my order shipped to a depo in Buffalo and save even more. i know so many guys who buy rims and tires from the US, have them shipped to a depo or shop in the States, have the shop install them, and then drive back home.

bobby621 wrote: ↑ That's the way they are calculating it presently but for as long as I can remember tax was only added to the parts purchased (see the picture i posted) as well as the duty (if any). In your example tax should only apply to the $10 (brake part) and the $2 (duty on that part), tax would be $1.56. Total would be $23.56, this is the way it was being calculated as of April 30, now it has changed.

bobby621 wrote: ↑ It doesn't make a huge difference, even if you place an order and shipping is $100, that's an extra $13 on the total compared to before.
I'd like to know who is receiving that extra money, is it the Canadian government or Rockauto? I'm pretty sure Rockauto has to pay the GST/HST they collect to the Canadian government yearly, maybe this change has to do with something the Canadian government implemented in the past and has just come into effect in May, I wouldn't put it past our government to do anything to collect more tax from us.