You do not get tax invoice directly from Paypal. In PayPal, you can issue invoices that include GST (Good and Services Tax) on there, Under “request money”, “Create invoice”, select the tax from the drop down menu. Here you can add 10% GST on your billable items. Regardless of PayPal, you will need to issue a taxable invoice or receive a taxable invoice in order to claim the GST.
Tax invoice must say Tax Invoice on it somewhere. It must have the seller’s ABN number, an invoice number, invoice date, GST amount and total cost amount. In Australia businesses must produce a “tax invoice” for all purchases, which is a document that shows a title of “Tax Invoice” and includes the VAT tax amount, meaning prices include tax (rather than sales tax which is an added amount). Tax invoices are only for claiming GST, and any “invoice” will suffice.
You’d need a Tax Invoice (displaying the seller’s ABN and GST payment details) to lodge any claim. If the PayPal invoice doesn’t have this, you’ll need to request as much from the seller.
However, do keep in mind that a number of private sellers on eBay won’t have ABNs or be paying GST, so in that case you’ve paid no tax, so there’s nothing to actually refund.
If the receipt has a valid ABN and says “GST included”, that is your GST invoice, i.e. the amount you paid includes GST. The GST is 1/11 the of the total amount.
If any seller is operating within Australia, have an ABN and registered for GST – they are making taxable supply regardless of the goods were being delivered from overseas. If they invoice in GST as zero or nil then note that shipping the product from outside of Australia, in the above circumstances, is an invalid reason for not charging GST.
Customs may requirement payment of GST before releasing the goods if they are unable to determine if GST has been collected.
PayPal invoicing can be a quick and easy way to issue invoices, and receive payments from customers and clients from all around the world. However, this service comes at a cost – especially if you work in a global marketplace and sell to people from other countries.
PayPal doesn’t charge fees for setting up and sending invoices, or for cancelling them. There’s no monthly or fixed charge, but if your customer pays online, there’s a fee for each invoice paid, which is something like 4.4% of the transaction.
If PayPal carries out a currency conversion for you, you can expect to pay fees for the service. In most cases, the seller can decide whether they or the buyer will pick up the costs involved with the international transfer.
PayPal international transfer fees could be fees which depend on where the money’s moving, and how the transfer is funded. These fees are levied if you send or receive money. For example, if you need to withdraw your PayPal balance to an account held in another currency.
If you hold a US-based PayPal account, international transfers using PayPal balance or from a linked bank account will cost you at least somewhere between 0.3% – 2% of the total transaction amount, depending on where the money is going. And that’s not counting the spread that PayPal adds on top of the wholesale exchange rate.
The same international transfer using PayPal but funded by a credit or debit card would cost even more, 3.4% of the transaction amount if you’re sending money to Australia – 3.9% everywhere else, plus a small fixed fee depending on the country you’re transferring to.
In addition to the fees set out above, the exchange rate used by PayPal includes a markup added to the wholesale exchange rate. The wholesale rate – also known as the spot rate, the interbank rate, or the mid-market rate – is the rate that PayPal gets from a third party when they convert currencies. This will apply in any circumstance in which PayPal exchange currency on your behalf – whether you’re sending money, or invoicing an overseas client.
PayPal takes the wholesale rate and adds a currency spread, which is an extra charge of 2.5%-3%, depending on exactly what type of transaction you’re carrying out.
To create an invoice using the PayPal business website, you’ll need to take the following steps:
Each invoice to a specific customer is assigned an invoice number automatically. You can alter this number if you prefer – but it can be a useful way to keep track which invoices you have sent to which customers.
If you prefer a mobile experience, you can download the PayPal business app and send your invoices from there. In both cases, templates are preloaded, and can be customised however you’d like. Add your logo, a delivery message, or a thank you for your customer, for example.
If you’re sending an invoice from the PayPal website, follow the steps above to create your invoice. Then you can preview it if you like, to make sure it includes all the details you need – and simply hit send. It’s then delivered directly to your customer, using the email address you’ve already entered.
Once you’ve sent the invoice, your customer will receive an email notification. They can simply click through from this email, to view and pay the invoice within PayPal. If they’d rather pay off-line that’s possible too.
Once an invoice has been received, your customer can choose how they want to pay it. If they already have a PayPal account they can choose to pay using PayPal balance or a linked bank account.
However, even if they don’t have a PayPal account, they can pay using a credit or debit card, or choose to pay off-line with cash, a check, if they’re paying the invoice from a different currency.
PayPal invoice is pretty quick and easy to set up and use – and can be convenient for customers. However, it’s not the only way to get paid via PayPal – you can also use the request money service for personal payments.
PayPal offer protections to both buyers and sellers, depending on the specific circumstances of the transaction. The PayPal dispute resolution centre is the first point of call if you have a problem either as a buyer invoicing a customer, or a customer who has been disappointed by a purchase.
