Japan Auctions Taxes and Fees Questions.....

watchyouwant · Sep 28, 2022

If you use a Japanese Proxy Company to bid on your behalf on a Japanese Yahoo auction for a used Watch, they do business inside of Japan on your behalf and that will often include the 10% japanese Consumption Tax ? Correct ? Or not for second hand transactions? If that is correct, must the Proxy company refund the paid consumption tax to the foreign Customer and claim it back in their japanese Tax return from the japanese government? there is a process, but does that apply to used and exported watches as well ? if not, the original seller to the proxy company inside japan keeps the 10% Tax and makes a windfall profit of 10% extra ? Did i miss something?

krogerfoot · Sep 28, 2022

Registered companies doing business in Japan charge 10% consumption tax on any transaction, so the proxy company is definitely paying the tax and presumably charging the foreign buyer for it. Foreign visitors can purchase things tax-free in certain circumstances.

When my company pays contractors living abroad we have to deduct taxes according to the various tax treaties between Japan and wherever the contractors reside. It’s a pain—I have to send two copies of an application to the contractor and get their signature, then take the physical copies to the tax office and file one there. If the process for claiming a refund on consumption tax for online sales is one tenth as frustrating, I can’t imagine the proxy company is doing it for every transaction.

watchyouwant · Sep 28, 2022

Ok. Makes sense. Foreigners should get it back on exporting, but the Tax Office makes it very hard to claim. Therefore nobody does, the original seller keeps the 10% and that only impacts his company taxes. Either buy from Japanese private sellers or factor in plus 10% on your maximum bid.

krogerfoot · Sep 28, 2022

Well, I’m only speculating from my own experience, but nobody “keeps” the tax. The proxy buyer pays it to the seller, and the seller remits it to the government every quarter or twice a year.

watchyouwant · Sep 28, 2022

Might be different for bigger Players like Closer, who gets watches from private owners to sell and gets a commission from the private owner....

Dan S · Sep 29, 2022

I notice that some sellers charge tax and some do not. Maybe this is related to whether they are registered companies, as Kay suggested, vs a private seller. Since the proxy bidder is actually buying it, not the foreign buyer, I don't see how one could get the tax back. The proxy bidder is a Japanese company buying something from another Japanese company, and the tax seems legit. As Achim said, I think you just need to factor the 10% into the purchase price. Using Buyee, I notice that it is automatically calculated.

watchyouwant · Sep 29, 2022

Had confirmation from Buyee, that it should be on the actual site, that shows your desired item, at the present price ( bidders or not ) with the currency conversion and in a 2. Line : Tax included, if the seller charges the 10% . Which business seller do, many private sellers don't.

MarshWatches · Aug 28, 2023

I've bought through Japanese proxy services before and I didn't pay any consumption tax when I was bidding on Auctions or buying watches through Mercari through Sendico... Maybe I just happened to choose listings which included tax in the price and I didn't realise?

mountainunder · Aug 29, 2023

Sales tax is only charged on Yahoo Auctions and Mercari if the seller has a store account.
On Yahoo Auctions and Mercari, you don't have to pay sales tax on bids and purchases from sellers who don't have a store account.

watchyouwant · Aug 29, 2023

Buyee as a Japanese company pays on your behalf the 10 % inside Japan sales tax. And claims that back from you. If you buy the same item from the same seller on eBay, there is no Japanese middle man and therefore no 10% tax for the foreign buyer. Just your foreign state and federal taxes

mountainunder · Aug 29, 2023

This is an example of Closer 0924, but if you check the prices on ebay and Chrono24 against the Japanese online store, you will see that ebey > Chrono24 > Japanese online store
I think that the selling price on ebay and Chrono24 is the price including VAT of the Japanese online store plus the commission of each platform.

The difference between the selling price in Japan and eBay is too large, so it may be possible that using an agent such as Buyee may be the cheapest way to sell your items.

Also, there is not much difference in price between Chrono24 and their own online store in Japan's duty free store (sometimes the price is clearly stated as excluding tax).

So, there are many differences between stores that sell directly from Japan to overseas.
ebay

Chrono24

Yahoo auction

MarshWatches · Sep 5, 2023

M mountainunder
Sales tax is only charged on Yahoo Auctions and Mercari if the seller has a store account.
On Yahoo Auctions and Mercari, you don't have to pay sales tax on bids and purchases from sellers who don't have a store account.

Cool, had no idea! Thanks!

frasatriani · Sep 5, 2023

M mountainunder
Sales tax is only charged on Yahoo Auctions and Mercari if the seller has a store account.
On Yahoo Auctions and Mercari, you don't have to pay sales tax on bids and purchases from sellers who don't have a store account.

thanks for sharing.

Japan Auctions Taxes and Fees Questions.....

watchyouwant

krogerfoot

watchyouwant

krogerfoot

watchyouwant

Dan S

watchyouwant

MarshWatches

mountainunder

watchyouwant

mountainunder

MarshWatches

frasatriani

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