Selling goods bought online

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Hi all :)

I'm planning to buy things (clothes, jewellery etc) from online sites like eBay and sell them by advertising via Facebook. I'm totally confused with all these VAT and other fees thing. I've bought many things online but that was for my personal use.

Firstly, I want to know if I would have to register somewhere to be able to do that.

Secondly, if I order things costing less than Rs.1000 after the registration, do I have to collect the parcel at the nearest post office or will the postman deliver it at my place? Is there any fee to pay?

Thank you for answering my question ^^

10 Replies

gices Level 6

You will have to register as self employed.

Have a read at importing items from abroad into Mauritius as that explains everything you need to know. If you have questions after that, feel free to ask.

BlueSky Level 1

Thank you for your reply. I have other questions.

What happens if I do not register as a self employed and start my little 'business' and I each time purposely make orders worth less than Rs.1000, will the customs get to know and withhold my products and will I have to pay fines?

I've read the article about how to register as self employed. There's another problem. I'm only a student who's trying to make some money before going to uni next year. If I register myself as Individual with no dependent, I will not even reach to the amount of Rs255,000 at the end of one year.

What happens then, how much tax do I pay? No point in registering as self employed or is there any solution?

gices Level 6

I've told you the correct way of doing things. So if you want to do things outside the scope of law, I'm sure you're clever enough to know the consequences and the risks you're taking.

If your net profit does not exceed Rs255,000 in one year, then you have no tax to pay. You still need to register as self employed though as you're doing business. Profit and loss is all part of business and MRA needs to know what type of business you're into and how much money you're making (or loss if any) so they can calculate your tax accordingly.

BlueSky Level 1

I will definitely register as a self employed.
Just to confirm, do I need to have a cash book (maybe the MRA would need proof)?

Are you sure that I will not be required to pay any tax as my net profit will not exceed Rs 255,000?

Thank you once again for your answers.

gices Level 6

I filled in my tax return online but even if you do yours on the application form, they don't usually ask for proof. However you need to keep a cash book and receipts of everything so that if they want to do an audit, you've got all the transaction details at hand.

My tax allowance was around Rs455,000 because I had two dependents and I didn't make more than this amount in one particular year and I had no tax to pay. So stop worrying :)

BlueSky Level 1

Okay now I'm more confident. You gave me lots of useful information. Thank you very much :) :)

Ayeza Level 1

Hi bluesky I can give you some website from which you can order korean clothes and jewelries for your business.Also if you are interested to sell indian clothing then I can help you.

BlueSky Level 1

Hi :)
I've already sent you a mail. Thanks.

gices Level 6

@Ayeza : Very nice of you to help out but can you remove your email address from your post, otherwise you might get a lot of spam as you've made it publicly available. We'll be launching a live chat system soon, so you'll be able to message other members easily.