Ebay Now Collects Sales Tax

I noticed this on a recent Invoice to a customer in Iowa;






This has been on my shipping page for a couple weeks;





The "Learn More" Link takes you here;

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/...348#section1


I looks like I won't have to do anything except answer complaints from customers.

ebay's downward spiral into irrelevancy: (1) links to paypal; (2) makes link mandatory; (3)starts collecting fees oh S/H charges; (4)starts providing sales data to tax departments; (5)now is tax collector for government. Personally, I'm bailing out just as soon as I can.

I rather that ebay would collect and deal with it than force us to deal with that nightmare.

Washington State sales taxes are "destination based" creating a minefield for sellers and "market facilitators" like ebay. Tax rates vary by district and may include entities like regional transit districts with boundaries that split ZIP codes. Stamp dealers who sell at shows in Washington State have additional issues to sort out.

Recent communication from Washington State DOR regarding marketplace facilitator reporting requirements:




While no reporting requirement exists, I don't understand how sellers required to report Washington State Sales tax will be able to file a complete and accurate tax return without detailed reporting from marketplace facilitators like ebay.

The complete thread appeared yesterday in eCommerce Bytes:

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/le...9377952.html

The State of California has announced that tax collection from out of state sellers will begin April 1, 2019 for sellers meeting their 200 transaction or $100,000 annual sales criteria. I checked my sales on ebay for 2018 and found that it is ridiculously easy to reach the 200 sales-threshold without coming close to the dollar amount criteria. California also has a destination-based sales tax, but it is nowhere near as complicated as Washington State. Out-of-state stamp dealers who sell at shows in California will be in a bind because, the state may start asking dealers about out-of-state sales Internet sales when they set up at major shows like WESTPEX or SESCAL. Since it is doubtful that ebay will start collecting California sales tax on April 1st, who will compel high volume rogue dealers that clutter the ebay site to collect California sales taxes. Will failure to collect sales taxes be added to misidentified and misdescribed stamps as another competitive disadvantage faced by legitimate stamp sellers on ebay?

Just when I thought it couldn't get worse...

1. I received a sale from Washington State today. No mention of sales tax anywhere on ebay or in the API. The SixBit invoice does not include the sales tax amount paid to ebay. The PayPal transaction doesn't mention the sales tax amount collected by ebay either. What happens if the buyer returns the item through PayPal? Will ebay refund the taxes if the refund happens outside the 30 day period they allow for payment? Will buyers losing the sales tax in a delayed refund be angry with ebay or the seller?

2. I read the Connecticut regulations today because I already have a Connecticut resale permit. It appears that ebay sellers 100% on ebay may still be required register with the state of Connecticut and file a sales tax return, even if ebay collected 100% of taxes due. Will ebay report sales amounts? According to the Connecticut DRS they must (my interpretation):




Here is the link from the ebay site: https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DRS/P...-8.pdf?la=en

Very recently have been getting notifications for ebay purchases from the US to Aus saying the item has now been cleared by US customs. This is happening before my item leaves the US. This is new to me.

Maybe it has something to do with the tax collecting that is being talked about here? It looks like I am paying some sort of tax in the US and another GST tax from Aus!?

To Anyone Out There

Do they also collect Sales Tax for Pennsylvania ?? A friend just started selling on ebay and I asked him about that today and he didn't know.

ebay sales tax collection
Based on applicable tax laws, ebay will calculate, collect, and remit sales tax on behalf of sellers for items shipped to customers in the following states:

Minnesota January 1, 2019
Small business exemption - Minnesota has enacted a small business exemption for out of state unregistered sellers whose taxable retail sales into Minnesota are less than $10,000 in the previous 12-month period. These sellers are not subject to the Minnesota marketplace tax laws, and ebay will not be collecting sales tax on these transactions.

Washington January 1, 2019

Iowa February 1, 2019

Connecticut April 1, 2019

New Jersey May 1, 2019

Alabama July 1, 2019

Oklahoma July 1, 2019

Pennsylvania July 1, 2019

Agree that the 200-transaction threshold is easy to hit in California. I'm going to have to start collecting CA tax in April - almost 10 percent of my total transactions go there. I think more states should start doing what Minnesota did and enact a small business exception, or otherwise increase the transaction number. I'd actually prefer that, since I only track transaction numbers, not sales totals. (I suppose that would just be some additional excel formula work, but....) My guess is that ultimately more states will take the WA/PA, etc. route and demand that the marketplace facilitators handle it, which is another way to reduce burden on small sellers.

I've been seeing Washington-collected sales tax on my invoices here and there. I'm not otherwise at risk of hitting any thresholds in Washington so I am not tracking it.

Oregon has NO sales tax.

States without sales tax:
Alaska.
Delaware.
Montana.
New Hampshire.
Oregon.

It won't take very long for most if not all of the other states that have a sales tax to jump on this free lunch wagon. So much for net neutrality.

Of greater concern would be paying GST on the US sales tax. Is this legal? I haven't bought out of the US on ebay for a good while but when I look at listings I can see import duties. Is this a separate issue?

Getting harder to grab a bargain.....

Buyers outside the U.S. won't be paying any form of U.S. sales tax. Exports cannot be taxed by the U.S. govt. As for your countries custom fees, VAt, GST, etc, that's all on your country's govt.

MANY THANKS, CFR PHOTO!! ,
I will pass the tax info along to my friend.
Hal

Battlestamps, I'll keep buying from you off Delcampe and avoid ebay!

Hal, Thanks. I use both as both have their pros and cons.