Ebay Collecting Sales Tax- On Foreign Purchases?

Maybe this has been going on awhile and I never noticed. Yesterday I bought a $35 item from a vendor in France and on checkout I noticed I was charged $2.63 'sales tax'. Is this a VAT or what?

No it's a sales tax probably mandated by the state that you live in. VAT = "value added tax" which is not applicable in the United States.

In Canada and presumably the USA, sales taxes are actually "Consumption" [a.k.a. "use"] taxes. So, the consumer is the one who pays the tax on items consumed or used. For example, the contractors who build a house, pay the tax on all of the personal tangible property (i.e. nails, windows and wood) that they purchased that became 'real property' once incorporated into the build.

As a stamp collector, you have to pay the sales tax on taxable items you consumed in the state (or province) regardless of where it came from. You would have paid tax on the same item if you had purchased it from a local stamp dealer.

The state has required the supplier, i.e ebay, to register as a collector of the state's sales tax, so applicable sales must be charged on taxable goods sold to a consumer in the state. Failure to do so, would result in ebay's legal liability to pay the state the tax it didn't change and/or collect from the consumer.

Some states like California and New York have different sale tax rates based on locality. In California, if the seller and buyer are in the same sales tax district, that rate applies. If the seller is outside the buyer's district, the basic California sale tax (7.25%) applies. Municipalities can add extra up to a total of 10.25% maximum and some are charging the maximum. ebay clearly applies the local sales tax, whatever it may be, no matter the origin of the seller. This is incorrect. So is ebay pocketing the difference?; it would be very easy for them to do so.

On mail order/internet purchases, you're usually charged the default state sales tax rate. It doesn't necessarily reflect all of the local or municipal add-ons. For example, the default statewide Illinois sales tax rate is 6.0% or 6.25%, and when you tack on all of the local/municipal add-ons, I actually pay 9.5% when buying locally. When I buy online, sales tax is usually assessed at the 6.25% rate.

Now, since Illinois has a use tax, I am supposed to voluntarily remit the difference between the 6.25% and the 9.5% local rate come tax time.

And yes, as mentioned above, internet sales tax is based on where the buyer is located, not the seller is, so the fact that the seller is overseas is immaterial. You still owe state sales tax.

State of Washington sales tax is destination based. Business entities having the misfortune of collecting State of Washington sales tax must geocode every address to determine the sales tax rate. RTA tax overlay districts around Puget Sound split ZIP codes. Larger sellers must collect district tax in California if sales in that district exceed the state Wayfair threshold. Every state has its own set of regulations.

I live in Seattle, Washington State, which, surprisingly, does not have the highest local sales tax rate in the state. But at 10.1%, it is still rather high. And that is exactly the rate at which ebay is charging me sales r=tax on my purchases through them. Presumably those living in areas with lower local sales tax rates pay less.

Yep, the combined sales tax rate in Albany, CA, is 9.75%, and that's just what ebay charged me on my recent purchases from the U.K., Serbia, and the Czech Republic.

Sorry if I am waxing political here; but does it not seem onerous that government should get 10% of a transaction between two collectors?

Might re-kindle actual stamp shows if that keeps up.

Sure, but your stamp collection will be 10% smaller. Sellers at stamp shows are obligated to collect sales tax. Most bundle tax into the price. There is no quid pro quo here.