Delcampe Is Officially Run By Morons

Question: For those of us who live in states NOT-AFFECTED by the recent Delcampe account closures, did you pay any state sales taxes on any recent Delcampe purchases? Your answer might address the question if other states might follow suit in more account closures or not. Thanks!

Interesting that Massachusetts was not on the list. Delcampe meets the requirements to collect taxes and is required to register although I don't see how that is enforceable.

The "enforceable" is an interesting question. If Delcampe declines to collect and remit someone else's taxes, and has no US operation, what exactly are US states going to do about it? How would they even know that someone in their state was buying something? The obvious thing to do for European companies with no US business is to ignore these demands.

This is the first explanation of the issue I've seen from a non-US perspective. Should put the "tax treaty" debate to bed. https://www.zedra.com/insights/us-s...n-companies/

It would work if you do not plan to ever visit the USA if you have any say in running Delcampe, if you do not own any assets in the USA and can avoid using US Banks in the transactions.

Or credit cards. MC, VISA, and AmEx can be ordered to block any transactions with Delcampe.

A US state can establish "personal jurisdiction," for a federal court lawsuit against a foreign business if the business has "targeted" the state with advertising, marketing, other sales activities, or other commercial activities. An example might be placing ads in American Philatelist (whether a national placement must have content to "target" a particular US state is unresolved), directing an email promotional campaign only to buyers in a particular state, offering a "New York Celebration Discount" just for New York buyers, and so forth.

The procedural mechanism is well-established. The state would sue the foreign company in a US federal court based upon "diversity of citizenship," and serve the Complaint on the foreign company in Belgium (or wherever) under the terms of the Hague Convention (Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil Or Commercial Matters: The Hague, 15 November 1965). The foreign company then would have 120 days to decide whether to appear and defend the case, make a "special appearance" to contest the "targeting" finding or ignore the Complaint. If the latter occurs, the state would obtain a default judgment, and then ask a Belgian court to enforce the judgment against the foreign company under international principles of "comity" (you recognize my judgment, I'll recognize yours).

Due to the cost of these steps, I wouldn't expect a state to pursue a case unless the unpaid tax liability is in the $5 million range or higher. States naturally focus on the largest entities in enforcement cases.



Not correct. See the prior answer.

The following Yale Law Journal article explores the interplay of Wayfair and principles of personal jurisdiction over foreign entities.
https://www.yalelawjournal.org/foru...nes-nicastro

So, Delcampe collects personal data. That requires permission.

This is correct.

If I buy something on ebay from overseas, the 10% GST is added at checkout, on the purchase price and shipping.

If a government considered a measure extraterritorial, it could instruct its businesses not to comply - whether they followed such an instruction would be for them. A court could also presumably take the view on the extraterritorial nature of a measure.

There has not been a stamp for a moron shortage,

That's fair. I mean, that's what a number of Colonial governments in North America did in the late 18th century, and things worked out pretty well for them…

Delcampe just updated their Terms and Conditions and one of the changes was to how they define themselves:

LOL, yeah it is really a non-profit flea market.

How does that help those US sellers who are still responsible for paying the state sales taxes they owe?

Just like the changes that are coming for hybrid and EV cars and the state/Federal gas taxes they are currently not paying (other than a bit of added vehicle registration tax to for some states that is falling short of replacing what is being lost from gasoline tax). I think that sooner, rather than later, online taxation is going to hit everyone in the US. They are not going to stand for a multi-billion underground economy.
Don

" Delcampe International SRL is not a public auction house."

Yet it has auctions, many rules on how business is conducted and takes a percentage from the auction sale. Sure....

Delcampe is not a football team either, but I know a fumble when I see one.