Tax added on Ebay now?

[Ben]

The total state & local tax for San Antonio is 8.25% - https://www.salestaxhandbook.com/texas/rates/san-antonio  

I thought that's what it was but when I checked on Google, It said 6. something. I buy my groceries online from walmart and they only charge me 6.5% on my order? Not sure if it's because it's online?

[Ben]

As of this morning, both sellers refunded the tax that was charged. I'll be sure to watch for this on any future purchases!!! Really nice using the Buy it now for something listed at $66.00 and getting a receipt saying you just paid $74.00!

[charlie8575]

In Massachusetts, although you're "supposed" to collect tax, private sellers usually don't, nor do they at yard sales and such, which would be tough to do anyway, so the Commonwealth lets it go, it's not worth chasing.

Now, if someone has a store or does eBay as a business venture, they yes, they collect Massachusetts sales tax.

If you're an out-of-state buyer, they're supposed to waive it.

Charlie Larkin

[Bob Ellis]

If they're in the same state you pay sales tax.  That's pretty standard across the internet.  It's possible the seller has a facility or affiliate in your state. Large eBay sellers will often use regional fulfillment partners it's possible they have one in your state. They would still collect regardless of whether the item shipped from that location. A lot of eBay sellers now just order the item for you off Amazon and send it to you as a "gift"  (I've personally had this happen a couple times lately) so maybe they're charging you for the Amazon tax they'll be paying.  Amazon charges sales tax if there is an Amazon facility in your state if it was sold by Amazon (regardless of  whether the facility it ships from is in your state) or if the seller is in your state for 3rd party Amazon Marketplace sellers.   

You're supposed to pay the sales tax yourself on items bought out-of-state, that's always been the case even before the internet.  It's not widely enforced but I can see states starting to enforce it more due to falling revenues from more and more online sales. 

Source: we sell on Amazon and eBay plus my uncle does SALT reverse audits.   

when you do your taxes in Massachusetts, you are supposed to pay sales tax for all out of state purchases as stated above. Computers ahve made it possible for the states to put all the pieces together.

[aurfalien]

Hi,

 

That's odd, as I just sold about 6 item between last and this month and didn't see anything about tax being added.  I did notice both eBay and PayPal taking a piece of the action though.  But my sellers paid no more then my asking price.

 

[Tom Geiger]

I hadn't seen this until Sunday when I needed to buy a cover pump for my pool.  I was buying a specific Little Giant pump and a bunch of sellers had the same item with a wide variation in prices.  I had two sellers, one in Arizona and one in New York add sales tax to the Buy It Now.  The one in NY was cheapest even with the tax added... now I'll email them and ask what's up.

 

[redneckrigger]

when you do your taxes in Massachusetts, you are supposed to pay sales tax for all out of state purchases as stated above. Computers ahve made it possible for the states to put all the pieces together.

Massachusetts is an evil place, always trying to find a way to put their hand in your pocket. I own a gun shop in MA. We accept out of state transfers for my customers when they want to buy a gun from out of state. The seller in, Idaho for example, does not collect sales tax from the buyer, only the purchase price and the shipping to us. We accept the gun and transfer it to the buyer, charging him a transfer fee for the paperwork and the accepted liability of us being the transferor of the gun. The transferee, or the buyer, then must also remit to us a 6.25% USE tax, (same % as sales tax) for his privilege of using said item in Massachusetts. We have been told by the State Department of Revenue, that since the purchase cannot be affected direct to the buyer without using us, a licensed sales tax collector, that we are considered the vendor, and therefore must collect the use tax from the buyer based upon what he paid the seller for the gun. When we get our books audited by the DOR, we must remit to them, 6.25% on all in-state sales PLUS interstate transfers. If we don't collect it, we will still have to remit it, plus fees and fines and interest if we don't.

States ARE losing tons of revenue due to online sales and are trying their best to get their pound of flesh, if not from the buyer, then from a vendor like me, or any business who maintains an office or presence in their state, even if the item never was in the state until it was shipped to the buyer. Welcome to the computer age, because they CAN figure it out.

I also have a gun shop in Vermont, and they are doing the same thing. Massachusetts has gone as far as to establish a fraud hotline where you can report your neighbor, and get a reward, if you suspect that they are not paying sales taxes on out of state purchases such as major appliances or tires, for example, or even registering their car in a state where it may be cheaper. This is due to the proximity of New Hampshire to MA, and the no sales tax status of NH.

And, sellers on eBay have found that if they can tack on a % to your purchase even if NOT required, that very often the buyer does not ever figure itmout. It is free money to them too. Gotta love it!

[Bob Ellis]

I wouldn't want to be the seller if they collected sales tax in the name of the state and the state found out that they didn't remit it. 

If they're in the same state you pay sales tax.  That's pretty standard across the internet.  It's possible the seller has a facility or affiliate in your state. Large eBay sellers will often use regional fulfillment partners it's possible they have one in your state. They would still collect regardless of whether the item shipped from that location. A lot of eBay sellers now just order the item for you off Amazon and send it to you as a "gift"  (I've personally had this happen a couple times lately) so maybe they're charging you for the Amazon tax they'll be paying.  Amazon charges sales tax if there is an Amazon facility in your state if it was sold by Amazon (regardless of  whether the facility it ships from is in your state) or if the seller is in your state for 3rd party Amazon Marketplace sellers.   

You're supposed to pay the sales tax yourself on items bought out-of-state, that's always been the case even before the internet.  It's not widely enforced but I can see states starting to enforce it more due to falling revenues from more and more online sales. 

Source: we sell on Amazon and eBay plus my uncle does SALT reverse audits.   

when you do your taxes in Massachusetts, you are supposed to pay sales tax for all out of state purchases as stated above. Computers ahve made it possible for the states to put all the pieces together.

[aurfalien]

Hi,

Ah I see, so the sellers are being sneaky.

That's not nice.

[Jon Haigwood]

There is no sales tax here in Oregon and in Washington there is for residents but not for out of state buyers.When Washington residents come into Oregon they don't have to pay a tax. Sounds more like a fee than a tax. If ebay or sellers are collecting for taxs they better be turning the funds and records over the the state they are collecting for. If not they maybe looking for trouble.

[Tom Geiger]

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/letters/blog.pl?/pl/2017/4/1491996005.htmlI 

I took this issue to my favorite eCommerce site  hoping they could offer an explanation.  I was thinking maybe an eBay glitch that was hitting out of staters for sales tax.  Something like the excessive charges in the postage calculator.   But it doesn't seem they have any more info than we did.   See my letter to them in the link above, and the responses.