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Sales tax on ebay? - Title Change - Why I stopped purchasing on ebay...

Started by nocutename,

23 posts in this topic

nocutename

nocutename

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I just won something and as I was paying for the item, I noticed it was an odd amount. After looking at the invoice there was sales tax tacked on. The auction location is in the same state as me but no where is it listed that sales tax is applicable in the auction. I mention this only be stores on ebay do charge tax for same state sales and they remit tax to the state.

 

Is this a new feature on eBay/Paypal to collect sales tax now? And where does it actually go?

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JiveTurkeyMoFo

JiveTurkeyMoFo

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I just won something and as I was paying for the item, I noticed it was an odd amount. After looking at the invoice there was sales tax tacked on. The auction location is in the same state as me but no where is it listed that sales tax is applicable in the auction. I mention this only be stores on ebay do charge tax for same state sales and they remit tax to the state.

 

Is this a new feature on eBay/Paypal to collect sales tax now? And where does it actually go?

 

Not new. Been around for years. Seller needs to inform potential bidders though.

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nocutename

nocutename

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I just won something and as I was paying for the item, I noticed it was an odd amount. After looking at the invoice there was sales tax tacked on. The auction location is in the same state as me but no where is it listed that sales tax is applicable in the auction. I mention this only be stores on ebay do charge tax for same state sales and they remit tax to the state.

 

Is this a new feature on eBay/Paypal to collect sales tax now? And where does it actually go?

 

Not new. Been around for years. Seller needs to inform potential bidders though.

 

Thanks for the reply back. I have not noticed it before but I rarely win an auction from my own state. So I guess the seller collects the tax and is responsible for claiming it on his personal tax return. Interesting to know and I should disclose it if I sell anything as well.

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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

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I just won something and as I was paying for the item, I noticed it was an odd amount. After looking at the invoice there was sales tax tacked on. The auction location is in the same state as me but no where is it listed that sales tax is applicable in the auction. I mention this only be stores on ebay do charge tax for same state sales and they remit tax to the state.

 

Is this a new feature on eBay/Paypal to collect sales tax now? And where does it actually go?

 

Not new. Been around for years. Seller needs to inform potential bidders though.

 

Thanks for the reply back. I have not noticed it before but I rarely win an auction from my own state. So I guess the seller collects the tax and is responsible for claiming it on his personal tax return. Interesting to know and I should disclose it if I sell anything as well.

not personal tax return... not sure what state you are in, but in Florida, all registered business with the Dept of Rev have to collect the 6% surtax...when a Florida resident wins an item from us on ebay, the 6% tax is calculated and paid to the Dept of Rev monthly by us (and it is listed in the auction section about tax, under the shipping and handling section...I assume it is the same for all states within the ebay system)
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nocutename

nocutename

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Thanks for the reply back. I have not noticed it before but I rarely win an auction from my own state. So I guess the seller collects the tax and is responsible for claiming it on his personal tax return. Interesting to know and I should disclose it if I sell anything as well.

not personal tax return... not sure what state you are in, but in Florida, all registered business with the Dept of Rev have to collect the 6% surtax...when a Florida resident wins an item from us on ebay, the 6% tax is calculated (and listed in the auction section about tax)

 

I live in NY. The auction does not appear to be by a business that is why I asked the question.

 

I am under the impression that as an individual, an auction is considered income and is suppose to be claimed on your personal tax return. Same with a garage sale. All sales should be recorded as income. The internet is lax on that so I was surprised to see ebay charging sales tax for a transaction made between two individuals.

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G.A.tor

G.A.tor

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I live in NY. The auction does not appear to be by a business that is why I asked the question.

 

I am under the impression that as an individual, an auction is considered income and is suppose to be claimed on your personal tax return. Same with a garage sale. All sales should be recorded as income. The internet is lax on that so I was surprised to see ebay charging sales tax for a transaction made between two individuals.

 

do you have a link to the auction?

 

auction sales are not necessarily considered income, especially if you sell something at a loss relative to verifiable purchase price... you should only be responsible for any "profit" above and beyond what you paid...

 

an individual should not collect a state sales tax, unless they are registered with that state's dept of Rev (applicable to NY)...

if you don't mind, post the auction link and ask for the sellers Resale Cert #, to prove they need to be collecting tax for the State of NY...if they don't have one, they are committing fraud (according to the minimal research I just did)

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slym2none

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an individual should not collect a state sales tax, unless they are registered with that state's dept of Rev (applicable to NY)...

if you don't mind, post the auction link and ask for the sellers Resale Cert #, to prove they need to be collecting tax for the State of NY...if they don't have one, they are committing fraud (according to the minimal research I just did)

 

I had an entire thread about this very subject pulled. I guess it's "political"...

 

Here's my 2c though - in NC, there is a space on our state income tax form requiring us to list a total for any and all "out of state purchases," including online sales. I don't have the sheets in front of me, but I suppose they want us to figure out a percentage of those sales and report it so they can collect it from us.

 

In other words, North Carolina wants their public to pay THEM a sales tax based on any sales that happened outside of NC. So, if I buy something from a seller in NY state, NC wants what should have been, had I been in NY when I bought it, NY's sales tax.

 

Now, eBay seems to be keeping tighter records, and maybe one day will be reporting all of this to the IRS.

 

I lied my butt off and claimed no "out of state" purchases.

 

 

 

-slym

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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Several states have a "use tax"....that is, they charge the appropriate state tax for use, storage, of consumption of goods in that state. Residents of California, for example, are supposed to pay the required CA state sales tax on anything they purchase in other states that is used, stored, or consumed in CA. This is the same as in the North Carolina example slym gave above.

 

If I pay the local sales tax in another state, I can apply that as a tax credit on my CA return.

 

CA residents are expected to pay this, but it is rarely enforced.

 

I have little doubt that there are more than a few sellers who charge "sales tax" in their listings, but do not in turn pay that money to the state itself.

 

But what do I know, I'm just a terrible cynic.

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nocutename

nocutename

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I live in NY. The auction does not appear to be by a business that is why I asked the question.

 

I am under the impression that as an individual, an auction is considered income and is suppose to be claimed on your personal tax return. Same with a garage sale. All sales should be recorded as income. The internet is lax on that so I was surprised to see ebay charging sales tax for a transaction made between two individuals.

 

do you have a link to the auction?

 

auction sales are not necessarily considered income, especially if you sell something at a loss relative to verifiable purchase price... you should only be responsible for any "profit" above and beyond what you paid...

 

an individual should not collect a state sales tax, unless they are registered with that state's dept of Rev (applicable to NY)...

if you don't mind, post the auction link and ask for the sellers Resale Cert #, to prove they need to be collecting tax for the State of NY...if they don't have one, they are committing fraud (according to the minimal research I just did)

 

Here's a link to the auction. The sales tax was not that much I was just curious. I just looked at the Create Listing page and there is a section for sales tax so perhaps he is running a business. I really cannot tell from the auction but it is not listed in the description.

 

No biggy as it was only .28 cent of tax. I don't recall ever being charged sales tax and now with Amazon charging sales tax so I was wondering if this was a new thing on eBay and if I should beware of something for my own listings.

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nocutename

nocutename

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It is listed in the auction that the seller charges sales tax, under Shipping and Handling:

 

"Seller charges sales tax for items shipped to: NY (7.000%). "

 

I would assume that sellers must provide their sales tax ID number when charging sales tax on eBay.

 

I am seriously loosing IQ points as I am getting older. I am having a hard time functioning with eBay's new look and feel. Thanks for pointing out where to look. I normally don't go past the description of the item.

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nocutename

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I really like that book....looks like a good price too....want to double your money? lol

 

lol I am excited that I found an affordable copy to read myself. It was kinda of a fluke that I found it as well and was inspired by a thread started here...Ye of little faith.

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nocutename

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Rather than start another thread I am just going to post my woes here because the auction in question has the link posted. So after reading a post that they got a bargain on eBay, I started searching and found a book that I wanted but they are normally too expensive for me. The book was really cheap but looks solid and the auction states, "This comic is in Fine+ condition, with solid staples, bright colors and white pages."

 

I got it today in record time shipped in a plain manila envelope with only one piece of cardboard, despite my request for it to be sandwich boarded between two. Luckily, it did arrive through the mail safely but not without its undisclosed flaws. Both staples rusty with little migration to the book and there is a large bug or rodent chew on of the top right hand corner. All undisclosed and very noticeable through the bag.

 

I did notice that something funky could be going on in that top corner. However, the seller did go into some detail about the book so I chalked it up to being a bad scan. It bothers me that this went undisclosed but what really burns me is that the staples are rusty. So once again, I am off of eBay unless it is for reading and flipping only. I just don’t understand why I have such bad experiences on eBay. Yes, there are deals to be had but whenever I find a deal, it’s normally to good to be true.

 

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