Sales tax from ebay?

[Hovoc]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...126123596&rd=1


this guy says he MUSt charge sales tax.


since when? hes in ohio, not my home state, is this something that ohio does? or does he just want extra money? i fail to see how a state can regulate tax on an online auction site

[tritium]

Nope, ebay works like mail order. Send and buyer must be in the same state for tax to apply.

I work at an online store, and I wire orders to local shops all over the country, no such law exists as far as im aware.

-Tritium

[postulio]

if he is a legit store and files an income tax for everything he sells, then he has to charge sales tax IN HIS OWN STATE. if he says he has to charge tax in all states, hes lying and wants extra dough

[tritium]

Further note, I just realized.

I attend the University of Phoenix online. The bookstore they used to use (they just recently switched this month) used to be in Ohio. I was never charged tax when ordering my books, and I am in Florida.

If they have STORES that are in the local state, they have to pay that states tax. For example if I buy form JoShmoe Store, and they're main office is in PA, but they have a store in FL they have to charge tax. That could be the issue here.


-Tritium

[kevincure]

If you have a retail presence in X state, then buyers in that state usually have to pay sales tax when they buy through the internet. It's almost always ignored, though.

[Hovoc]

thats what i figured, ive ordered stuff from online stores before and never have had to pay tax

since my question was answered, i guess this can be moved to ebay insanity

[goatdan]

That's exactly what it is. Since the main "headquarters" of the GOAT Store is located in Wisconsin and more specifically, Milwaukee, we must charge all Wisconsin people based on the Wisconsin and Milwaukee County sales tax. It is 5.6%.

If we had a brick and mortar store, we would need to charge the same stuff.

Now, if we create a new brick and mortar store in Minnesota, we would have to charge any online sales to MN sales tax. Where ever we put a new "real" location, we have to charge sales tax.

If this seller is operating under the banner of a chain store (and I wouldn't dobut it), then he has to charge sales tax for any state the game sells in. That seems to be an honest auction.

Something you may not know -- if you go to a different state and purchase something, you legally do not need to pay sales tax. You're supposed to pay the sales tax at the end of the year. The problem is that merchants don't know that and won't do it for you usually -- but it is why if you visited us at the Video Game Summit in Chicago and the Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee, we wouldn't have charged you sales tax in Chicago but would have in Milwaukee.

Some states demand that any temporary sales places charge sales tax too. But that's another story...

[esquire]

If you think he's bullshiting and it's a scam, ask him for his State Sales Tax License #, as Retailers must be licensed to collect tax. Also, request a receipt with a break down of the charges. If he can't provide either, he is a liar and a scammer. I'd also file a 1099 with the federal government to ensure that he reports the sale as income.

[Mangar]

This question was already answered perfectly.

But just to add a tidbit - I know in New York, a law was passed in the last year or so that was supposed to tax residents on out of state purchases. But it had nothing to do with the retailers. You the consumer were supposed to claim what you purchased from say a Mall in New Jersey, and then pay the tax on it.

IE: The Honor System

I don't know a soul who does this, but i remember reading about it recently. heh

[thehistorian]

If you think he's bullshiting and it's a scam, ask him for his State Sales Tax License #, as Retailers must be licensed to collect tax. Also, request a receipt with a break down of the charges. If he can't provide either, he is a liar and a scammer. I'd also file a 1099 with the federal government to ensure that he reports the sale as income.

Ha ha I love your thinking...

[rolenta]

I don't know a soul who does this, but i remember reading about it recently. heh

It's called a USE Tax and NJ asks for it on our income taxes every year. Like you, I don't know anyone who's ever reported any.

ask him for his State Sales Tax License #, as Retailers must be licensed to collect tax.

He may not necessarily have this. I am required to collect and pay sales tax on any books I sell in NJ but I don't have a tax license #; everything is connected to my social security number.

To Hovoc:
I don't think this guy is scamming you. Notice that he only asks for sales tax from a few states, not all.

[kevincure]

I'm pretty sure that (almost?) ALL states require you to pay tax when you buy something out-of-state, but again, it's the least followed law in history.

[Hovoc]

To Hovoc:
I don't think this guy is scamming you. Notice that he only asks for sales tax from a few states, not all.

no, im not buying from the guy, just nopticed this, and from what ive bought on ebay before ive never seen this mentioned, nor on any websites unless it was based in that state


was just curious if this was a sneaky way to get extra money, like it could be the next "inflated shipping" thing

[ianoid]

Is there a different sale tax policy for used items in some states?

I've noticed that Salvation Armies charge no sales tax, whereas many others do. What the dilly-o?

[Funk Buddy]

ask him for his State Sales Tax License #, as Retailers must be licensed to collect tax.

He may not necessarily have this. I am required to collect and pay sales tax on any books I sell in NJ but I don't have a tax license #; everything is connected to my social security number.

Yep for single owner business it's your SS #, but for corporations it's a different number. Just look at the W-9 form from the IRS.

I believe there are a few states that make a business collect tax on all purchases. This started around the time Amazon took off and lots of states were loosing revenue. Here in Missouri if I was to sell something out of state and make a trip there in support of the sale we'd have to charge tax, but if we drop ship it and never go... no tax is charged. What's really BS is if we charge "handling" along with shipping we must charge tax including the "handling" cost. So we never charge for shipping and handling on a ticket, just shipping is listed.

[Sylentwulf]

Or, you just live in NH, no sales tax, and selling on ebay and claiming taxes becomes much easier

Yes, if you live in the same state as the seller, and the seller files taxes, you must pay sales tax.

[jonjandran]

Would people please remember there is a difference between Sales tax and State tax.

You can sometimes charge for Sales tax (as mentioned depending on where the buyer lives) but you can't ever charge for State tax.

[esquire]

Would people please remember there is a difference between Sales tax and State tax.

You can sometimes charge for Sales tax (as mentioned depending on where the buyer lives) but you can't ever charge for State tax.

Never heard of state tax. Are you referring to State Income Tax?

[goatdan]

I don't know a soul who does this, but i remember reading about it recently. heh

It's called a USE Tax and NJ asks for it on our income taxes every year. Like you, I don't know anyone who's ever reported any.

Aha! That's the name of the tax I was forgetting... Use Tax!

Use tax is used as an honor system thing on out of state purchases - if you buy something out of state but use it in the state, you are supposed to pay taxes on it as if you did purchase it in the state. There are two things working against this:

Most sales out of state still charge you state sales tax. If you pay use tax on it, you are essentially paying twice for a product, which is unfair. Considering that there are pretty much no rules in place to stop businesses from charging sales tax to out of state people -- or for that matter, even rules to try to get them not too, that part makes sense.

The other reason is that most people aren't purchasing things that are so big out of state to avoid taxes. And there are other laws in place for this.

The Use Tax applies mostly to businesses -- If the GOAT Store made a $5000.00 PC purchase from out of state and did not pay sales taxes on it, when we claimed that our assets raised by $8000.00 for the year, but we only paid $168 in taxes, a red flag would go up and the Government would have every right to come knocking at our doors and demanding that we pay the other $280. They can see that with businesses a lot quicker though.

I don't think this guy is scamming you. Notice that he only asks for sales tax from a few states, not all.

The other thing that I would point out is that this guy would make an extra $100.00 maybe from the sale of this with the sales tax. Do you know how hard the government fines and punishes people that do that? It would have made a LOT more sense for someone just to ask for an extra $100.00 packing fee...

[digitalpress]

>> moving to eBay forum <<