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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

Purchasing legal tender is not taxable in Pennsylvania. I’ve checked with sellers and they all say they have no control over it? But can’t you select your tax tables? So it could be the seller right? If not eBay is illegally collecting sales tax on legal tender US coins when I buy them. This wasn’t the case a few years ago so I’m confused why it’s happening now?

 

Example: just paid for a U.S. commemorative dollar coin 1987. Auction won at $22 but I was forced to pay $23.32 a $1.32 extra.

 

this is a ongoing issue with my purchases.

 

items were listed correctly and I checked all other aspects that could cause illegal tax to be collected. 

eBay PLEASE HELP

https://www.ebay.com/str/fncollectibes
Message 1 of 20
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19 REPLIES 19

eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

Sellers can no longer select "tax tables".

 

Some items are taxed/untaxed based upon the category they are listed in.

Message 2 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

@ajs_coins_and_alchemy has the most thorough response for this situation. Tagging them to see if they'll copy/paste that info for you.

GLORIOUS!

Check out the new inefficient Seller Hub 'All Filters' panel to see how much eBay disrespects sellers' time (click).
Message 3 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

eBay is not here, we are other buyers and sellers, so can't help other than offer advice. You might ask on the currency board, there might be someone that know what your states rules on what is taxable and what is not. 

If the money is listed in the proper category, there is nothing that the sellers can do about it, they have no control over it. That is something between eBay and Pennsylvania. 

Message 4 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

Saw a post in the past few weeks about regarding PA. and this dilemna....

The previous post was found to be that the seller had the 'coins' in the wrong category. Therefore, sales tax was collected properly. 

The seller needs to put the item in the right category.

You, s a buyer, can petition your state for erroneously charged sakes tax by filling out a refund form for the tax paid when it should not have been......

Message 5 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

The item I just purchased was listed under 

Coins & Paper Money > Coins: US

> Commemorative > Mixed Lots

 

wouldnt that be right ?

https://www.ebay.com/str/fncollectibes
Message 6 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

So that $1.32 wasn't the shipping fee?  

Message 7 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

I may be mistaken, although the 'general' category would be exempt, the sub-category may not be. I do know some states do not recognize commemorative as "legal tender"

I do not think that is exempt (commemorative)....

Coins & Paper Money > Coins: US> Commemorative > Mixed Lots

 

Hopefully, a couple of our distinguished coin members can chime in....

I am only fathoming a guess based on reading some previous posts......

Message 8 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

Free shipping 

https://www.ebay.com/str/fncollectibes
Message 9 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

also I wanna say THANK YOU! So many quick responses and i appreciate it either way

https://www.ebay.com/str/fncollectibes
Message 10 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

Taxes are established on ebay based upon the seller's selection of the item category at time of listing creation. They are defined by ebay via the category system the listings are placed into. Thus, it means the seller controls taxation upon ebay. While a seller never does actually receive these taxes, as they are remitted directly to the state, there is not much else you can do about it. You agree to them before completing the transaction. The time to question taxes is prior to this.

Message 11 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?


@wastingtime101 wrote:

@ajs_coins_and_alchemy has the most thorough response for this situation. Tagging them to see if they'll copy/paste that info for you.


Sorry for the delay! Thank you for the tag, @wastingtime101, I'm honored 😀 As mentioned, my response is usually thorough (long), so I have resorted to highlighting the key points amidst the lengthy explanation. This is by no means a "simple" issue and thus doesn't have a "simple" explanation.

 

Okay @famousnate717. I'm a coin dealer on here, I source almost exclusively on eBay (almost every coin I sell here as been purchased here), I've spent ~$75k on coins on eBay in 18 months and live in Illinois with amazing sales tax exemptions for coins/bullion ... I think I'm qualified to answer this.

 

First you are absolutely right, your 1987 Constitution Commem Dollar is legal tender and should not be taxed, however, eBay did not recognize this as a piece of legal tender and that is why you were assessed tax.

 

Let's start with this is not a category issue necessarily ... It is the right category, but it is a problematic category. Others suggested wrong category, that is often a problem, but that would be an example like when I bought some Olympic commem $s listed under the Sports/Olympics Memorabilia category once... that's wrong category.

 

The problem here is how eBay assesses tax liability. If you buy enough coins on here (or buy enough of anything for that matter), you know there are lots of sellers who do not know what they are selling or don't care to describe it properly. We as buyers are sometimes faced with having to look at the pics and figure out for ourselves what the item is, as the seller's listing is extremely unhelpful. Unfortunately, eBay is not like us. eBay is not going to sit there and stare at the pics and research the item and decide what the item ACTUALLY is and then decide tax liability, and neither will your local taxing authority. eBay (and your taxing authority) will go based off what the Seller lists/advertises, as it is 100% the seller's responsibility. Something listed "incorrectly" may trigger the "incorrect" sales tax outcome.

 

So, the category is not the "be all, end all" of it. I've bought commemoratives in the commem category where I was charged tax and others where I wasn't and in my experience it comes down to some combo of the item details/item specifics the seller lists. I haven't quite cracked the specific formula of what factors need to be met for eBay to assign tax liability correctly, but my experience says it is likely the Denomination, Composition, Fineness (possibly more). If there was a fillable field for the seller to answer "Is this legal tender, yes or no?" that would probably solve all the issues.

 

Many sellers do not fill in these fields or fill them in correctly. I believe stating the item's denomination (50c, $1, etc) helps. Composition and Fineness help because even if they don't meet "legal tender" threshold, the modern commems like the 2019 Apollo Silver Dollar is .999 Fine Silver, that meets the bullion threshold and is tax exempt for that reason.

 

If you asked them, eBay and the seller would point the fingers at each other. eBay is CORRECTLY charging you (illegal) sales tax, and it is the seller's fault, although they have no direct control over the tax, only indirect and are likely totally unaware. (Try to untangle that mess.)

 

The problem would be solved if eBay just explained to coin sellers what details they need to fill in and how to fill them in to make sure the sales tax is properly assessed/exempted.

 

Sadly, the end result is the buyer is caught in the middle and screwed with zero recourse other than not buying the item in the first place. This effects my bottom line in my business, and my solution was to simply figure sales tax into my costs so i pay less for commems to absorb the inevitable sales tax into my margin.

 

Happy to explain any part of this further if needed, or to answer any questions. Just tag me.

Message 12 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

Thank you thank you 🙏 this is exactly why I chose to come here for this! You the best! 

https://www.ebay.com/str/fncollectibes
Message 13 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?


@buyselljack2016 wrote:

Sellers can no longer select "tax tables".

 

Some items are taxed/untaxed based upon the category they are listed in.



@buyselljack2016 wrote:

Sellers can no loinger select "tax tables".

 

Some items are taxed/untaxed based upon the category they are listed in.


 

Message 14 of 20
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eBay is charging me sales tax on coins in PA why?!?

That is true about the category it's in but

 I just won a 86 Liberty set from a seller in PA which does not charge tax and it was in the correct category and I also don't live in a state that doesn't charge tax on negotiable currency. If I'm not mistaken it's fraud or a mistake that needs to be addressed and buyers need to be refunded. M

Message 15 of 20
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