Taxes on used laptops

[fadeals]

Hello everyone,

I have bought a used laptop yesterday and I was surprised that they charged taxes for a used Item. They have charged me 52 dollars of taxes knowing that the cost of the laptop was 840 dollars. The laptop is originally for an owner from California and I live in Massachusetts. I have purchased a used desktop the last year and I have not been charged taxes for it. I was wondering when are the taxes are applied if buying used Items from eBay? is that applied only to laptops?

[eburtonlab · Accepted solution]

@fadeals 

Many states have passed new laws requiring online marketplaces to collect sales tax on items shipped to those states in the wake of the 2018 US Supreme Court's Wayfair v South Dakota decision. Massachusetts' law took effect in October 2019.

The law applies to almost any item purchased online from a major marketplace and shipped to the state; used items are not exempt from sales taxes. Prior to the law's passage, MA buyers were responsible for paying use tax themselves on items purchased from out of state, so the law only changed how the tax is collected.

See here for some details:

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?id=4771

[fadeals]

Thank you very much for the clarification 🙂

[eburtonlab]

You are most welcome -- good luck with your laptop.