Ebay Refunds Buyers Illegally Collected Sales Tax on Rare Currency in Georgia, But Not Sellers

[cold-hard-cash]

Since mid July, Ebay has been illegally collecting sales tax on all rare currency in the US Paper Money category other than items listed in the small size note category for buyers in the state of Georgia.  RARE COINS, CURRENCY, and BULLION have been exempt from sales tax in Georgia since the year 2000 via Georgia House Bill HB1210.  I've had one customer in South Carolina tell me this has been happening as well...Everything I've read within South Carolina statutes says the same thing.   I fought with Ebay for a few weeks when this was first implemented in July, but they did nothing to change it.  Instead, Ebay is refunding the buyer the sales tax charged if the buyer calls Ebay and complains.  They refunded me sales tax I paid on 2 items, and I entered my sales and use tax id to prevent having to deal with the issue any further.  I have one customer in Georgia who has been issued a sales tax refund DOZENS OF TIMES for illegally being charged sales tax...he has called every time he has bought rare currency.  Great...no harm no foul right?  WRONG.....Sellers are being charged paypal fees on that sales tax illegally collected from the buyer, and EBAY ISN'T REIMBURSING THE SELLER for those fees.  Thoughts?

[southern*sweet*tea]

I know nothing about coinsor the listing thereof, but I do know that if an item is listed in the wrong category you could be subject to sales tax.

In other words, let's pretend you live in a state where clothing isn't taxed. You buy an NFL jacket that a seller has listed in the sporting goods category. You will pay sales tax because the jacket was listed in sporting goods (taxed) and not the clothing category (not taxed). Make sense?

[cold-hard-cash]

What you are saying makes sense, but that is not what is happening in this situation.  I just talked with another customer from Georgia who bought currency from me a few days ago.  I informed him that if he called Ebay he would be refunded the sales tax he paid....this was his response:

Thanks for the update.  I am very aware of the tax they are now charging.  I have been fighting with them myself (including this purchase).  So far I have been reimbursed, but it is still a hassle to have to have to deal with them each time you purchase currency.  Sometimes I pass on bidding for this reason.  Have a great day!

I want to know...How many buyers feel like this one?  How much business are Ebay Currency dealers losing from Georgia residents because of this?

[ogaugeminiaturefigures]

After the first of the year is eBay doing away with selling coins on the site?

[pburn]

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@ogaugeminiaturefigures wrote:

After the first of the year is eBay doing away with selling coins on the site?

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No.

Sellers who are enrolled in Managed Payments are prohibited from listing coins/bullion, etc.; however, in theory, if a seller has a majority of listings that are coins, etc., that account will not be required to enroll in Managed Payments until  some kind of alternative or compromise is worked out. The details on that are a bit sketchy.

[theteamsetguy]

The tax collected is based on the laws of where the items are shipped. Since the state of South Dakota won their case in the Supreme Court case Wayfair versus State of South Dakota most states have passed laws requiring market places like eBay, Amazon, Etsy, and etc. to collect tax when their citizens make purchases on their site. The tax goes to the buyers state and not the sellers state.

[cold-hard-cash]

You are correct.  I'm speaking of rare currency purchased by state of Georgia residents shipped to a Georgia address.  The State of Georgia does not collect sales tax on Rare Coins, Currency, and Bullion....and I am a seller and Georgia resident as well.

[b_and_w_tackle]

More importantly is: eBay is fraudulently collecting tax, but not remitting it to the proper tax collecting agency.  You can't remit a tax to a state that doesn't want it.  Which becomes a felony committed by eBay.  Report this tax collection to the Attorney General of the state concerned, Georgia in this case, with mounds of evidence.  Copies from as many sales as you can print out, for example.  It needs to be big enough for the AG office to take notice.  You may know it is on every sale, but the AG's office won't unless you provide enough examples.  If you get the incorrect collection of the tax corrected, you won't have to worry about paying the extra final value fee.

[fab_finds4u]

Can't you be helpful and help new posts, today's problems instead of dredging up crap from 2020?

[kh-leslie]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.