eBay

jingle.jewels · ‎03-20-2024

New Mexico Tax and Revenue Department is demanding that I prove that sales tax was paid by ebay or else I am liable for a whopping $33,000+ (dating back to 2017). They will NOT accept the transaction detail spreadsheet as proof, even though it displays out of state, international and in-state sales tax paid info. Does eBay have an official form that may be submitted to the taxation department? Anyone else having this problem and/or a solution with their state revenue department?

Many thanks,

Jingle.Jewels

monica-sells · ‎03-20-2024

My sympathies.....

You have found an overzealous government official bent on a promotion.......

You (as an ebay seller only) are not responsible, nor required to, collect state sales tax. That is entirely (and legally) the responsibility of the marketplace facilitator. As far as reporting it, the state may have a different requirement, but you would report any ebay sales from the inception of MP as 'exempt' sales.

You will not find your answer here....don't mess around, get professional input...these "gotta get ahead in my department types" will eat you up and spit you out without remorse with their ridiculous "estimates".....

golfingaddict · ‎03-20-2024

That seems a bit crazy. They must know that they are part of the marketplace facilitator program.

I'm not in your state, but you might have some responsibility to report sales and sales tax in your state.

In my state, I still have to file with the Department of Revenue. I need to state my sales and any taxes I collect. In my case my sales are all online so I end up with net zero.

Are you expected to file a return even if eBay paid in the tax? I would ask them specifically what they are asking for as you might be missing the fine details of what they are requesting. There has to be thousands of sellers in New Mexico so they would have to know that eBay and collects and remits sales tax. It's silly to think otherwise.

Again, I don't know your state's requirements but they may be asking for details about your business and if you collected sales tax from other sales, not online.

slippinjimmy · ‎03-20-2024

@jingle.jewels wrote:
New Mexico Tax and Revenue Department is demanding that I prove that sales tax was paid by ebay or else I am liable for a whopping $33,000+ (dating back to 2017). They will NOT accept the transaction detail spreadsheet as proof, even though it displays out of state, international and in-state sales tax paid info. Does eBay have an official form that may be submitted to the taxation department? Anyone else having this problem and/or a solution with their state revenue department?

Many thanks,
Jingle.Jewels

Go to this page:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/taxes-import-charges?id=4121#section3

Scroll down to New Mexico, you will find the eBay tax number and you can also click on the link to a pdf containing a letter from eBay confirming the information.

ckimodog · ‎03-20-2024

@jingle.jewels

I would contact a tax attorney to get the best advice.

Good luck to you!

slippinjimmy · ‎03-20-2024

@jingle.jewels wrote:
New Mexico Tax and Revenue Department is demanding that I prove that sales tax was paid by ebay or else I am liable for a whopping $33,000+ (dating back to 2017).

Many thanks,
Jingle.Jewels

eBay did not start collecting Sales Tax on behalf of sellers in New Mexico until July 1, 2019, if your tax department is looking for sales tax for 2017 and 2018 that would be your responsibility. Keep in mind that your obligation to collect Sales Tax would only apply to orders shipped to or within New Mexico.

solidguitar1961 · ‎03-20-2024

In Michigan , anybody that sells online is responsible for sales tax . If I sell to California I owe sales tax to Michigan for that sale since the goods were held in and sold from Michigan . Doesn't matter that Ebay collected tax FOR California . Maybe New Mexico has a law similar to that.

rfmtm · ‎03-20-2024

Even if you owe no tax, if you hold a resale certificate most all states still require you account for you total sales by filing a quarterly sales tax return. This return shows your total sales regardless whether taxable or not with any sales sold through a marketplace reporting venue like ebay added to the exempt column.

tobaccocardyahoo · ‎03-20-2024

I suspect your real problem is as @slippinjimmy suggests you have not paid sales tax for 2017 and 2018 and you are being asked for all of the time you have not paid.

Figure out how you are going to deal with that problem submit the New Mexico Certificate on the seller help page.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?id=4771&st=3&pos=5&query=Pay...

heckofagame · ‎03-20-2024

Remind me not to move to Michigan.

slippinjimmy · ‎03-20-2024

@solidguitar1961 wrote:
In Michigan , anybody that sells online is responsible for sales tax . If I sell to California I owe sales tax to Michigan for that sale since the goods were held in and sold from Michigan . Doesn't matter that Ebay collected tax FOR California . Maybe New Mexico has a law similar to that.

This is ALL false information. States can ONLY collect Sales Tax on sales that are shipped to or within their State.

It would be entirely illegal (State and Federal) for Michigan to collect Sales Tax on orders shipped from Michigan to a different State.

solidguitar1961 · ‎03-20-2024

@slippinjimmy wrote:
@solidguitar1961 wrote:
In Michigan , anybody that sells online is responsible for sales tax . If I sell to California I owe sales tax to Michigan for that sale since the goods were held in and sold from Michigan . Doesn't matter that Ebay collected tax FOR California . Maybe New Mexico has a law similar to that.
This is ALL false information. States can ONLY collect Sales Tax on sales that are shipped to or within their State.

It would be entirely illegal (State and Federal) for Michigan to collect Sales Tax on orders shipped from Michigan to a different State.

I'm not collecting tax , it comes out of my profit .

lacemaker3 · ‎03-20-2024

@solidguitar1961 wrote:
In Michigan , anybody that sells online is responsible for sales tax . If I sell to California I owe sales tax to Michigan for that sale since the goods were held in and sold from Michigan . Doesn't matter that Ebay collected tax FOR California . Maybe New Mexico has a law similar to that.

As @slippinjimmy said, this is not correct.

@solidguitar1961, where did you get this information from? Please post a link to where you found information that makes you think this is the case.

I am sure you are misunderstanding something, as I had a sales tax license in Michigan for a number of years, and this was not true.

Online sellers in Michigan are only responsible for collecting and remitting sales tax for sales to shipping addresses in Michigan, and then only if they are not selling on a marketplace (like eBay) which is legally required to collect and remit the sales tax for them.

You do not have to pay Michigan sales tax on sales that are delivered to addresses outside Michigan.

sin-n-dex · ‎03-20-2024

@solidguitar1961 wrote:
@slippinjimmy wrote:
@solidguitar1961 wrote:
In Michigan , anybody that sells online is responsible for sales tax . If I sell to California I owe sales tax to Michigan for that sale since the goods were held in and sold from Michigan . Doesn't matter that Ebay collected tax FOR California . Maybe New Mexico has a law similar to that.
This is ALL false information. States can ONLY collect Sales Tax on sales that are shipped to or within their State.

It would be entirely illegal (State and Federal) for Michigan to collect Sales Tax on orders shipped from Michigan to a different State.

I'm not collecting tax , it comes out of my profit .

I'm in Canada and I'm in the same boat. I have a shipping address in New York so I can't put Canadian taxes on my orders, but because I'm considered a US seller, eBay doesn't collect taxes from Canadian buyers either. Since I'm physically located and selling from Canada (even though I ship from New York), I'm required to file an HST return each month for sales tax. So if I have Canadian orders, the taxes I didn't collect are coming out of my profits.

I do take this into account when listing items that will attract Canadian customers and pad the price a bit to cover that expense. Fortunately eBay does charge HST on my monthly billing and for most months the amount I pay in tax to eBay off sets what I remit and I actually get money back... not however, on months I run token auctions, where most customers are Canadian.

C.

lacemaker3 · ‎03-20-2024

@sin-n-dex, your situation seems to be very complex, and I'm not sure I understand all the implications, but it is not the same as solidguitar1961 's situation because Michigan does not require them to pay sales tax for sales that are delivered to shipping addresses outside Michigan.

They are misunderstanding something, Michigan does not require that.