Selling fees

[bbpdx2]

This is WRONG. and I am surprised that eBay will not fix this.  
I sold some silver coins to a customer in Kansas. Kansas Tax code says no tax is charged on coins.   The customer didn’t want to pay until he had a corrected invoice.   When I contacted eBay they could not provide a solution to correct the invoice and said they would in fact ding the buyer for non payment!    Everything is wrong about this!

I was told the solution was for him to pay the tax and make a claim with buyer protection which puts me at risk for bad feedback.  It was explained to me that the state of Kansas adds the tax to the buyer and not to me. 
Today I find that I am charged 12% on the tax  he paid.  I am charged 12% on a tax charged to the buyer in Kansas . Makes no sense and is unethical.  
 I used to be so proud of eBay . What happened??

[dhbookds]

Been like that for quite some time........and just like it was on paypal.......both charge the transaction percentage on the total sale.  Ebay has to remit the money to the state........

[dbfolks166mt]

     They, eBay, has bitten off a bit more than they can chew with regards to MP and all the new tax laws that they didn't see  coming.  They were, and still are, in no position to handle all the financial processing that they have inherited. The problem with the sales tax for the Kansas buyer is not unique there are several states that have different sales tax rates for different merchandise and some that have municipality, county or other sales tax rates in addition to the overall state tax rate. 

     I don't believe eBay has anything in their programming arsenal to differentiate the various differences in the state tax laws. I think they are just charging sales tax on everything at the established state tax rate regardless of what it is that is being sold. I have not sold anything to anybody in Illinois but they have one of the worst state sales tax rate laws in the country. The sales tax can range from 6.25% up to 11% depending on where you live in the state. The Illinois law, who's state sales tax is 6.25%, allows local governments to collect a local option sales tax of up to 4.75%. There are a total of 896 local tax jurisdictions across the state, collecting an average local tax of 1.569%.

     There have been multiple postings about the eBay fees charged to the seller on the sales tax the buyer pays. I have mixed feelings about that given that if eBay was not collecting and remitting the sales tax to the individual states I would have to do that on a monthly or quarterly basis for up to 50 individual states. While eBay is charging the fees on the sales tax I am not sure they are benefiting financially from the process I can't imagine the people, space, benefits........ overhead that it requires to process and remit the sales tax to the individual states. I actually consider it somewhat of a bargain. 

[alcoforever]

What is and what is not taxable is an absolute jungle.   So much so that I doubt any online retailer could possibly get it right all the time.   Every state has all kind of special rules.  E.g., in CA coins and bullion are taxed if the sale is below $1000 but no tax if over $1000.   Some states don't tax feminine hygiene products.  Some states have varying rules on taxing clothing.   Even if ebay could account for all these special tax rules, a seller that put an item in the wrong category would negate ebay's correct tax assessment.

Bottom line:  Your buyer should keep a record of the tax paid and then deduct that tax when he files his state income tax return.

[postingid7659]

In this situation I would just refund the buyer's sales tax and explain to them that eBay doesn't seem to care what is and is not taxable.  

[sin-n-dex]

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@postingid7659 wrote:

In this situation I would just refund the buyer's sales tax and explain to them that eBay doesn't seem to care what is and is not taxable.  

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The OP will be out that money from what he received from the sale. The OP would be refunding the tax, not making eBay do so.

C.

[donsdetour]

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@bbpdx2 wrote:

This is WRONG. and I am surprised that eBay will not fix this.  
I sold some silver coins to a customer in Kansas. Kansas Tax code says no tax is charged on coins.   The customer didn’t want to pay until he had a corrected invoice.   When I contacted eBay they could not provide a solution to correct the invoice and said they would in fact ding the buyer for non payment!    Everything is wrong about this!

I was told the solution was for him to pay the tax and make a claim with buyer protection which puts me at risk for bad feedback.  It was explained to me that the state of Kansas adds the tax to the buyer and not to me. 
Today I find that I am charged 12% on the tax  he paid.  I am charged 12% on a tax charged to the buyer in Kansas . Makes no sense and is unethical.  
 I used to be so proud of eBay . What happened??

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Buyers need to contact their state treasury to complain about such> The rules and laws that eBay has to go by come from them.... Not a thing eBay can do about it until the state says so..... And since the state is making money on that money spent... What do you think going to happen...

I suspect since these are item shipped:

and most likly that is also taxed is where the difference come in ... A coin shipped may be under different rules and regs... Up to the buyer to deal with such.

As for eBay the final value fees are on (Item, shipping and tax).

It is legal to do so.

[aeparts1]

Any entity that collects sales tax & has to remit it to the authorities is going to err on the side of caution, & collect tax on anything that may be slightly in a gray area. Trying to decipher tax laws is so difficult it is safer for the entity to collect tax & send it in than to have the hammer dropped on them for not collecting.

[releasethekraken_1]

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@donsdetour wrote:

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Buyers need to contact their state treasury to complain about such> The rules and laws that eBay has to go by come from them.... Not a thing eBay can do about it until the state says so.....

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Yes, eBay has to go by what the law is, and the OP is correct, Kansas state law exempts silver coins from tax when they're shipped to Kansas.

So if eBay were actually going by the rules, as you say they must, the OP wouldn't have this problem. This is an eBay issue, not a state tax law issue.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Kansas does NOT exclude all coin sales. Just Silver & Gold or straight across. If by 'silver coins' ie. Pre 1964 Dimes/Quarters etc.. these WOULD still be taxable as they are not 'Pure Bullion' which is what the tax exemption signed in 2019 is all about. If the coin is 'collectable' ie. 1909 Lincoln SVDB Penny or a 1955 Lincoln Double Die- selling for $500, $1500 whatever- is NOT tax exempt (for example) 

[this*old*attic]

He’s refunding not giving

[donsdetour]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

Kansas does NOT exclude all coin sales. Just Silver & Gold or straight across. If by 'silver coins' ie. Pre 1964 Dimes/Quarters etc.. these WOULD still be taxable as they are not 'Pure Bullion' which is what the tax exemption signed in 2019 is all about. If the coin is 'collectable' ie. 1909 Lincoln SVDB Penny or a 1955 Lincoln Double Die- selling for $500, $1500 whatever- is NOT tax exempt (for example) 

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Thanks for the info... seems folks read what they want to in such... that is why legal advice is good for some....

[releasethekraken_1]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

Kansas does NOT exclude all coin sales. Just Silver & Gold or straight across. If by 'silver coins' ie. Pre 1964 Dimes/Quarters etc.. these WOULD still be taxable as they are not 'Pure Bullion' which is what the tax exemption signed in 2019 is all about. If the coin is 'collectable' ie. 1909 Lincoln SVDB Penny or a 1955 Lincoln Double Die- selling for $500, $1500 whatever- is NOT tax exempt (for example) 

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The 2019 exemption to HB2140 exempts "all sales of gold or silver coins; and palladium,
platinum, gold or silver bullion."

Can you provide a link to the info you used to claim that pre-1965 silver coins are not exempt? Also, why would post-1964 coins with some silver content not be exempt?

[jklfindings]

Sure.

Kansas Tax Code - Sales Tax Exemptions For Precious Metals

HB 2140 (June 1. 2019)

AN ACT concerning sales and compensating use tax; relating to countywide retailers' sales tax, election, Dickinson, Jackson, Russell, Thomas and Wabaunsee counties, rates and election for Finney county, director of taxation; exemptions, sales of certain coins or bullion; amending K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 12-187, 12-189 and 79-3606 and repealing the existing sections.

Sec. 3. K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 79-3606 is hereby amended to read as follows: 79-3606. The following shall be exempt from the tax imposed by this act:

(mmmm) all sales of gold or silver coins; and palladium, platinum, gold or silver bullion. For the purposes of this subsection,"bullion" means bars, ingots or commemorative medallions of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, or a combination thereof, for which the value of the metal depends on its content and not the form.

The item that was sold looks like a lot of silver halves.  Which by the way Kansas wrote this law, would not fall under the tax exemption.  I would imagine if the seller had listed the coins under the bullion category, instead of the coins and paper moneys category, the buyer would not have paid tax.

[house*of*paws]

Hi @bbpdx2 

I wasn't able to find specific info on taxing coins in Kansas, but I do know that posters were equally adament about coins not being taxed in Florida ... a state that eBay also started collecting tax for on July 1st (like KS).  

It turns out that coins ARE taxed in FL if they are sold above the face value amount.  That might also be in the case in KS.  Just mentioning a possibility.