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Being charged incorrect tax amounts on my purchases
Summary: 9bosox9 discusses being overcharged on sales tax for eBay purchases, particularly for baseball trading cards, resulting in a substantial financial discrepancy. Despite several attempts to address the issue with eBay, there has been no resolution. monroe67 notes similar issues with collectible coins and suggests seeking a refund through the state's tax authority or avoiding purchases with incorrect tax charges. eburtonlab mentions a new retail delivery fee in Colorado that may affect the tax calculation and highlights that shipping is taxable.
I have made a lot of purchases as an eBay member over the decades, but this has ramped up as a collector of trading cards (mainly baseball) over the past 2.5 years. During this time, I have been consistently overcharged for sales tax on my purchases. After a dozen attempts to connect with eBay through chat, email and phone and promises to look into the issue, I remain nowhere.
I am aware of the proper taxes at the state, county and local levels for my location (Colorado), etc. At this point, the differences are in the thousands of dollars.
Has anyone had this issue?
Has anyone had success resolving this issue?
Any guidance would be appreciated as the next step is working with the state's department of revenue office, which is not fun either. :)
Thank you!
disneyshopper
Mentor1 month agoMake sure that your ship to address includes a complete zip code, the 5 digits plus 4 digits.
eburtonlab
Mentor1 month agoColorado recently implemented a 31 cent retail delivery fee, which increases the tax line item amount. If you are using that line item to calculate your apparent sales tax rate you may need to subtract the fee first.
In addition, shipping is taxable in Colorado if there is not an option for local pickup.
Where in Colorado are you having your items shipped, and how what sales tax percentage are you being charged?
monroe67
Mentor1 month agoWhile you don't specify what it is, exactly, that you are collecting, I wonder if you are purchasing collectible coins through eBay. Especially since your post suggests you have paid thousands of dollars in incorrect sales taxes.
You are not alone. There have been many -- MANY -- posts about eBay's collection of sales taxes on purchases of collectible coins, silver bullion, and similar items.
Sales taxation on collectible coins, and such, varies widely and wildly among the 45 states that do impose sales taxes.
In addition, the choice of eBay category in which a collectible coin is listed could be a deciding factor on whether eBay collects sales taxes or not. That choice is made by the eBay seller.
The best advice I've seen in these forums is for the buyer to request a refund of sales taxes through his/her state's sales taxation authority.
As an immediate action, I would suggest paying attention when you are purchasing collectible coins or similar items through eBay. This advice applies to other items as well as coins.
If you see sales tax added to the purchase price and you believe that that sales tax is added erroneously -- don't buy the item.
9bosox9
OP1 month agoThank you for the response! My apologies - I collect baseball trading cards. And the difference in taxes is usually 1-3% above the rate that should be charged. With no indication or consistency of why the variation by order. These are all in the same listing category.