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Refunds
How do I refund tax on purchase?
jenniferwig
Posted Sep 13, 2026 at 11:34 PM · Edited Sep 13, 2026 at 11:34 PM·Last reply Sep 14, 2026 at 9:23 PM
4 comments
inceptions
MentorSep 14, 2026 at 9:23 PMHi @jenniferwig
DON'T refund sales tax to the buyer. You didn't collect the tax, eBay did. When you process a refund for the item and/or shipping cost, eBay will refund the buyer's sales tax based on the amount of the refund.
monroe67
MentorSep 14, 2026 at 4:42 PM · EditedYou would simply process a refund to your buyer --
in the amount of the sales tax he/she paid.
I haven't done a refund to a buyer in a long time, so I don't know whether eBay asks you, the seller, to add a reason. If they do, you could call it a "courtesy refund."
Just a little curious -- why are you refunding sales tax to the buyer?
You are only reducing your own Order Earnings.
The sales tax your buyer paid has already been (or will soon be) sent to the buyer's state government, by eBay. By Law.
jenniferwig
OPSep 14, 2026 at 8:28 PMI know. Made a deal and didn’t include tax. So buyer wants it back.
monroe67
MentorSep 14, 2026 at 9:18 PM"I know. Made a deal and didn’t include tax. So buyer wants it back."
Well --- the suggestion I made, to process a return to your buyer, is the way to proceed.
Assuming both you and that buyer are in the United States of America,
you, as an eBay seller, need to know this:
The laws of 45 of the 50 United States require eBay to collect sales taxes on purchases made on eBay and delivered (mailed or FedEx'd, etc.) to addresses within those 45 states.
(Five states charge no sales taxes. Alphabetically, they are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.)
Additionally: eBay's policies allow eBay Buyers and Sellers to make deals that involve ONLY the price of the item.
Sales tax is not supposed to be negotiable.
Shipping prices are not supposed to be negotiable.
When you agreed to (try to) sell things on eBay, you agreed to be bound by all of eBay's rules, regs, policies, procedures, etc., etc.
It sounds like you thought you, personally, could override eBay's legal requirement to collect sales taxes.
It is not proper, maybe even not legal, to make a deal for an eBay sale without sales tax --
-- when the item is delivered to one of the 45 states that require sales tax --
-- and you found that it was improper/illegal when eBay, in fact, did collect sales tax from your buyer.
Now you have decided to reduce your own Order Earnings in order to accommodate what sounds like a buyer who didn't want to pay sales taxes. If you insist, go ahead and refund.
But it is not a great course of action on your part, if you try to negotiate any other sale prices by "promising" no sales taxes to be paid by your buyer.
Especially since that buyer's state will, in True Fact, receive those sales taxes -- because eBay will collect sales taxes as the laws of that state require.