Tax Exempt - OH Transient Vendor License
I have a small side business where I buy and sell trading cards at card shows in Ohio. I have a transient vendor license certification, as I do not have a brick and mortar location. I would like to source cards to resell from eBay and as such need to get set up for tax exemption. eBay requires 'OH STEC B Form' & 'Ohio Vendor License' to confirm tax exempt reseller status. However, a transient vendor license does not have an official certificate (as there is no place of business to post it). The Ohio tax website states, “A Transient Vendor's License (TVL) doesn't come with a vendor's license certificate, because it's not tied to one location. Certificates are meant to be displayed at a fixed place of business.
If you need proof, you can use the TVL registration confirmation letter.” When I submitted this form alongside the requested STEC form, my status was rejected by eBay, saying that, “Unfortunately, the information provided to us didn’t prove your eligibility for exemption from sales tax when making purchases.”
Is there any way to get someone at eBay to accept this as an equivalent to a Vendors license as stated by the state of Ohio?
I feel caught in a loophole created by an oversight. I have wholesaler status with other businesses where I buy products without paying sales tax, I am unsure why eBay doesn’t acknowledge a transient vendor license as sufficient.
ryry-jj
·5 months agoAs I read more on the Ohio transient vendor license, you do collect tax. For practical purposes you then should be able to use it, but that still doesnt mean ebay will accept it.
One thing people should know, just because we have a resale license, that doesnt mean all places have to accept it. Wholesaler do, and that is one of the ways they determine who they sell to, but retailers dont have to accept them. If you are charged tax, and you collect tax you would then file it as prepaid sale tax on your tax filings or go to your states franchise tax board for a refund. Again in California, we file quarterly...someone told me in their state they do it annually...not sure what you do in Ohio.
ttar_tradingpost
OP5 months agoI understand I can’t force them to accept it, it’s just very frustrating to try to do things by the book, the way the sate of Ohio expects me to and eBay essentially just doesn’t want to bother. I guess in my head if the state of Ohio says that my registration confirmation letter counts as proof, then it’s frustrating that eBay can just say nah we want to see the one that you don’t have.
redmodelt
·5 months agoThey may not accept it because of the nature of the name "transient vendor license". "Transient" not being permanent and not being tied to one place such as a business or address where the buying and selling is done. Just a wild guess.
Do you have separate accounts for buying and selling, if you don't this might be a hangup too.
ttar_tradingpost
OP5 months agoJust created a fresh account for the business to keep everything separate. The “transient” in the name is actually to allow you to remit sales tax in multiple counties since a standard vendor license is tied to the county the business is located within.
ryry-jj
·5 months agoI dont believe there is anything you can use short of a valid resale license. Each state is different, but correct me if I'm wrong, does the transient vendors license allow you to sell at shows without having to collect & remit sales tax? In California you are allowed to sell twice within a year at shows without having to collect sales tax, anything more and you do need a business license and must collect/file/pay sales tax.
If you use a resale license to not pay sale tax on purchases, you are required to then collect it from your buyers...I'm pretty sure all states that have sales tax operate in this fashion somewhat. IMO, you are better off not having resale permit unless you are in business.
ttar_tradingpost
OP5 months agoIt is a valid business license, I remit sales tax twice a year on my sales. The only differentiation is that I don’t have a set place of business and therefore do not have the certificate that a brick and mortar business would display.