Why do they charge sales tax for food?
Summary: honestguy11 questioned why sales tax was applied to an olive oil purchase on eBay, wondering if it was illegal to charge tax on food. tobaccocardyahoo and monroe67 clarified that sales tax depends on state laws and the destination's zip code. mtgraves7984 shared their experience of paying sales tax on food in Nashville. eoma689485 suggested the tax might result from incorrect category listing by the seller. soh.maryl noted that tax rules on food vary by state, with examples from Ohio, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, explaining it is legal to tax food.
I just bought some olive oil on eBay, and they added sales tax to the price. Isn't it illegal to charge sales tax for food?
7 comments
kensgiftshop
·1 week agoWe pay sales tax on all food items here.
soh.maryl
·1 week agoSince STATE sales tax is determined by each individual state, it should be noted that there are some states where food is taxable and some where it's not. I live in Ohio, where food is not taxable. When a family member lived in Virginia, food there WAS taxable per the state. There was a time when the State of Pennsylvania did not charge a state sales tax on clothing, but I don't know whether that's still the case. There are also some states where food purchased at a grocery store is not taxable, but food already cooked and served in a restaurant is taxable. Sometimes that varies between food eaten in the restaurant and food picked up at the drive through. And, no, it is not illegal to tax food.
eoma689485
·1 week ago · EditedCould be - An incorrect Category Listing - eBay's automated tax system relies entirely on the category the seller chose when creating the listing, so if they had it in the wrong category, you will be charged sales tax.
If it was an incorrect category you can ask eBay about a tax refund.
monroe67
·1 week ago · Edited"If it was an incorrect category you can ask eBay about a tax refund."
For the OP: Sure, you can ask.
But eBay probably will not give you a refund of the sales tax that they collected.
Your best chance of getting a refund of this purportedly "illegal" sales tax will be to contact your state's sales tax authority.
Start by looking through your state's official website.
OR -- let your state keep that sales tax. Let this thing just slide.
Unless you were buying gallons and gallons of olive oil, you probably did not pay a huge amount of money in sales tax.
Surely your state will use that money for a good and honorable purpose, don't you think?
mtgraves7984
·1 week agoI'm in Nashville and we pay sales tax on food... so it's not illegal.
monroe67
·1 week ago. . . . but apparently you paid the total price that eBay asked you to pay.
Which included sales tax that you now state is "illegal" to charge or collect.
eBay charges sales tax at the rate in effect in the zip code of the delivery address. eBay also uses that zip code to determine which products may or may not be subject to sales taxes.
Sometimes sellers "accidentally" list items in a category which may be sales-taxable while a more accurate category would not be sales-taxable.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 week agoThe tax is based on the rates in effect in the destination state.
Some states charge sales tax on food. Others do not.