Tax on international purchase

[kopfjagerss]

I recently made a purchase from a vendor in France whom I have purchased from in the past.  Upon checkout I noticed that I had been charged tax.  I reside in a state in which the new tax law has been adopted, however I have never been charged tax (Amazon, etc.) on an international purchase.  When I phoned eBay (I'd rather sit through being mortared) I got some vague answer that international tax doesn't apply, yet I was charged by eBay!  Does anyone know if this is in fact legitimate?

[disneyshopper]

If you currently reside in WA or MN then ebay is charging sales tax on all purchases conducted on the internet.  There is a long discussion on another board regarding this tax as the seller is located in China.

[7606dennis]

In states that have instituted what is, I believe, known as "facilitator" tax laws eBay is required to collect and remit sales tax on all purchases delivered within the state.  It doesn't matter where in the world the seller is located. 

Actually, in states that have, in addition to sales tax, use tax laws on the books, buyers residing in those states have always been liable for the tax owed under those laws. 

Most overseas sellers and many US sellers for that matter, are not registered to collect taxes in every state so the burden of remitting the tax has thus far fallen on the buyer.  However, that appears to have changed with the Supreme Court's recent ruling.  Frankly, I fully expect many more states to jump on the band wagon in the near future.

[lintbrush*]

On Selling policy pages:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/taxes-import-charges?id=4121

Once eBay starts to collect tax in the above states, no action is required on your part, and there will be no charges or fees for eBay automatically calculating, collecting and remitting sales tax. The collection process will apply to all sales, whether the seller is located in or outside of the United States.

On Buying policy pages:

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/paying-items/paying-tax-ebay-purchases?id=4771

If your shipping address is in one of the marketplace responsibility states within the US, applicable sales tax will be collected by eBay and included in the order total at checkout.

If you click on the link 'marketplace responsibility states' it takes you to the first page posted and the list of states.

[kopfjagerss]

I believe they have misinterpreted our new tax law.  Amazon, arguably the biggest online retailer does not collect tax on purchases made from foreign vendors on their site.  Because I can get nowhere with the staff at eBay, I will make my enquires with my local state representatives. 

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

Since it's a use tax and essentially trying to level the playing field for instate sellers, it makes sense to me that it would apply to sellers in other countries.

Why would any State put essentially a penalty on US sellers into the State yet let sales from France come in free? Makes no sense. Maybe Amazon is wrong.

[7606dennis]

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@kopfjagerss wrote:

I believe they have misinterpreted our new tax law.  Amazon, arguably the biggest online retailer does not collect tax on purchases made from foreign vendors on their site.  Because I can get nowhere with the staff at eBay, I will make my enquires with my local state representatives. 

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That is, of course, your right to do so.  However, you may wish to be somewhat cautious regarding mentioning that you have not been paying use tax on your out of state purchases.  Unless you have more faith in the integrity of your local politicians than I have, I would worry about them getting it into their heads that there was money to be had by auditing you for unpaid use tax. 

[joem4stuff]

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@kopfjagerss wrote:

Amazon, arguably the biggest online retailer does not collect tax on purchases made from foreign vendors on their site

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Based on applicable state tax regulation, Amazon calculates, collects, and remits sales tax on behalf of sellers for orders shipped to customers in Washington, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Minnesota, New Jersey, Connecticut, Iowa and Alabama. And, this is not based on the recent court decision but on tax laws in those states; in some cases since 1/1/2018. So Amazon has been collecting more taxes than eBay and for longer.

If for some reason Amazon is not collecting tax for foreign shipments to those states, I think they should; it's not fair to US sellers.

[no_zero369]

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@7606dennis wrote:

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That is, of course, your right to do so.  However, you may wish to be somewhat cautious regarding mentioning that you have not been paying use tax on your out of state purchases.  Unless you have more faith in the integrity of your local politicians than I have, I would worry about them getting it into their heads that there was money to be had by auditing you for unpaid use tax. 

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er, um, ah.....  unless the poster is a BIG HUGE buyer:

1) the buyer isn't going to come on to that state's radar for unpaid use tax and

2) it probably isn't cost effective for the state to pursue them.

Government just doesn't work like that. 

Oh sure, poke the bear and it will find something to "get you" on.  But posting a message boards isn't going to be a poke.  So the caution that was issued, from this chair, appears to be moot and said poster can rest easy.

[7606dennis]

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@no_zero369 wrote:

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@7606dennis wrote:

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That is, of course, your right to do so.  However, you may wish to be somewhat cautious regarding mentioning that you have not been paying use tax on your out of state purchases.  Unless you have more faith in the integrity of your local politicians than I have, I would worry about them getting it into their heads that there was money to be had by auditing you for unpaid use tax. 

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er, um, ah.....  unless the poster is a BIG HUGE buyer:

1) the buyer isn't going to come on to that state's radar for unpaid use tax and

2) it probably isn't cost effective for the state to pursue them.

Government just doesn't work like that. 

Oh sure, poke the bear and it will find something to "get you" on.  But posting a message boards isn't going to be a poke.  So the caution that was issued, from this chair, appears to be moot and said poster can rest easy.

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You seem to have more faith in the integrity of politicians than I have.  I hope that you are correct.

[Anonymous]

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