Any lawyers can answer this question?

[cameratraderjude]

Hi,

I recently sold a item of substantial value and I don't remember eBay being able to take a Fee from the sale that includes the TAX in the total payment from the buyer?

I have never heard of such a thing.

How many different ways is eBay over charging?

Shipping fees for returns and now fees that in TAX and if the item is from an international buyer they throw that in too. The additional value adds up to 55.65 of which they took 13.25% equals 7.37. Then the international fee is is an addition 1.65 % of the total equals 14.04. 

Keeping in mind the seller has ZERO idea that the buyer is international but eBay gets more money if it is!

[dy60609]

I would suggest checking the eBay policy on that. Don;t need a "lawyer"

Final value fees

We charge one final value fee when your item sells, and you don't have to worry about third-party payment processing fees. This fee is calculated as a percentage of the total amount of the sale, plus a per order fee. For orders $10.00 or less the per order fee is $0.30, for orders over $10.00 the per order fee is $0.40.

The total amount of the sale includes the item price, any handling charges, any shipping costs collected from the buyer (some exceptions apply), sales tax, and any other applicable fees.

An order is defined as any number of items purchased by the same buyer at checkout with the same shipping method.

If you need to refund the buyer or cancel the sale, you may be eligible for fee credits as per our fee credits policy.

[kensgiftshop]

Don't need a lawyer for that, Ebay shows you how fee's are calculated.

Like Pay Pal, credit cards and other payment processors, their fee's are based on the total amount the buyer pays.

The International fee isn't new, it's been there for awhile.

[ebooksdiva]

You have made quite a few sales and you're just now noticing?

Apparently you haven't read up on selling fees. Final value fee is charged on the total amount of a sale. Total amount of the sale includes price of the item, shipping costs, if any, and sales tax , if applicable. 

Why would you need a lawyer to answer that question when you can find the answer yourself?

A lawyer wouldn't help you for free either. 
Seller fees

[monroe67]

All the previous replies should give you your answer.  
eBay's playing field, eBay's rules. 

eBay has been collecting state sales taxes since shortly after the US Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v Wayfair, Inc., in June of 2018.  Some states took longer than other states to update their laws which allow Marketplace Facilitators, such as eBay, to collect sales taxes. 
Surely you must realize that eBay either has their own Legal Department or has retainer agreements with lawyers who are experts in sales taxation.  

I do want to say one thing that seems to be new in the Fee Details you've posted:  
eBay spells out for you the reason why they charged you an International Fee:  It's because the buyer's registered address is outside the United States. 

I hope this little statement shows up on every Fee Detail page when any sale is subject to the International Fee.  That fee has caused much consternation among sellers over the years, according to these community boards.  

[cameratraderjude]

I'm not saying anything AGAINST collecting sales tax I'm saying the charge a fee for ir and that is illegal. You aren't reading what I wrote. Since when do the charge a fee for collecting monies that are not theirs? I get the fee for y=the sale but the tax is not part of the sale. If you think it's okay to get charged for collecting sales tax then you need to review the tax collection laws. That's why I asked for a lawyer to answer not other members.

I have discussed with my accountant and that's illegal. I will pursue else where and get an answer from the IRS. Thanks

[kensgiftshop]

If your accountant says it's illegal, you might want to find another accountant.

There is nothing illegal about it.

[bobwhitesoftheglen]

You really need a new accountant.

[monroe67]

"I'm not saying anything AGAINST collecting sales tax I'm saying the charge a fee for ir and that is illegal."
Apart from the syntax, punctuation, and at least one apparent typo ("ir" meaning "it", I assume), that is quite a definitive statement.
Just reading that sentence, it really sounds like you know what you're talking about.  
Just reading that sentence, it really sounds like eBay is doing something illegal.  

If you really do know what you're talking about and if eBay is, in true fact, doing something illegal . . . . .
and since you do say that eBay charging a fee for (1) keeping track of every sales tax percentage throughout the 50 United States and various territories, (2) updating their computer programs whenever any change in any of those percentages change, (3) collecting and (4) remitting all those sales taxes to the 45 or 46 appropriate state revenue departments . . . . . 
since you say that eBay retaining (collecting) a fee for doing all that work is illegal . . . . . .

Well, I, as another seller on eBay, demand to see your proof.  Put up or shut up.  

Show me any law, either federal or from each of the 46 states that do charge statewide sales taxes . . . . . .

that backs up your statement that "[it] is illegal."  

I seriously want to know.  You may also want to copy eBay's Legal Department because they will certainly want to know that what they've been doing for six years is illegal.  

"Since when do the charge a fee for collecting monies that are not theirs?"
eBay collects a fee for being the money processor on every sale that takes place on eBay's platform.  
On my selling ID's most recent sale, my payout was $78.82.  That was after a couple of bidders had bid it up to $91.00.  In a manner of speaking, some might say that the entire $91.00 was mine and not their (eBay's).  Yet eBay kept a 13.25% fee on the total amount paid by the buyer.  Plus 40 cents.

Come to think of it, those 78 dollars and change might not even be mine.  It came from the sale of an item I inherited after a relative's death.  And I intend to send those 78 dollars and change to my County's Treasurer in the next ten days or so, along with several hundred more dollars, to pay my property taxes.  

"If you think it's okay to get charged for collecting sales tax then you need to review the tax collection laws."

Again -- please enlighten the rest of us eBay sellers.  Please share these tax collection laws that you indicate will prove that eBay collecting fees on the sales taxes they collect is illegal.  

"That's why I asked for a lawyer to answer not other members.

I have discussed with my accountant and that's illegal. I will pursue else where and get an answer from the IRS. Thanks"
Well.  If you wanted an accurate and perfectly interpreted answer from a lawyer and not from other eBay members . . . . 

perhaps the eBay Payments Community Board was not the place to post your question.  

Again, my last comment is serious and I really hope you will follow through.
Share with this community the definitive legal and/or accountant's opinion that [you hope will] proves that eBay is acting illegally.  I want to know.  

[janet9988]

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@cameratraderjude wrote:

I'm not saying anything AGAINST collecting sales tax I'm saying the charge a fee for ir and that is illegal. You aren't reading what I wrote. Since when do the charge a fee for collecting monies that are not theirs? I get the fee for y=the sale but the tax is not part of the sale. If you think it's okay to get charged for collecting sales tax then you need to review the tax collection laws. That's why I asked for a lawyer to answer not other members.

I have discussed with my accountant and that's illegal. I will pursue else where and get an answer from the IRS. Thanks

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BUT you posted on the ebay community boards where you communicate with other ebay buyers and sellers....... NOT lawyers.

 You should ask your question on a lawyer community board.

[monica-sells]

"...I have discussed with my accountant and that's illegal. I will pursue else where and get an answer from the IRS. Thanks..."

This is why I love this board.....comic relief without a cover charge...

while you are at it, ask why every single credit card charge made in the whole wide world that includes sales tax as a line item charges the merchant for processing the whole sale?

[ebooksdiva]

@cameratraderjude 

Let me ask you this..

If eBay didn't collect those sales taxes and send them to the buyers state then who do you think should be doing that? 
No not this seller! 
You would need to register with each state that has a sales tax, then you would need to collect that sales tax from your buyer, remit that sales tax to the appropriate state every quarter. To do that all yourself would be a headache or you would need to hire a competent accountant to help you out. 
Since eBay stepped up and takes care of that all sellers have to do is take care of business.

A small percentage of the fvf we pay for eBay to do that for us is worth it in my book.  
If you say your accountant says it's illegal then I would question his qualifications.

[tinsoldierunderground · Accepted solution]

If you google, you'll find plenty of law firms who can field that question as soon as you type it into their chat box.  If we have any lawyers here, I'd doubt any of us knows about it.

[tinsoldierunderground]

We live in the age of fees.  Fees for this, fees for that... paypal has just instituted a $1.99 fee for every paper statement they mail out.  It' a brave new world.

[magicjohnsonsvariety]

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@cameratraderjude wrote:

I'm not saying anything AGAINST collecting sales tax I'm saying the charge a fee for ir and that is illegal. You aren't reading what I wrote. Since when do the charge a fee for collecting monies that are not theirs? I get the fee for y=the sale but the tax is not part of the sale. If you think it's okay to get charged for collecting sales tax then you need to review the tax collection laws. That's why I asked for a lawyer to answer not other members.

I have discussed with my accountant and that's illegal. I will pursue else where and get an answer from the IRS. Thanks

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I can only assume that if it were illegal, it would have been changed by now.