Internet tax death of ebay

[warren689]

WOW, Just WOW.  Used clothing being taxed. Items from China being taxed. Who on earth is going to buy used clothing or poor quality items from China that can't be returned when you have to pay $20 tax? I mean for real?   Why is used stuff being taxed when it was taxed the first time it was sold? What's next? Will Garage sales charge tax?  I can't believe our elected officials allowed this to happen. I can understand tax on large businesses but small time people selling used stuff out of their closet is crazy.

[warren689]

Because thrift stores and comic book stores are businesses. Selling a few things out of your closet at a LOSS (less than what you paid) two or three times a month does not qualify as a "store" aka a business. Just like if you sell a few things at a lawn sale once a year you are not a business.  Are lemonade stands taxed?

[slippinjimmy]

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@flakar48 wrote:

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@toybrats wrote:
Another problem will be when the items are returned for whatever reason. Apparently, ebay is not returning the sales tax. So of course, the buyer will be ticked off and will expect the seller to reimburse them.

Ebay needs to notify buyers and sellers of these new taxes. The message is not getting out.

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I believe it would be illegal for ebay to keep sales tax on a returned item, that's not to contradict you, it wouldn't surprise me at all but I do believe the law is on our side this time.

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eBay will refund taxes on returns as they have ALWAYS done (previously when the taxes were charged by sellers themselves). The information is clearly stated in the Sales Tax info pages and in the recent updates to the user agreement.

[1jwoody]

Note:  In California, only the "handling" charge is taxable.  If you list saying "shipping and handling" then this whole total will be taxable in California.  If you list "freight" at one price and "handling" at it's own fee, then only the handling fee is taxable.  (In California that is).  

[mam98031]

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@1jwoody wrote:

Note:  In California, only the "handling" charge is taxable.  If you list saying "shipping and handling" then this whole total will be taxable in California.  If you list "freight" at one price and "handling" at it's own fee, then only the handling fee is taxable.  (In California that is).  

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Washington has a rule that if the S&H is billed on the same invoice as the product then it is all taxable.  If the shipping is billed separately then it is not taxable.

You are so right, different states have different rules.  My bet is there will come up with a one size fits all rule for Facilitator taxation.

[ag47silver-us]

No, taxation is always theft. If it was voluntary it would simply be another financial transaction. If it was voluntary you wouldn't be under threat of violent aggression for refusing. Now it's obvious you actually understand theft is a bad thing and that violence is a bad thing.

Do you think anyone has the right to threaten anyone else for their services or products?

[joesoucie22012]

It's is not only eBay buyers paying this tax. It's the river and all the other e-commerce sites buyers have to pay tax on.  Maybe they should have lobbied harder. And the river spent millions fighting this.

[mam98031]

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@ag47silver-us wrote:
No, taxation is always theft. If it was voluntary it would simply be another financial transaction. If it was voluntary you wouldn't be under threat of violent aggression for refusing. Now it's obvious you actually understand theft is a bad thing and that violence is a bad thing.

Do you think anyone has the right to threaten anyone else for their services or products?

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@ag47silver-us 

Why?  Is it your opinion that taxes are always suppose to be voluntary?  I'm not sure I understand your position.  You do realize that you probably use something on a daily basis that tax payers paid for, right?

[gary205]

 Ebay sellers are at a big disadvantage going up against the local B&M stores. Ebay sellers spend considerable funds and time searching for items to sell. Plus look at all the shipping materials the Ebay sellers buy and the time involved in preparing the packages. Isn't the Ebay sellers time valuable too ? Then there are the fees, federal taxes, and now the state taxes. It just goes on and on ...

[computeraidllc]

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@gary205 wrote:

 Ebay sellers are at a big disadvantage going up against the local B&M stores. Ebay sellers spend considerable funds and time searching for items to sell. Plus look at all the shipping materials the Ebay sellers buy and the time involved in preparing the packages. Isn't the Ebay sellers time valuable too ? Then there are the fees, federal taxes, and now the state taxes. It just goes on and on ...

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I find it is better to have eBay collecting because if these state didn't put in marketplace facilitator laws, I would have to collect and remit in more than just my state, which I can do but it comes at a major cost of time and money I have to pay to my CPA to do this.

There are still more than half the states in the union that collect tax with no facilitator laws but most of them, I don't move enough merchandise in that state to qualify to collect. The big states all have facilitator laws on the books and I suspect in the next year or so that most states will have them on the books because it makes it easier for smaller sellers to comply plus with eBay collecting, they are collecting the correct amount. The tools sellers have on eBay for collecting only allow for them to set a single tax for an entire state which unfortunately their is not a single state that has a single tax so people will be ether paying too much or not enough because of this.

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@1jwoody wrote:

Note:  In California, only the "handling" charge is taxable.  If you list saying "shipping and handling" then this whole total will be taxable in California.  If you list "freight" at one price and "handling" at it's own fee, then only the handling fee is taxable.  (In California that is).  

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Washington has a rule that if the S&H is billed on the same invoice as the product then it is all taxable.  If the shipping is billed separately then it is not taxable.

You are so right, different states have different rules.  My bet is there will come up with a one size fits all rule for Facilitator taxation.

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Mississippi taxes the total cost the buyer pays to the seller, item price plus s/h, however MS is not a facilitator state. We do have a high limit of $250,000 in sales before the sales tax kicks in.

[skipbif_72]

Sales tax on even shipping plus the sales tax isn't refunded when the buyer returns the item. Yep needless to say I think this will have a negative impact on how people shop on ebay. 

[mam98031]

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@gary205 wrote:

 Ebay sellers are at a big disadvantage going up against the local B&M stores. Ebay sellers spend considerable funds and time searching for items to sell. Plus look at all the shipping materials the Ebay sellers buy and the time involved in preparing the packages. Isn't the Ebay sellers time valuable too ? Then there are the fees, federal taxes, and now the state taxes. It just goes on and on ...

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There are two sides to this, not just one.

To shop at a B&M, you have to go there instead of using the ease of being home.  There is the cost of running your vehicle from your home to the B&M of your choice.  B&M's have their costs too.  They have to pay for their store, labor, taxes, employee benefits, products, etc. etc.  It is more expensive to run a B&M than it is to run an internet business on Ebay.

So while most certainly we have costs to cover, we do have advantages over B&Ms too.  And yes we deserve to be paid for the services we render.  The key is to find stuff that others want to buy at a price that makes it worthwhile.  That is the challenge.  

[mam98031]

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@skipbif_72 wrote:

Sales tax on even shipping plus the sales tax isn't refunded when the buyer returns the item. Yep needless to say I think this will have a negative impact on how people shop on ebay. 

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Where did you get this from.  

@skipbif_72 

[pcmbuy]

Technically in New York State you are supposed to register with the state and collect sales tax on anything over $600 per year, garage sales and flea markets included.

[pcmbuy]

It's pretty comical that people are complaining about this internet tax stuff-all they are really complaining about is that they've been breaking the law for years and now they have to follow the law (or at least it's harder to break the law).