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.

[slippinjimmy]

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@pcmbuy wrote:

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).

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Add to that, in the past foreign buyers would sometimes ask for a reduced customs declaration value. The general response on this board is that anyone who would try to cheat on "import taxes" (usually just sales/value added tax) was a dishonest person and probably a thief that should not be trusted or dealt with.

It's funny now to see all these people outraged that they now have to pay some sales tax and are busy trying to figure out ways to evade it.

I knew that one day the shoe would be on the other foot!

[toybrats]

No , the state has it but apparently, ebay is NOT notifying them that the item was returned so the state has the tax. There was a post where the buyer was directed to contact his /her state to get back their taxes paid on the item returned. The tax was a few dollars. I can just imagine some buyers lashing out at the seller for those few bucks.

[postingid2017]

New or used clothing & shoes are not taxed in New Jersey - men's wallets should not be taxed in New Jersey, however, ladies wallets and handbags are taxed.  Taxing should be dependent on the State, that is why when it is back to school time here, a lot of New Yorker would shop here (back in the day) but New York now has a tax free week around the start of school.  I even had to ship packages to the Partner in the New York Office of the law firm that I worked for because he did not want to pay taxes on the items that he purchased.  

[mam98031]

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@toybrats wrote:
No , the state has it but apparently, ebay is NOT notifying them that the item was returned so the state has the tax. There was a post where the buyer was directed to contact his /her state to get back their taxes paid on the item returned. The tax was a few dollars. I can just imagine some buyers lashing out at the seller for those few bucks.

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@toybrats 

Where are you getting this from?

[twnpopcards]

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@tkinnebrew wrote:

If you didnt know we elected the Great Tax Collector 3 years ago and hes just doing what he was born to do

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Sales tax has absolutely nothing to do with the President  or the USA as a whole.  This is due to the States getting the nexus changed regarding Sales Tax and then almost every state coming up with new laws to get their share of the money that they feel they have withheld from them all these years.  I have found that no matter how much money any government is given to spend they will always exceed it and want more for their pet projects.  If anybody really wants to see just how wasteful government agencies are, just review their annual budget line by line and find all the absolutely ridiculous studies that we pay for just to put money into that politicians territory.  I wish i could remember some of my all time favorites from the Federal Budget, but unfortunately there have been so many I can no longer come close to keeping track of them.

Sales Tax is here to stay in one way or another so you might as well accept the fact.  If you want to change things then you will need to start with who you elect to represent you.

[zmo619]

I agree and I have made my last transaction. High fees at both eBay and PayPal and now taxes charged by eBay. No Thanks!

[luckythewinner]

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@warren689 wrote:

Why is used stuff being taxed when it was taxed the first time it was sold? 

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Because a sales tax is a tax on the sale of an item, not on the item itself. 

Otherwise, every retailer would avoid taxes by simply "selling" all his items to a friend for a penny each - and then could buy them back for two cents each and resell them at full price with no taxes. 

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

eBay is not charging taxes, your State is. Ebayisjust collecting them just like nearly every other website will be.

youre supposed to be playing taxes on out of state purchases anyway.

[chapeau-noir]

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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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A small retail space in my area is $2000 per month. Utilities are up to about $500 per month, and the heat usually has to be run 10 months out of the year (at least air conditioning isn't really a necessity).  Liability needs to be paid for foot traffic in and out of that space, and permits need to be purchased. 

That's just the very basics even to get started...maybe.

ETA: I researched this when I considered moving my shops into a retail space.

[namele365]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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A small retail space in my area is $2000 per month. Utilities are up to about $500 per month, and the heat usually has to be run 10 months out of the year (at least air conditioning isn't really a necessity).  Liability needs to be paid for foot traffic in and out of that space, and permits need to be purchased. 

That's just the very basics even to get started...maybe.

ETA: I researched this when I considered moving my shops into a retail space.

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Spendy here as well, though much less.  Problem here is, spaces are so coveted, they are tightly held.  Most spaces are filled to the brim with items either too common, or too expensive.   The money (if any) is being made on the space rentals

[mr_lincoln]

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@warren689 wrote:

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.

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I have posted before and agree that USED items should NEVER be taxed, as you state in so many words, they were already taxed when they were sold the first time.  As for Garage sale tax ... actually, in our state the sales tax law states you are supposed to charge and remit sales tax on personal items sold at yard, porch, garage type sales ( I seem to recall $ 500 being the threshold).  But since there is no infrastructure to monitor those sales it is a law that can not be enforced.

The reason our esteemed elected officials permit the online sales tax is because there is infrastructure to monitor who sells what and for how much ... they see the entire online sales industry as a new source of tax revenue plain and simple ...  this helps to offset the lost sales tax with the decline of retail stores ... it's the world we live in.  But I am glad to see tax on foreign items, that at least helps US Sellers and that is a good thing.

[jojitsusensei]

Same here, I'm done with eBay.

Just read all these boards, everyone complaining about sales being down.

The worst is yet to come.

[mam98031]

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@zmo619 wrote:

I agree and I have made my last transaction. High fees at both eBay and PayPal and now taxes charged by eBay. No Thanks!

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@zmo619 

Are you under the impression that Ebay is the only site that has to charge sales tax for items delivered to certain states?

Ebay's selling fees are not as high as some sites and they are higher than some sites.  It is a mixed bag.  But not all sites are equal in value and if you are trying to sell stuff, that is a pretty important distinction to make.

[computeraidllc]

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@postingid2017 wrote:

New or used clothing & shoes are not taxed in New Jersey - men's wallets should not be taxed in New Jersey, however, ladies wallets and handbags are taxed.  Taxing should be dependent on the State, that is why when it is back to school time here, a lot of New Yorker would shop here (back in the day) but New York now has a tax free week around the start of school.  I even had to ship packages to the Partner in the New York Office of the law firm that I worked for because he did not want to pay taxes on the items that he purchased.  

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New York for the last 20 plus years does not tax 4% on clothing under $150. The local county and cities some do and some don't. So clothing is always taxed at a different rate. The state essentially made it a tax free week, yearly. When the state use to have tax free week on clothing, only the states 4% was not collected. The local sales tax was depending on if the city or county did the same as the state.

Remember tax is actually two different rates: one is a base rate which is what goes directly to the state government. The second is your local rate which goes to which ever city or county government office.

[timanych]

Let me reply to your statement - "ebay is not flee market". I have a counter argument. It is. Let me explain.
Let's assume that I found certain item on eBay, contacted seller, met him in person and bought the item using cash, Venmo or Paypal. I used eBay only as free catalog. As a result I have an item I wanted, and seller who is happy. And this is called FLEE MARKET, dude! I agree that this case does not work for sellers on long distances. In above case, people will avoid using eBay's payment system versus making a deal in person. My statement - "eBay is still flee market under certain conditions"