08-07-2023 02:23 PM
I recently sold property on eBay and eBay wrongfully charged the buyer sales tax. The buyer spoke with two people at eBay and they both agreed that sales tax should not have been charged, so he opened a dispute. I received an email from eBay yesterday saying that they found in the buyer's favor and that the sales tax amount and a $20 dispute fee was going to be removed from my bank account.
Doesn't eBay keep the sales tax that is charged? So shouldn't eBay be paying the buyer back?
Also, I tried to call the 800 number for eBay and I got a message that it's outside of business hours. But it says they are open from 5 am to 930 pm PT and it's 2 pm PT. Is it actually possible to speak with someone or is there another way to open a dispute?
08-07-2023 02:28 PM
So the state where the buyer is located (presumably CA) does not charge state sales tax on cemetery plots?
08-07-2023 02:31 PM
Q: When your buyer made the purchase, didn't it show that he was being charged sales tax?
08-07-2023 02:32 PM
Also, eBay DOES NOT and CANNOT "keep the sales tax that is charged".
Any state sales charged by any seller, online or in brick & mortar stores is remitted to the treasury of the state for which the state sales tax is charged.
08-07-2023 02:37 PM
The conundrum in my mind is why eBay would have the seller refund the sales tax. Money collected from sales tax never actually reaches the seller's account.
Re: Contacting eBay: Use eBay for Business (https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness) on Facebook and send a message.
08-07-2023 03:06 PM
Q: When your buyer made the purchase, didn't it show that he was being charged sales tax?
@inhawaii
It doesn't matter. The Buyer did a c.card chargeback for the sales tax that the OP seller never received in the first place. Seller got to pay the $20 chargeback fee because ........????? Sellers do not get the sales tax money, so what seller funds did eBay suck if from to refund the buyer plus the penalty for losing?
Sounds like eBay's chargeback bot is on steroids.
08-07-2023 03:17 PM
@ittybitnot wrote:Q: When your buyer made the purchase, didn't it show that he was being charged sales tax?
@inhawaii
It doesn't matter. The Buyer did a c.card chargeback for the sales tax that the OP seller never received in the first place. Seller got to pay the $20 chargeback fee because ........????? Sellers do not get the sales tax money, so what seller funds did eBay suck if from to refund the buyer plus the penalty for losing?
Sounds like eBay's chargeback bot is on steroids.
I understand.
That sucks for the OP.
I hope they can get it worked out with ebay.
I was just curious though, why the buyer didn't see that he/she was being charged tax at the time of purchase and slam on the brakes?
08-07-2023 04:14 PM
Ebay customer service should have taken care of this the first time the buyer called.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/payment-dispute-seller-protections?id=5293
If ebay does not cover you 100% then you should file a complaint here.....
You can report ebay https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/rptfraud.htm
08-07-2023 04:30 PM
So we do know for sure that the state of California doesn't charge state sales tax on cemetery plots?
08-07-2023 04:32 PM
@ittybitnot wrote:Q: When your buyer made the purchase, didn't it show that he was being charged sales tax?
@inhawaii
It doesn't matter. The Buyer did a c.card chargeback for the sales tax that the OP seller never received in the first place. Seller got to pay the $20 chargeback fee because ........????? Sellers do not get the sales tax money, so what seller funds did eBay suck if from to refund the buyer plus the penalty for losing?
Sounds like eBay's chargeback bot is on steroids.
If eBay can not determine that they are the one who collected the sales tax then this would indicate how much effort on your behalf they will put into a Credit Card Dispute.
08-07-2023 04:51 PM
https://www.taxes.ca.gov/Sales_and_Use_Tax/WhatsTaxable.html
08-07-2023 05:03 PM - edited 08-07-2023 05:03 PM
eBay was right to charge tax - that plot is taxable.
08-07-2023 05:22 PM
Not gonna lie, eBay wouldn't have been my first thought when searching for cemetery plots.
08-07-2023 05:48 PM - edited 08-07-2023 05:49 PM
@soh.maryl wrote:So we do know for sure that the state of California doesn't charge state sales tax on cemetery plots?
I looked it up. California doesn't charge tax on cemetery plots:
The Cemetery Exemption is available to property used or held exclusively for the permanent deposit of human dead, or for the care and maintenance of the property of the dead, except when used or held for profit (See Section 256.5 of Revenue and Taxation Code). The purpose of the Cemetery Exemption is to protect the final resting place of the human dead (See Section 3(g) of Article XIII of the California Constitution).
Health and Safety Code section 7003 defines "cemetery" as either of the following:
A property that is discovered to have six or more human bodies buried on it is not eligible for the exemption unless it is used or held exclusively for burial purposes as described in Property Tax Rule 132(a).
I'm curious. Did the buyer filed the chargeback for the full purchase price or just for the tax they were charged? Did they get a refund for the full price of the plot, i.e., getting it for free?
08-07-2023 06:39 PM - edited 08-07-2023 06:41 PM
@albertabrightalberta wrote:
@soh.maryl wrote:So we do know for sure that the state of California doesn't charge state sales tax on cemetery plots?
I looked it up. California doesn't charge tax on cemetery plots:
Cemetery Exemption – Property Tax
Cemetery Exemption
The Cemetery Exemption is available to property used or held exclusively for the permanent deposit of human dead, or for the care and maintenance of the property of the dead, except when used or held for profit (See Section 256.5 of Revenue and Taxation Code). The purpose of the Cemetery Exemption is to protect the final resting place of the human dead (See Section 3(g) of Article XIII of the California Constitution).
Health and Safety Code section 7003 defines "cemetery" as either of the following:
- Any of the following that is used or intended to be used and dedicated for cemetery purposes:
- A burial park, for earth interments.
- A mausoleum, for crypt or vault interments.
- A crematory and columbarium, for cinerary interments.
- A place where six or more human bodies are buried.
A property that is discovered to have six or more human bodies buried on it is not eligible for the exemption unless it is used or held exclusively for burial purposes as described in Property Tax Rule 132(a).
I'm curious. Did the buyer filed the chargeback for the full purchase price or just for the tax they were charged? Did they get a refund for the full price of the plot, i.e., getting it for free?
I think you conclusion may be incorrect. See what I highlighted above in red.
I would interpret that as saying that a burial plot is exempt from sales tax in California, unless it is being sold at a gain (profit).
OP does provide the current sale price (from the cemetery) as a comparison, but it would seem likely that the plots in question were purchased some time ago, to save money in the expectation that the price would go up, as that is the usual reason for purchasing something like this in advance.
There's a fairly good chance that they were sold at a profit, in which case it would seem that the sales tax was applied correctly, because it appears that the plots were being held for a profit, since they were no longer going to be used by the owner for their intended purpose.
At any rate, if a buyer is charged sales tax on an exempt purchase, they can file a request to be refunded for it, and eBay will do that. eBay does this fairly frequently for bullion sales (precious metals) when they are sold at (or below) the spot price, which in most states is the requirement for bullion sales to be tax exempt.
In this case, however, it appears that the buyer didn't do that. Instead, they filed a chargeback with their credit card, for the amount they felt they had been overcharged (the sales tax). I think that is the only real explanation for why the seller was charged for the refund of the sales tax, which the seller did not receive in the first place.
It seems unfortunate that, because the buyer did not follow eBay policy, but went to a chargeback, the seller is being penalized, and force to refund an amount that he did not receive, in addition to being charged a $20 penalty.
@spansy02, in a situation like this, your best way to try to get a reasonable solution is to contact the eBay for Business page on Facebook.