@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).
@spansy02
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?
@albertabrightalberta,
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.
albertabrightalberta
