Road improvement and food delivery fee for sales to Minnesota

[mochasassy]

Minnesota has a new fee for deliveries with a value over $100.00.

The fee is 50 cents collected by ebay and submitted to the state in the same way as sales taxes.

Here's a link the the Minnesota Department of Revenue with the details.

Retail Delivery Fee | Minnesota Department of Revenue (state.mn.us)

[simba6]

Used horse bedding is as close as I can come to a comment without the mods getting on my case.

Everyone wants a slice of the pie.

[ed8108]

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@mochasassy wrote:

Minnesota has a new fee for deliveries with a value over $100.00.

The fee is 50 cents collected by ebay and submitted to the state in the same way as sales taxes.

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Very creative, don't be overly surprised if other states choose to follow

[gurlcat]

Thanks for the heads up!  

[gurlcat]

It also says you don't get the 50 cents back if the item is returned/refunded.  

What I don't get is why "Food Delivery" is in the title.  The details say  that the fee applies to just these two categories, neither of which sound like they'd include food.




And food is specifically cited in the EXEMPTIONS list.  


So what's up with that misleading title????

[richard1rst]

Does it really surprise anyone that politicians are constantly looking for new ways and new things to tax? "Creative bookkeeping" comes to mind.

[mam98031]

Odd law.  But the money will add up for the state and hurt your local delivery services.

[mochasassy]

It was included in the order details of a recent purchase.

What your buyer paid

Item subtotal

$339.99

Shipping

$4.95

Sales tax*

$28.89

Road improvement and food delivery fee*

$0.50

Order total**

$374.33

**Order total includes eBay collected tax and jurisdiction administered fees. We collect and remit tax and jurisdiction administered fees to the tax authorities in accordance with applicable state law. You don't have to pay it to the state.

[richard1rst]

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@mam98031 wrote:

Odd law.  But the money will add up for the state and hurt your local delivery services.

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Well, in fairness it is only on items over $100.00. At the risk of being nosy (no. you do not have to answer) how many items do you sell that are over $100.00. I know there are some sellers routinely in that range.

But I'm betting many to most, like myself, only sell a few items in that range. Easily 95% of my items are under $100.00. And on those few items over $100.00 and only going to a very limited number of states, it would seem that 50 cents is just an amount that is so small percentage wise that I just don't see it being a problem.

[johnrj1226]

Just another creative way to collect an additional  source  of taxes  (aka revenue stream).  Probably they  met up with that Governor in California and other places.

Back i 1968/69 time period I moved to Cook County Illinois after college. and a 6 pack of beer was cheaper than a 6 pack of Coke Cola.  The state/county needed more money to  keeps the MARTA a float.  So they taxed every thing they could get away with  - gasoline, a sin tax on cigarettes and alcohol.  Yep that  6 pack of beer became a lot more expensive than Coke Cola.  This was applied to Cook County and the 6 surrounding counties.  Didn't seem to solve the Marta issue - they still were in the Red.  Government at its best

[toysaver]

It's the wave of the future.  Road maintenance is generally supported by gas tax.  This is one way to get the money from electric cars as they pay none at this time and use the roads like everyone else.

[valueaddedresource]

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@ed8108 wrote:

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@mochasassy wrote:

Minnesota has a new fee for deliveries with a value over $100.00.

The fee is 50 cents collected by ebay and submitted to the state in the same way as sales taxes.

---

Very creative, don't be overly surprised if other states choose to follow

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@ed8108  Minnesota is actually the follower here - Colorado has had a similar delivery fee since 2022.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Report-eBay-Technical-Issues/eBay-collected-Denver-Colorado-sales-tax-... 

[fern*wood]

I drive a hybrid and my state charges more each year to register my vehicle to cover the gas tax.

[johnrj1226]

They (EV owners) need to pay more.  EV weight a lot more than  ICE powered cars  -those batteries  weigh  a lot more and tire pressure  is  higher.  Wear out the roads more.  The general public  don't  need to pay

"These formidable powerhouses are responsible for storing the energy that keeps your EV cruising smoothly. As a result, you can anticipate an EV being around 20-30% heavier than a comparable internal combustion engine car."  Approx 720 to 1020 lb  more than my 2011 Chevy Impala (@3600 LBS)  Wonder if the brakes wear out 20-30% faster or if the brakes cost more???

"EVs tend to run on much higher tire pressures to boost efficiency: 45 PSI versus 30 to 35 PSI on a combustion vehicle. Also, knowing if your EV is front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive is critical."   Also makes for a   harder ride for your bootie or keister in some areas.

[gurlcat]

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@toysaver wrote:

It's the wave of the future.  Road maintenance is generally supported by gas tax.  This is one way to get the money from electric cars as they pay none at this time and use the roads like everyone else.

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That is fascinating and makes sense.  It also got me thinking about the comparative potential road damage, because I had a vague memory of hearing that EV's are heavier because of the batteries.  So I googled it just now.  YOWSA, I didn't realize those batteries could weigh up to 9000 pounds! 



Now granted it doesn't indicate whether the combustion vehicles are weighed laden or unladen with fuel, so I was curious about the weight of that.  Apparently 18-wheelers can have up to 300 gallons of diesel which weighs 7.1 pounds per gallon.  = 2130 lbs fully-fueled.  That's pretty dang heavy, but not no 9000 lbs heavy.