eBay

autopiacarcare · ‎01-03-2019

We know that eBay has said starting January 1, they will be collecting and remitting sales tax for WA and MN. We have not yet had a sale to either of these states this year, but have noticed a difference between our listings and other sellers listings.

Our listings still show in the sales tax tab "Seller charges sales tax in multiple states" with "multiple states" being a link that takes you to the tax rate table as we had previously set it up, which shows WA at 8.76% and nothing for MN. (Listing ID 253474630872 for example)

However, if we look at another seller's listing for the same item (253975812991), they show " FL*(7.0%), MN*, WA*."

@Anonymousor one of the other blues, can you let us know if this is a glitch or if there is something we need to do to update our listings so eBay will be properly collecting and remitting tax for WA and MN?

11333tank · ‎10-17-2019

Good to know, I will add the 4 digit code and buy something small to see if it is correct. I live in rural Montrose County and called Ebay who transferred me to their “tax expert” she was very rude and said she had no idea what my tax should be but could charge up to 7% for Co, this was even above that rate. Paypal was great but told me to contact Ebay. Problem is, the only way to dispute it will involve the seller and when I tried it the seller was notified that I would be refunded and didn't want to ship my item. This needs to be corrected so sales tax errors can be disputed to Ebay without sellers involvement.

lilch01 · ‎10-23-2019

@Anonymous

Trinton,

Im struggling here. I am a buyer. I live in the state of VA.

I tried to purchase an item today

Which seems the VA state legislature says is tax exempt.

https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB1668

And A 3rd party JM Bullion has the same policy as the law above on their tax page.

I tried to purchase a Morgan dollar which exceeded the value noted above for exemption. But it tried to add quite a large sum of sales tax..

I have made a few calls to the ebay help lines and all of which yielded no results. No one told me that I was incorrect in my understanding of the required tax and the exemption noted. And no one provided any means to move forward.

What do I do? Is my belief that a us dollar (numismatic) silver or gold coin over 1000 dollars should not be taxed incorrect? And how do I get this fixed? Or will I get a refund of inappropriate tax collection, if it was not assessed properly and I complete the transaction.

With Thanks.... Since I am super confused.

Anonymous · ‎10-23-2019

@lilch01 wrote:

@Anonymous

Trinton,

Im struggling here. I am a buyer. I live in the state of VA.

I tried to purchase an item today

Which seems the VA state legislature says is tax exempt.

https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB1668

And A 3rd party JM Bullion has the same policy as the law above on their tax page.

I tried to purchase a Morgan dollar which exceeded the value noted above for exemption. But it tried to add quite a large sum of sales tax..

I have made a few calls to the ebay help lines and all of which yielded no results. No one told me that I was incorrect in my understanding of the required tax and the exemption noted. And no one provided any means to move forward.

What do I do? Is my belief that a us dollar (numismatic) silver or gold coin over 1000 dollars should not be taxed incorrect? And how do I get this fixed? Or will I get a refund of inappropriate tax collection, if it was not assessed properly and I complete the transaction.

With Thanks.... Since I am super confused.

Hi @lilch01, can you provide the item number for this example? Customer Service should be able to pass along details to our tax teams for review so we can ensure the correct tax is being assessed. Our exemptions are currently based on category in most situations, so there are times when the item itself may be exempt but the category it was listed in is not an exempt category (ie. clothing that would normally be exempt from sales tax in a specific state, but was listed in the collectibles category). We also allow for buyers to provide documentation for tax exemption when applicable, such as for states where items that are purchased for resale are exempt.

Either way, we should be able to have this reviewed with more detail. I won't be in the office for the next few weeks starting tomorrow to recover from having my tonsils removed, but brian@ebay will be happy to follow up on this for you with more details

lilch01 · ‎10-23-2019

brian@ebay

The item I was interested in was 264506320168

But with the additional tax it makes it a steep burden.

Especially when it would seem the tax shouldnt be there. Any way to get this righted so I can decide whether to move forward?

Thanks @Anonymous and brian@ebay

jojitsusensei · ‎10-23-2019

Tell the seller to invoice you directly or tell him you going to pass.

mansons2005 · ‎10-24-2019

I sincerely hope you are not advising the OP to ask the seller to take the transaction off eBay - that is the only way that the seller could create an "invoice" that did not include the tax, which eBay calculates, and which they are required by law to collect and remit. Of course, eBay is also responsible to ensure that the correct exemptions and rates are observed, so if there is in error regarding this exemption it has to be corrected by eBay.

lilch01 · ‎10-24-2019

All appreciate it. But unless I am mistaken I am asking ebay if the tax law makes this exempt. Can they correct this or do something for me (until it is corrected). I dont think its good measure to collect sales tax if its really not due.

Thanks...

bonjourami · ‎10-24-2019

State Tax Laws on Bullion Gold Silver Precious Metal Sales

Here is where we stand in terms of the 50 states and their current tax law situations on physical precious metals.

Alabama - recently exempt.

Alaska - exempt.

Arizona - none.

Arkansas - sales taxes of 6.5% – 9.75% plus an additional local sale and use tax as high as 3.25% per transaction in some instances.

California - sales tax of 7.5% (and that is excluding municipality sales taxes like in Los Angeles). The exemption is on orders at or above $ 1,500.00 USD.

Colorado - none, except local municipality sales and use taxes as high as 7.5%.

Connecticut - sales tax rate of 6.5%. The exemption is on orders at or above $ 1,000.00 USD.

District of Columbia / Washington, D.C. - a sales tax of 5.75%, no exemptions.

Delaware - none.

Florida - sales tax of 6%. Exemption is on orders at or above $ 500.00 USD.

Georgia - none.

Hawaii - none but all sales within the state are subject to a General Excise Tax (GET) of 4 to 4.712%.

Idaho - none.

Illinois - none, the only exception being the South African Krugerrand for which the regular state sales tax of 6.25% is applied.

Indiana - sales tax of 7%.

Iowa - none.

Kansas - sales taxes of 6.5 to 11.25%.

Kentucky - sales tax of 6%.

Louisiana - sales tax of 4 to 11%. Exemption on orders at or above $1,000 USD.

Maine - sales tax of 5.5%.

Maryland - sales tax of 6%. Exemption on orders at or above $1,000 USD.

Massachusetts - sales tax of 6.25%. Exemption on orders at or above $1,000 USD (only exceptions being coins from South Africa and Namibia).

Michigan - none on bullion products at or above 90% purity.

Minnesota - charges a sales and use tax of 6.875%.

Mississippi - sales taxes of 7 to 7.25%.

Missouri - none.

Montana - none.

Nebraska - none.

Nevada - sales taxes from 6.85 to 8.1%.

New Hampshire - none.

New Jersey - sales tax of 7%.

New Mexico - has a Gross Receipts Tax of 5.125 to 8.6875%.

New York - sales taxes of 4 to 8.875%. Exemption on orders at or above $ 1,000.00 USD

North Carolina - none now.

North Dakota - none on .999 fine bullion but there is a sales tax of 5% for non-fine bullion products.

Ohio - now none.

Oklahoma - no tax on fine bullion products but there are sales taxes from 4.5 to 11% on non-fine bullion products.

Oregon - none.

Pennsylvania - none.

Rhode Island - none.

South Carolina - none.

South Dakota - none.

Tennessee - sales taxes of 7 to 9.75%.

Texas - none.

Utah - none.

Vermont - sales taxes from 6 to 7%.

Virginia - sales taxes range from 5.3 to 6% in Virginia. Exemption on bullion orders of over $1,000.00 USD.

Washinton - none.

West Virginia - sales taxes from 6 to 7%.

Wisconsin - sales taxes from 5 to 5.6%.

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“Never pick a fight with an ugly person. They don’t have anything to lose.” ~Robin Williams

lilch01 · ‎10-24-2019

Out of curiosity is that from the va legislature or a 3rd party site?

I had found that statement on avalara

Virginia: gold, silver and platinum bullion when the total sales price per transaction is $1,000 or less

Because I am quoting the VA government site. And if there is a conflict bill I would just like to know what that Bill was. Or if the sites are missing the " legal tender coins" that is referenced in the house bill.

The original link posted in the first question mostly agrees with your link except the VA site also includes legal tender coins. Which is not a reference in your site link.

And many states have whats considered a bullion law which is similar to VA. I know for sure Maryland has the same.

A re-paste of the link on the first message,

Which seems the VA state legislature says is tax exempt.

https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB1668

Full quoting of text no modifications, HB1668

"Sales and use tax exemption; legal tender coins. Exempts legal tender coins whose total transaction sales price exceeds $1,000 from sales and use tax and extends from January 1, 2019, to June 30, 2022, the same exemption for gold, silver, or platinum bullion. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2018. The provisions of the bill expire on June 30, 2022. "

Also SB 934 Retail Sales and Use Tax; exempts legal tender coins.

"Sales and use tax exemption; legal tender coins. Exempts legal tender coins whose total transaction sales price exceeds $1,000 from sales and use tax and extends from January 1, 2019, to June 30, 2022, the same exemption for gold, silver, or platinum bullion. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2018. The provisions of the bill expire on June 30, 2022"

Which agrees with the 1000 on bullion as well as coins. Which is what I was attempting to buy a u.s. coin that exceeds the 1000 dollars. So is the va.gov website wrong that legal tender coins are taxable and its only

" on bullion orders of over $1,000.00 USD." Or is it that VA is considering (per the bills) legal tender coins and bullion the same?

Thanks, Charlie.

lilch01 · ‎10-24-2019

Just to close the thread on my part.

Thanks everyone for the responses Our Ebay experts can ignore me.

I just did, what I will do first the next time I have a question. I called our state tax department to get the answer.

Apparently this is not a Ebay issue but likely a state of VA issue. From my discussion with them they have that the tax department has the bill sunset-ed January 1 of 2019. Thus it should be taxed at this moment. Its clear from the VA legislative site that the bill was extended so I suspect that there is a variance at least for the short time being from the VA Legislative site. And the actual VA tax code listed.

So since VA says they dont have the legislation yet in their tax system its likely appropriate to pay the tax and I would be happy to do my part to pay the tax, as said from the beginning I was most interested if I should be paying the tax or if I shouldnt since our local legislature website showed it to be exempt. I apologize for my posts I was just trying to get to the truth. But I thank you all for trying.. And at least I can close the topic with what seems to be the ultimate answer.

Thanks again for everyone and apologies for any inconvenience.

brian@ebay · ‎10-24-2019

@lilch01 wrote:

brian@ebay

The item I was interested in was 264506320168

But with the additional tax it makes it a steep burden.

Especially when it would seem the tax shouldnt be there. Any way to get this righted so I can decide whether to move forward?

Thanks @Anonymous and brian@ebay

Thanks, @lilch01, I'll send this over to our tax team for review!

Brian,
Community Team

mansons2005 · ‎10-24-2019

@lilch01 wrote:
Just to close the thread on my part.
Thanks everyone for the responses Our Ebay experts can ignore me.

I just did, what I will do first the next time I have a question. I called our state tax department to get the answer.
Apparently this is not a Ebay issue but likely a state of VA issue. From my discussion with them they have that the tax department has the bill sunset-ed January 1 of 2019. Thus it should be taxed at this moment. Its clear from the VA legislative site that the bill was extended so I suspect that there is a variance at least for the short time being from the VA Legislative site. And the actual VA tax code listed.

So since VA says they dont have the legislation yet in their tax system its likely appropriate to pay the tax and I would be happy to do my part to pay the tax, as said from the beginning I was most interested if I should be paying the tax or if I shouldnt since our local legislature website showed it to be exempt. I apologize for my posts I was just trying to get to the truth. But I thank you all for trying.. And at least I can close the topic with what seems to be the ultimate answer.

Thanks again for everyone and apologies for any inconvenience.

How "DARE" you apologize! You brought up a valid question and enticed many into researching and trying to assist you. That is a teaching/learning experience for all of us. I know I learned a thing or two. So any time you have a question, do NOT hesitate to bring it to your comrades. We are all on the boards for a purpose (though personal purposes vary) and without questions and answers it just turns into a whine and blubber party - I have enough of that in my real life.....................

I'm glad that you found the correct information!

demosdh8 · ‎02-13-2020

And eBay does not know how to do it. They suggest listing under bullion but the buyer is still being charged VA tax. Frustrating to say the least. I have lost sales due to this problem.