Sales tax . . . the problem has begun

[k-mansparts]

SCOTUS  has ruled 

the problems will be enormous 

[sharingtheland]

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@1ezdeal wrote:

That is wrong, the law in PA is that if the market place has a presence in PA they have to collect taxes from their third party sellers, since amazon has werahouses in PA they have to collect the taxes but ebay does not have any typen of presence in PA so ebay sellers are not required to collect taxes for sales to costumers in PA.

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The law just changed; that is the point of the thread.   Saying the law changed isn't really accurate; it's  a SCOTUS ruling.  Congress (oh yippee - not) will now make laws.

I can't possibly imagine a scenario where someone who sells $100/month is required to handle this collection and reporting individually, filing 50 different state tax forms.

[skatefool]

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@ymeagainlord wrote:

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@hillbillymedia wrote:
I think it`s a rip that used items get taxed everytime they chage hands. Think about all the revenue generated from used item sales. Like we don`t pay enough already. They are out to squeeze us dry!

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I absolutely agree. Apart from licenced vehicles there should be ZERO ST charged on used items. They already got their cut the first time it sold.

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Always remember - sales tax is a tax on a Sale.  It doesn't care what it is.

[swappart]

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

It's a pretty safe bet the sales tax will be assessed by the buyer location since the seller won't have a location in the state charging the sales tax.

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I disagree. Under current tax laws, it's the business having a physical presence in a particular state which requires the seller to collect tax on items sold in that state. Location of item at time of sale will determine amount of tax and state the tax is owed to. Or, at least the seller's registered location. I just tested this by clicking the buy it now button on an item I've purchased before, which is in my state and charges tax. The item, a roll of Kraft paper eBay ID #290388548825, resulted in $1.95 tax. That is 8.5% but my tax rate is 8.75%. I'm quite certain the tax will be based on seller location. Additionally, no state has the power to mandate that citizens of another state pay tax to it.

[tealt]

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tyler@ebay wrote:

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@tealt wrote:

@trinton

Question #1:

What will US eBay sellers now need to do about collecting sales tax for sales in states where they do not have a physical presence?  

Question #2:

When can sellers and buyers expect eBay to comment on this Supreme Court decision?

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Hi @tealt - We have a statement about the decision here. 

At this point, you don't need to do anything. But in the coming months, we expect to have more information and eBay will help provide updates as the legal landscape becomes clearer. Thanks!

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 I read the announcement. 

Are you kidding me?

If eBay is going to depend on Congress to solve this issue for small sellers, eBay sellers are in a big trouble!

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

Right now people are charging sales tax within their states so it makes sense to charge the seller location rate.

Once they start remitting to other states the tax will have to be done on the buyer's location. It won't make sense for me to collect MA state sales tax for someone I'm selling to in PA to remit to PA. PA is not going to want to keep track of rates in other taxing locations. They will want to tax on their own rates.

PA is going to want PA sales tax, especially if it's higher than MA sales tax. Once you're talking two different states, what we do now will be out the window.

[1ezdeal]

No sorry this is the new law, the old law was change to this new law were you wont be required to pay sales taxes to a state if you dont go over $100,00 or 200 items limit, please read the ruling.

[tsme35]

yea like ebay stepped in and did something about the outrageous international shipping rates and make ebay a fair international selling format

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

in PA it's 10K, I know because I got the letter. However I'm pretty sure Ebay sells more than 10K in PA over the course of a year.

They can choose to file a zillion reports instead for now but I suspect that's going to change now that the Supreme Court ruling is in allowing cross-border sales tax.

[swappart]

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

Right now people are charging sales tax within their states so it makes sense to charge the seller location rate.

Once they start remitting to other states the tax will have to be done on the buyer's location. It won't make sense for me to collect MA state sales tax for someone I'm selling to in PA to remit to PA. PA is not going to want to keep track of rates in other taxing locations. They will want to tax on their own rates.

PA is going to want PA sales tax, especially if it's higher than MA sales tax. Once you're talking two different states, what we do now will be out the window.

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What I'm trying to say is, MA is going to be the one with the authority to demand tax from you. PA should not have that authority. Even though SCOTUS overturned Quill, it still doesn't change the fact that a state's authority does not extend beyond their borders. It seems to me that the state in which the item is sold from is the one which would have the best chance of having an enforceable law.

[richeb4]

This will totally put me out of business if it gets too complicated. Ebay was something that I loved to do since I retired and it gave me a little income to boot. All gone now unless Ebay comes up with some miracle to save their company. Thanks supreme court.

[div_style]

"South Dakota's law applies only to those businesses with more than $100,000 in sales, or at least 200 transactions, in the state each year."

Not many of us here will be affected by this one.  I think I sold about $20 to South Dakota last year, so unless I sell $99,980 more, just to SD this year, there's nothing to do.

What other States will do is an unanswered question, but I think it very likely the threshhold for collecting tax will be far above what most of us sell to any one State.

This ruling will affect Wayfair, Walmart, Target, and other large to mega retailers.

eBay sellers?  Not so much. 

The sky is not falling, yet.  My concern will be whether, when eBay becomes the payment collector, they will add tax to every transaction for States that have sales tax.

That could get ugly.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

All I can tell you is that Etsy is already processing sales tax in PA and WA. They have far smarter lawyers than I have. I think if there was an easier alternative they would not already be doing this.

https://blog.taxjar.com/etsy-washington-sales-tax/

Etsy has no nexus in WA as far as I know.

[livadia]

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@1ezdeal wrote:

Amazon has to collect the taxes because they have a presence in every single state but ebay does not so that does not apply to ebay because ebay only has offices in 2 states

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That was the way things *have* been @1ezdeal, but even before today's SCOTUS rulings, there have been states which passed their own Internet Sales Tax laws, including Washington (state) and Pennsylvania.  Those laws in effect said it didn't matter whether the seller had a physical presence in their state or not, any sales made via an *online marketplaces* to a consumer in their state were subject to sales tax.

Since January/April, both Etsy and Amazon have been collecting sales taxes on behalf of their sellers and remitting them to the proper authorities in WA/PA.  Etsy doesn't have any warehouses -- they're a selling platform just like eBay -- yet they were proactive and complied. 

eBay chose not to -- perhaps hoping the Supreme Court decision would make it unnecessary.  Doesn't appear that now will be the case given today's ruling so instead of getting a head-start on the issue like Amazon/Etsy, they're now going to have to play catch up.

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@div_style wrote:

"South Dakota's law applies only to those businesses with more than $100,000 in sales, or at least 200 transactions, in the state each year."

Not many of us here will be affected by this one.  I think I sold about $20 to South Dakota last year, so unless I sell $99,980 more, just to SD this year, there's nothing to do.

What other States will do is an unanswered question, but I think it very likely the threshhold for collecting tax will be far above what most of us sell to any one State.

This ruling will affect Wayfair, Walmart, Target, and other large to mega retailers.

eBay sellers?  Not so much. 

The sky is not falling, yet.  My concern will be whether, when eBay becomes the payment collector, they will add tax to every transaction for States that have sales tax.

That could get ugly.

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Mississippi already has online sales tax, and $250,000 is the threshold.