eBay

mr_lincoln · ‎10-07-2019

The state sales tax issue is only the beginning of taxes to come. Why? Because there's still money on the table. Just be glad our President is going after taxes from foreign shippers or it could be worse from a competitive standpoint. While it took states a while to get their sales tax collection laws in place it may not take as long for them to get their income tax laws in place.

The immediate windfall for each participating state for Sales Tax is suddenly realizing sales tax on ALL internet transactions, meaning all those Sellers who dodged reporting internet sales or didn't have a Tax ID for wholesale purchasing and reporting will now have sales tax levied on their transactions. Now, as long as they don't get a PayPal or future eBay Managed Payments 1099K the government will be hard pressed to collect tax on their income from online sales ... THIS is where the future tax push is heading, and don't think anyone in state government hasn't thought this far ahead.

At some point the venues will be tasked by the state and or federal government to generate 1099Ks for ALL members of the venue and there will be a minimum dollar threshold and my guess is it will be well below the current $ 20,000 on PayPal. And why do I think this? Its because the states will do the math after a couple venue sales tax reporting cycles and compare that with their registered Tax ID citizens and see what I am guessing to be a rather large difference. All they have to do is some simple math to see that they are getting far and away more sales tax on what their Tax ID holders are reporting in actual sales ... this will gave them a general idea of the dollar amount many people are NOT reporting anything for either Sales Tax or Income tax purposes. In our state it means another 3.07% on the table for Income tax not to mention the Federal Government's cut on that increased income tax.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

ersatz_sobriquet · ‎10-07-2019

@mr_lincoln wrote:
The state sales tax issue is only the beginning of taxes to come. Why? Because there's still money on the table. Just be glad our President is going after taxes from foreign shippers

I believe you're probably right on future taxable income below 20k, Mr. Lincoln.

I like the idea of making USPS fair rates for foreign shippers, but I'm not crazy about the $100 extra I just paid for an appliance because of tariffs though.

buyselljack2016 · ‎10-07-2019

@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:
@mr_lincoln wrote:
The state sales tax issue is only the beginning of taxes to come. Why? Because there's still money on the table. Just be glad our President is going after taxes from foreign shippers

I believe you're probably right on future taxable income below 20k, Mr. Lincoln.
I like the idea of making USPS fair rates for foreign shippers, but I'm not crazy about the $100 extra I just paid for an appliance because of tariffs though.

It is my understanding that these tariffs are going to level the playing field, but I just don't understand at who's expense, or maybe I do:(

buyselljack2016 · ‎10-07-2019

Yup, fact.

As we know, some states are already requiring the 1099K at the $600 level

mr_lincoln · ‎10-07-2019

@buyselljack2016 wrote:
Yup, fact.

As we know, some states are already requiring the 1099K at the $600 level

I think our state has a $ 500 threshold for people selling privately like yards & garage sales ... above that and one is supposed to collect and remit sales tax and report it as income ... I suspect the list is short of volunteers who actually do that.

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

mr_lincoln · ‎10-07-2019

@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:
@mr_lincoln wrote:
The state sales tax issue is only the beginning of taxes to come. Why? Because there's still money on the table. Just be glad our President is going after taxes from foreign shippers

I believe you're probably right on future taxable income below 20k, Mr. Lincoln.
I like the idea of making USPS fair rates for foreign shippers, but I'm not crazy about the $100 extra I just paid for an appliance because of tariffs though.

Yes, and the argument there of course is THAT purchase did not go to a US Seller or B&M store ...

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

rixstuff · ‎10-07-2019

I don't know what else to say except You have been on Ebay for along time so you cant JUST NOW be hearing about this. States (and others) have been trying to collect sales taxes since Ebay was founded. Before it was to "level the playing field" making online items just as expensive as local stores but now the states finally got it as brick and mortar stores closed and they lost the tax revenue from them so have tried to make it up here and on other online sales venues.

pink.fish.rule · ‎10-07-2019

@mr_lincoln wrote:
@buyselljack2016 wrote:
Yup, fact.

As we know, some states are already requiring the 1099K at the $600 level
I think our state has a $ 500 threshold for people selling privately like yards & garage sales ... above that and one is supposed to collect and remit sales tax and report it as income ... I suspect the list is short of volunteers who actually do that.

I know quite a few around here who are regulars at storage auction sales and seem to have a YS every weekend during the season. Have yet to see the required permits posted anywhere on site of same.

At one point the DOR was actually perusing the classifieds and CL and sending people round to these "regular" YS. Don't know if they still do that or not.

mr_lincoln · ‎10-07-2019

@rixstuff wrote:
I don't know what else to say except You have been on Ebay for along time so you cant JUST NOW be hearing about this. States (and others) have been trying to collect sales taxes since Ebay was founded. Before it was to "level the playing field" making online items just as expensive as local stores but now the states finally got it as brick and mortar stores closed and they lost the tax revenue from them so have tried to make it up here and on other online sales venues.

What makes you think I am "just now" hearing of this??? I've been a Tax ID holder for years ... this thread is about my opinion on the FUTURE of other taxes (income tax primarily) that will be the result of the sales tax laws and ongoing tax laws. I remember years ago states were asking for citizens to voluntarily report Use tax for out of state online purchases ... believe it or not, I actually did it one year ... but we're talking maybe 10-15 years ago ...

As to the last part of your post ... its almost identical to ones I have posted (MONTHS AGO) about local malls and stores closing and the lost B&M tax revenue ... not to mention even OLDER POSTS about how Cyber Monday supplanted Black Friday for the day Retailers make or brake their year on sales ...

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

pink.fish.rule · ‎10-07-2019

Show me a politician who ever met a tax they didn't like.

ozarkjoe · ‎10-07-2019

I've been paying income tax from day one since I assumed (wrongly maybe) that all of our revenue via Paypal was forwarded to the IRS. There are enough reasonable deductions for small businesses that I pay very little income tax.

My cynical view is that governments like to pick on the weak for collecting more taxes. Every year or so they tighten the screws on tipped workers with more audits and minimum assumed tips (maybe 10% of sales). Restaurant servers have no organized voice like a union or lobbying firm to speak on their behalf. That would include most of us here.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎10-07-2019

I would be thankful if all the tax cheats were caught and fined. We all know that seller who is not filing income tax on their Ebay earnings because they didn't get a 1099. It will level the playing field for all of us who already followed the law.

pburn · ‎10-07-2019

@pink.fish.rule wrote:
I know quite a few around here who are regulars at storage auction sales and seem to have a YS every weekend during the season. Have yet to see the required permits posted anywhere on site of same.

Here is a summary concerning collecting sales tax at "special events" for my state:

"A special event is a gathering of sellers where merchandise, items, or services are sold or traded to the public from a temporary venue. Sales tax is due on all retail sales of taxable new and used items at special events. Promoters and sellers at special events are required to have a Nebraska sales tax permit."

Garage sales at locations other than one's home are considered a special event. An individual can hold a garage sale at their own home for no more than three days per year without collecting sales tax. (The statute does not specify "consecutive" days . . . )

csbbct · ‎10-07-2019

I've been paying both federal and state income tax on my eBay profit for years, even before Paypal starting distributing 1099-K's. As most know here, it's always been an IRS rule that if you're buying something with the intent of reselling to make a profit you are supposed to declare it as income on your federal tax return, regardless of the amount or whether you received a 1099-K or not. So if it's reported as income on your federal return and your state has an income tax then they know about it, even if you don't have a sales tax ID, and you are already paying income tax on it.

Aside from this though, states can't use the newly reported internet sales taxes to determine whether enough sellers are reporting income to them. Since eBay is collecting sales tax based on the buyer's state and income taxes are based on the seller's state, the numbers will never match. So, hypothetically, every dollar of sales tax collected for a state could have come from sellers who live in other states and do not owe income tax to their state.

buyselljack2016 · ‎10-07-2019

@mr_lincoln wrote:
@buyselljack2016 wrote:
Yup, fact.

As we know, some states are already requiring the 1099K at the $600 level
I think our state has a $ 500 threshold for people selling privately like yards & garage sales ... above that and one is supposed to collect and remit sales tax and report it as income ... I suspect the list is short of volunteers who actually do that.

$600 for yard sales here. Quit my yard sales, as it really wasn't worth my time, and effort to babysit for the pittance it yielded. Now things go out on a "free" table.

Here filing the state tax you can do an actual amount owed for the out of state purchase sales or use tax, or just a flat rate or %age. Forget which it was. I tried it one year to maybe make it easier. Backed on out from that, and returned to the actual tax real fast, because as it came up, it was based on way, way, way more than the actual tax on my purchases.