eBay

mylovingcats1 · ‎08-20-2018

Hello All- the state of MI will require online sellers to collect sales tax starting Oct 1, 2018. I already collect the MI sales tax. My question- How is eBay going to handle all different state sales taxes? Does anyone know?

lynnscollectiblesnstuff · ‎08-20-2018

after being with ebay for a time, I can guarentee it will be a disaster. We will see when it happens. From what I hear, each state will have its own rules. and some states are against it. But time will tell!!

csbbct · ‎08-20-2018

My understanding for Michigan is that online retailers without a physical presence in MI that exceed $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in MI within the previous calendar year will have to collect and remit sales tax. That leaves me out!

From what I've read for the states that are moving ahead with this now (states that have been most concerning to sellers here on these posts seem to be OK, PA, and WA), MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT there is at least a $10,000 in annual sales or 200 transaction threshold that will require them to collect and report. There are Marketplace rules that apply, but from what I've seen they have only referred to Amazon, Walmart, and Etsy being Marketplaces; eBay has not been mentioned. I think eBay will be considered a Marketplace once Adyen is on board since that will meet the Marketplace definition of payment collection and disbursement to sellers. At that time, eBay will need to step up and collect for its sellers like Amazon and Etsy have done.

I'm hoping that eBay will soon advise sellers because it's almost impossible to keep abreast of rapidly changing rules by state now that some states are implementing laws to collect. We're trying to do our best to keep informed but we're depending on whatever is posted on the Community Boards without any support or advice from eBay and believe me there is a lot of confusion on these boards, rightly so!

Anonymous · ‎08-23-2018

@mylovingcats1 wrote:

Hello All- the state of MI will require online sellers to collect sales tax starting Oct 1, 2018. I already collect the MI sales tax. My question- How is eBay going to handle all different state sales taxes? Does anyone know?

Hi @mylovingcats1, while specific tax situations would need to be discussed with a tax professional, I wanted to share some general resources for common questions on this topic.

eBay's Tax Policy can be found here, information on taxes and import charges (along with details on how to set up a Tax Table) can be found here and information specific to Value Added Tax (VAT) charges can be found here. If you have specific questions about invoice charges not addressed by these resources, you are welcome to contact Customer Service for further assistance!

annscartoons · ‎08-23-2018

So apparently eBay is going to let the sellers be on there own about the new sales tax law with all the states, time to close my store and go somewhere else to sell my items and have a site that wants there people to be there

nowthatsjustducky · ‎08-23-2018

Individual sellers should not have to worry about this at all; considering you still owe no allegiance or anything else to any other state or country other than your own. The Feds are not going to get involved; and the sheer cost to any state trying to enforce their sales tax on sellers that have no ties to those states will be far higher than the amount of revenue they might recover. And of course that could cause many in those states who try this to have to answer to their consituents next time their job comes up for a vote as to why they are squandering their tax dollars this way.

If it works, sell it. If it works well, sell it for more. If it doesn't work, quadruple the price and sell it as an antique.

-- Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #80

where*you*crowin · ‎08-24-2018

What I don't understand is why ebay is dumping this sales tax in the laps of sellers. Etsy who has never claimed, as far as I know, to be a tech company, collects sales tax where currently applicable, so they are apparently ahead of the game. Why isn't ebay, who does claim to be a tech company, not have the technology to do the same?

lacemaker3 · ‎08-24-2018

@where*you*crowin wrote:
What I don't understand is why ebay is dumping this sales tax in the laps of sellers. Etsy who has never claimed, as far as I know, to be a tech company, collects sales tax where currently applicable, so they are apparently ahead of the game. Why isn't ebay, who does claim to be a tech company, not have the technology to do the same?

It doesn't have anything to do with being a tech company or not.

Etsy is considered a Marketplace under these laws, and is required to collect sales tax. eBay is not considered a Marketplace, and is not required to collect sales tax. Maybe that will be changed at some point, but that's how it is now.

The Michigan law does not apply to small sellers, if they are not based in MIchigan and sell less than $100,000 or less than 200 transactions to buyers in Michigan in a year. Most sellers on eBay are exempt from this legislation, in Michigan and most other states.

Sellers who are based in Michigan (or have a nexus there) have always been required to register and remit sales tax on sales to Michigan. Similar rules apply to the other states who have legislation like this.

mr_lincoln · ‎08-24-2018

@Anonymous Is eBay going to advise each state on which Sellers sold how much to their respective state?

Regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

where*you*crowin · ‎08-24-2018

@lacemaker3 wrote:

It doesn't have anything to do with being a tech company or not.

Etsy is considered a Marketplace under these laws, and is required to collect sales tax. eBay is not considered a Marketplace, and is not required to collect sales tax. Maybe that will be changed at some point, but that's how it is now.

The Michigan law does not apply to small sellers, if they are not based in MIchigan and sell less than $100,000 or less than 200 transactions to buyers in Michigan in a year. Most sellers on eBay are exempt from this legislation, in Michigan and most other states.

Sellers who are based in Michigan (or have a nexus there) have always been required to register and remit sales tax on sales to Michigan. Similar rules apply to the other states who have legislation like this.

Is that by legal definition or a definition of convenience? What makes Etsy and ebay different other than what is allowed to be sold on their site? If it is not legally considered a marketplace already will it become one once it becomes the merchant of record when they start collecting and directing funds?

Anonymous · ‎08-24-2018

@mr_lincoln wrote:

@Anonymous Is eBay going to advise each state on which Sellers sold how much to their respective state?

Hi @mr_lincoln, could you rephrase your question for me? Are you looking for a report of sales by state? Or are you asking if we will be reporting to individual states the sales from specific sellers?

I do want to clarify for everyone that complying with applicable tax laws has always been the seller's responsibility and we are not an authority on the various requirements that may apply to each seller. Expectations from local legislation regarding tax collection can very from state to state, county to county or even city to city - it is up to a seller to work with a Tax Professional to determine what steps they need to take to be in compliance. Many of the recently proposed/passed tax laws only apply to businesses above a certain volume of sales by either transaction count or dollar amount, and thus would not apply to the site as a whole.

For expectations that do apply sitewide, we include details within our Tax Policy page (provided in my previous response). If there is an expectation that the majority or all of our sellers are required to meet, we will work to provide guidance and resources. For more localized expectations or those that do not apply to everyone, a Tax Professional would be recommended.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎08-24-2018

Etsy and eBay are different because of how they handle the sellers money. eBay doesn’t handle the money of sellers it goes to Paypal.

creativecrisis · ‎08-24-2018

@Anonymous

You wrote:

eBay's Tax Policy can be found here, information on taxes and import charges (along with details on how to set up a Tax Table) can be found here and information specific to Value Added Tax (VAT) charges can be found here.

The sales tax section of the full tax policy states that "you may not include sales tax information in your item description." What does this mean; can you clarify? I currently have one sentence in my item description TOS stating that sales tax will be added for buyers living in Texas. Is that not allowed? Thanks.

michael_atw · ‎08-24-2018

"What makes Etsy and ebay different other than what is allowed to be sold on their site?"

Etsy isn't an oligopolistic corporation with massive lobbying arms.

You wonder how eBay gets away with it? The fees you pay. They use them to pay folks to chat with your reps about how to benefit eBay.

michael_atw · ‎08-24-2018

"The sales tax section of the full tax policy states that "you may not include sales tax information in your item description." What does this mean; can you clarify? I currently have one sentence in my item description TOS stating that sales tax will be added for buyers living in Texas. Is that not allowed? Thanks."

I believe that this is eBay's attempt to remove another piece of information they deem "negative" to buyers. There's no other reason for that.

There is already a place to fill automatic tax collection is the only other reason.

Funny I just created a thread complaining about how recently, a bunch of people have been getting mad at me because I "didn't tell them I collect tax" even though its in the listing and its in the law that state-to-state sales require this collection. I assume the disallowance of sales tax info in the description will exacerbate this issue.