albertabrightalberta
@hgitner wrote:"lacemaker the list # was (404100538208)..
Thanks. I checked a bunch of listings in that category: Stamps > United States > Postage (#47149)
and they all were being charged sales tax, so eBay considers that category to be taxable. It appears to me that most of the listings in that category are for collectible stamps, not intended to be used for postage.
I don't know whether eBay has any other category that could be used for stamps that are intended to be used for postage, which might not be considered taxable. But, given all the counterfeit stamps that have flooded the market in the last few years, I think that eBay may not want to have this kind of headache.
The buyer can contact eBay and ask them to refund the sales tax if he believes he was charged sales tax incorrectly.
The rules on what is taxable or tax-exempt from sales tax are defined by each state, so the situation here is probably very complex. I found an example of a guidance letter from California, discussing the sale of stamps, which suggests that while stamps purchased to be used as postage are exempt from sales tax, that may not be the case if the stamps are purchased as collectibles (tangible personal property). The letter doesn't really get any more specific than this.
As I said before, eBay considers that category to be taxable, so they apparently consider that all items in that category are being sold as collectibles, not for use as postage.
https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/annotations/430-0228-200.pdf
@lacemaker3 wrote:
@hgitner wrote:"lacemaker the list # was (404100538208)..
Thanks. I checked a bunch of listings in that category: Stamps > United States > Postage (#47149)
and they all were being charged sales tax, so eBay considers that category to be taxable. It appears to me that most of the listings in that category are for collectible stamps, not intended to be used for postage.
I don't know whether eBay has any other category that could be used for stamps that are intended to be used for postage, which might not be considered taxable. But, given all the counterfeit stamps that have flooded the market in the last few years, I think that eBay may not want to have this kind of headache.
The buyer can contact eBay and ask them to refund the sales tax if he believes he was charged sales tax incorrectly.
The rules on what is taxable or tax-exempt from sales tax are defined by each state, so the situation here is probably very complex. I found an example of a guidance letter from California, discussing the sale of stamps, which suggests that while stamps purchased to be used as postage are exempt from sales tax, that may not be the case if the stamps are purchased as collectibles (tangible personal property). The letter doesn't really get any more specific than this.
As I said before, eBay considers that category to be taxable, so they apparently consider that all items in that category are being sold as collectibles, not for use as postage.
https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/annotations/430-0228-200.pdf
It's not up to you to be concerned about the sales tax paid by the buyer. The buyer's own state department of revenue is who determines taxability of various categories of items so it would be up to the buyer to fight the charge and possible get an abatement from her state.
How the buyer proves that he/she will be using (sometimes) 50-year old stamps on their outgoing mail as opposed to saving them as a collector is going to be tough to prove.
But it's not for you to deal with.
As for the CA statute posted by @lacemaker3 , it sounds like an interesting workaround for buyers to avoid sales tax by claiming to be collecting unused stamps rather than using them! And I have little doubt that states are aware of the workaround and by default, collect sales tax. They leave it to buyers to prove they are collectors.
