@abfabvintage wrote:
@thehonorabletrader
Morning. Thanks for the info in your thread...but all I am reading here is how hard eBay was trying to go against the new rulings? Where is it helpful for a seller to understand how the system will now work as of November 1 since the goal line has been changed with less than a month's notice? Charging sellers (doesn't matter if it is eBay or PP) for ebay processing fees to be the facilitator? And I don't think I ever got an answer on another thread if PP is now the "tax payer." Is PP now sending the tax payment direct to the State?
Thanks for the call out. My specific email was in regards to WHY eBay is collecting this tax. Now "How".
I will say that it has always been industry standard for the merchant/sellers to pay processing fees on sales tax. Those sellers on eBay that have had to manually collect sales tax have always paid the full processing fee to their payment processor. Brick and Mortar stores have always had to pay the processing fee on sales tax they collect. The same is true for Restaurants, Hotels, Airlines, and more.
Some may say "But in the past, those guys were receiving the sales tax and filing it themselves, this is not the case here so it should be different".
My response to that is logic.
Logic 1
This is the first time anywhere in our history that we have had a law specifically like this, so it's a new process all around.
Logic 2
That approach would indicate you are fine with paying the processing fee if you are the one that is collecting it, holding it in a non-interest bearing account (as most states require for sales tax collection) and then filing all the paperwork yourself and sending off the funds, but you aren't fine to pay the processing fee and have someone else do all the hard work for you?
Logic 3
This is much more impactful to buyers than sellers. The buyers in these states are going to see their online costs go up 5% to 10% whereas sellers will see their expenses go up only .03%.
Logic 4
Maybe now it's clear why eBay was fighting so hard against this and why eBay and other marketplaces are still fighting to have this overturned.
THE BIG TAKE AWAY FOR SELLERS
This is going to have a minimal impact in your business. Some sales may decrease as buyers buy local, but that is not in your or eBay's control, that is the buyers state that is causing this. You will not have to file any tax returns. You will not have to manage anything different. You will simply have a new line item on your expense report for your taxes and you will see a very small increase (compared to buyers) in your overall expenses.
