What do I do with the sales/sales tax collected by eBay?

[fuzzyloops]

This is my first quarter as a seller, and I am confused about the remittance of sales tax to the state on my behalf.

I live in Pennsylvania and I am required to report sales quarterly.

If eBay collects sales tax and remits it to the state on my behalf do I have to report the income when reporting quarterly sales?

Is this something I leave out because eBay has already submitted the payment for this income?

I am talking about strictly sales tax. I know income tax is a whole other barrel of laughs.

The Department of Revenue for PA couldn't effectively answer my question as they said eBay couldn't remit sales tax on my behalf.

However, everything I read says that is exactly what happens. I don't want to get stuck paying a late fee or a fine for misunderstanding.

Thank you in advance, I am a total noob.

[toysaver]

EBay collects and disburses state sales tax when needed for me.  I do nothing.

[albertabrightalberta · Accepted solution]

@fuzzyloops 

If you look at the details of the payment, you'll see that the sales tax was paid by the buyer, you paid fees on the full amount of the buyer's payment, and then, once the fees are deducted, you can see that ebay deducted that sales tax amount from your account and they will forward it to the buyer's state Department of Revenue.

You don't need to do anything.

ETA: Sales tax also won't be included on the 1099K you will receive. 

[ebooksdiva]

The only taxes you need to focus on are your income tax. eBay handles the collection of sales tax, sellers never get them, but we pay a small fee on them for eBay to handle this.Once collected ebay takes care of remittance of sales tax to all of your buyers states. 
Sellers don't need to file those taxes at all.  

[slippinjimmy]

---

@fuzzyloops wrote:

This is my first quarter as a seller, and I am confused about the remittance of sales tax to the state on my behalf.

I live in Pennsylvania and I am required to report sales quarterly.

If eBay collects sales tax and remits it to the state on my behalf do I have to report the income when reporting quarterly sales?

Is this something I leave out because eBay has already submitted the payment for this income?

I am talking about strictly sales tax. I know income tax is a whole other barrel of laughs.

The Department of Revenue for PA couldn't effectively answer my question as they said eBay couldn't remit sales tax on my behalf.

However, everything I read says that is exactly what happens. I don't want to get stuck paying a late fee or a fine for misunderstanding.

Thank you in advance, I am a total noob.

---

If you are currently registered to collect PA Sales Tax then you would still need to file the usual reports (quarterly, annually),  you may need to include your eBay sales but you do not have to remit any sales tax that eBay collected on your behalf as a Marketplace Facilitator.

Every State seems to have different rules and different reporting forms.

If you have never been registered  to collect PA Sales Tax then you do not need to do anything, eBay will collect and remit the tax collected to the PA Revenue Department.

If you contact the Revenue Department, YOU are a Marketplace Seller, when you tell them that then they may more fully understand what information you are seeking.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

In most states that have Marketplace Facilitator Taxes, Ebay is not collecting sales tax on your behalf. They are collecting Marketplace Facillator Tax on their behalf.

When communicating with your state's department of revenue, you need to explain it is Marketplace Facilitator Tax to determine whether you need to report it or not on your sales tax return.

If you use the wrong terms, you can get the wrong answer.

[heckofagame]

State requirements do vary. The way I do it is that I report the total sales and then enter the eBay sales as non-taxable as those taxes have been collected by eBay. It effectively zeroes out the items that eBay has collected on and removes the requirement for me to remit those taxes. As I said, state requirements do vary, but if you hold a sales tax certificate, it is likely that you need to file those returns in some manner or another. 

[worldcoinauctions]

I'm not sure how it is in PA, but as a sales tax vendor in NY I report my gross sales and my taxable sales (even if that is 0) so you would include your ebay sales in your gross, but not your taxable sales and you would not pay tax on them. I also sell through a local antique mall that also handles the tax on items. Same situation. 

Do file your return even if you owe no tax, the sales tax people will fine you if you don't! 

[caldreamer]

You might check if you have a local Small Business Administration that could help you fill out online forms.  EBAY has "easy to read" 1-page report that shows totals for (Orders/Gross Sales, Refunds, EBAY Fees, Shipping Expense).  

Go to Payments, Reports, REPORTS (NEW) and enter time period.  This report will provide some of the information you need.

$20,000 Orders/Gross Sales (sales for entire USA as shown on EBAY report)

-    5,000 Gross Sales (for PA only...you need to keep track of this info)

=$15,000 SALES OUTSIDE OF PA

On your state "tax form" you will include the following deductions: 

- shipping expense (as shown on EBAY report)

- refunded merchandise (as shown on EBAY report

On your state "tax form" you need to show EBAY as "facilitator" for $15,000 (PA sales).   That way you have zero tax liability.

[fuzzyloops]

Thank you all so much. I appreciate the insights. You have all been incredibly helpful.