Multiple reports of people being charged/overcharged for sales taxes... Check your purchases

[megaman]

Long time user here. There are various threads popping up this week in the Buying community of people seeing high taxes charged for various types of items that far exceeds state taxes. In my case I kept seeing 33% sales tax for button cell batteries, but not for all battery sellers. In some cases it was the correct 8% sales tax for me. Other purchases I made in other categories seem to be unaffected.

Go back and check the sales taxes on your recent purchases.

Other threads I found:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/363-sales-tax/td-p/31447157

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/There-is-no-sales-tax-on-clothing-in-NJ-Why-am-I-being-charged/...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Ebay-suddenly-charging-sales-tax-on-coin-purchases-in/m-p/31421...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Sales-tax-on-bullion-coins-in-washington-state/m-p/31447295

[rarehorology]

Adding myself to this thread. 

Once you add multiple items to your cart it can look really crazy. 

50 batteries at $1.15 each = $530 in taxes

[rarehorology]

What I have been able to figure out so far for me (Though seems to be different for people in other states)

is it is adding a $10 fee per item + the correct 5%

I suspect it might have something to do with a lead acid fee for my state (Wisconsin) But that is only for the kind of batteries you might use in a car.. The big heavy kind. 

This should not apply to single use household batteries. Flashlight batteries, watch batteries, etc. 

However, it does not seem to be affecting every single seller. Only the majority of them. 

2 sellers in the same category and the same state can show a different tax amount. 

Overcharging for sales tax is the sort of thing that class action lawyers get really excited over. So would be a good idea to get to the bottom of this quickly. If this is indeed a legitimate fee, there should be a disclaimer explaining it. 

[theperfectpart]

We are experiencing the same issues. It may seem like eBay is currently have a glitch that includes all batteries (any sort) to have a lead-acid fee? or correct me if im mistaken



just to be clear. so far its New York addresses and Minnesota addresses. any other address to the best of my knowledge - this overcharge tax does not occur

[rarehorology]

Another update.. It seems that listings I was able to find and purchase from that did not have the incorrect tax now all have the tax added. 

It now appears that as far as I can tell everything in the single use battery category is overcharging taxes. 

[dhbookds]

I just checked "c" batteries to PA..........just the normal 6% tax...........

[rarehorology]

Just checked here and it looks like the correct 5% is being applied. 

Seems the problem has been solved!

[katidougla-19]

Just started a few days ago, and I am still being charged sales tax for numismatic purchases which are tax exempt.

[ballet*cat]

eBay has overcharged me for sales tax (I am the buyer) form out of state sellers to Illinois, even though I am in Chicago, which does have a 10.25% sales tax however when a seller, retailer et al do NOT have a physical presence in Chicago the buyer, me, should be charged 6.25% sales tax. I have written numerous emails to them and phoned them. The overcharges started in 2021 and there has been no change in the sales tax structure in Illinois or Chicago. 

I first noticed this when I bought a $500+ item and have since reviewed everything that I have purchased from eBay and not only are they overcharging, but they are in fact exceeding 10.25%. 

I am furious as well as frustrated, I do not know which government agency to contact. Does anyone on here know whom I should call? I am thinking class-action-lawsuit 

[dhbookds]

@ballet*cat 

Don't know if this works...........but have seen reports that if your registered address zip code has the extra 4 numbers, the local tax will be charged.........without it you are charged the state rate. 

[eburtonlab]

@ballet*cat 

The base sales tax rate in Illinois is 6.25%, but there are RTA, local and county taxes in Chicago, depending on your exact address. See here:

https://www.avalara.com/taxrates/en/state-rates/illinois/cities/chicago.html

Illinois did make some changes to the Retail Occupancy Tax rules regarding facilitators that went into effect January 1st. See here:

https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/research/legalinformation/regs/Documents/part131/131-107.pdf#search=ma...

In addition, Illinois charges sales tax on the shipping, so be sure to take that into consideration when calculating your sales tax rate:

https://blog.taxjar.com/sales-tax-and-shipping/

More discussion of Illinois here:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Ebay-is-Overcharging-on-Tax-Rates-For-Illinois-10-5-The-Illinoi...

[fleamarketeers]

I'm also from Illinois. I just went to buy an item for $159 and the tax was 12.72 which seemed a bit off. Looked into it and you're right, our state internet sales tax is 6.25%. Ebay was going to charge me 8%.  It's only a difference of $2.79 but it's the principle of it plus why should I pay more than it's suppose to be. Who ends up with that overcharge? Why can't ebay get it right?

[dryophelia]

Illinois collects tax on the shipping you paid, as well.