lucyjoyce wrote:This was a new one for me.  I live in Florida, and won an auction listed by a seller in Washington, D.C.  The invoice adds a 6.5% Florida sales tax.  Is this legit?  I have never been charged sales tax on an ebay auction before.  The seller is newish - feedback of 35.  Opinions?

Unless the seller is paying out that money to florida state then it isn't legit, yet. I know some states want their tax money coming and going but so far internet sales are taxed only in the state where the seller is living, not the buyer.  (For example the target, wal-mart, best-buys of Delaware do a great deal of business with people driving across from MD, NJ and Pa to do tax free shopping on big dollar items).

Mars wrote:I have run into 5 people on Ebay have trying to charge me sales tax.  Each time I ask for business registration numbers and official business name to check if they are legit.  4 of the 5 have not been legit and were just using it as a way of charging an addition 7-15%.

What was the outcome of the four cases that were not legit?

It is my understanding that some states have laws where an online purchase is taxed, regardless of where the business is located (unless it is a foreign entity, I believe.) For example, the company I work for offers an online, software-based service (nothing physical is bought) -- they are based in State 1. If someone from State 2, say, New York, buys the software, they are now charged applicable NY State tax. They did not used to be, about a year ago.

States are tired of not getting revenue and know people use the internet to buy all kinds of stuff, and so, they're getting their cut.

serleran wrote:It is my understanding that some states have laws where an online purchase is taxed, regardless of where the business is located (unless it is a foreign entity, I believe.) For example, the company I work for offers an online, software-based service (nothing physical is bought) -- they are based in State 1. If someone from State 2, say, New York, buys the software, they are now charged applicable NY State tax. They did not used to be, about a year ago.

States are tired of not getting revenue and know people use the internet to buy all kinds of stuff, and so, they're getting their cut.

I've heard that this was coming but wasn't sure if they had passed that law yet. Not sure how they can enforce it or if it is legal to double state  tax items sent through the mail. I know the stores in Delaware do not collect sales tax from anyone including New York residents, even if they somehow know the customer is from New York.  And if someone from New York goes to NJ and buys something they pay the NJ sales tax, but not NY sales tax. Not sure how the internet would require the same purchase be taxed in both states or, more importantly, any state could collect a double tax.

Caveat: this is not legal or tax advice regarding any specific situation and it should not be relied upon to make specific individual tax decisions.  It's personal observation based upon a layman's understanding of the situation in the states where I have held resale tax certificates in the past.

There appear to be at least two different taxes being discussed.  The sales tax is usually charged in the state of purchase.  A use tax is imposed by some states on goods brought into the state (usually only when tax was not paid to another state).  Collection of use taxes is often through a line on your state tax form and I believe most people do not know what it is and ignore it.

Regarding sales tax...  if you own or work for a business that has a presence in more than one state, they are supposed to collect sales tax for every sale to a state where they have a legal presence (even if just an agent), even if they are shipping from another state.  If it were not structured like that... people would avoid tax on things like cars, refrigerators, and televistions by simply buying online at Lowe's from CA and having it "shipped" for pick up in their home town.

If an ebay seller is charging tax which is not then sent in to the respective state... they are fools.  Legal defense fees and Federal prison should concern them far more than a few cents per transaction.  It's critically stupid behavior.

I won this at an incredibly cheap cost:



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWNX:IT



However, he's charging me Illinois sales tax, which is strange since he lives out by Washington DC. I'm going to (nicely) confront him about the sales tax issue and see if I can get it removed.



However, it is a first print that I got cheaply, and I don't plan on forcing the issue to hard.  

JasonZavoda wrote:


I dont see a hint about sales tax in his listing.

Exactly.

Which is strange, because you'd think that a reputable seller would disclose that ahead of time...

Mars wrote:
I think it is also against Ebay to advertise one thing (such as a shipping quote) then to charge more after the fact.

yes it is, you cant do that.

Al

FormCritic wrote:Purchases within a state can and should pay sales tax.

......
I suspect that Ebay has a button you can press...and they are pressing it.

Do not pay.  Contact the seller.  Tell them to remove the tax.

I did.

And at first he was like... huh...what tax...?  

But then he had it removed.