About two years ago, or so, I guess eBay started to charge sales tax on private sales for used stuff.
Today I bought a tonearm... the price was good, the seller seemed quite honest about the provenance of the arm -it was his- and I made an offer and it got accepted. Then as I checked out, the %&&* added over 100 bucks to the price for sales tax.
Mind you, I had made the offer about 150 less than the original price and even with the sales tax, it came to about 50 bucks less.
BUT!!
Given the that tonearm is not all that common and the price was reasonable I'm not too peeved.... BUT, as I told the seller, it came out of his pocket, He will likely lose 250 bucks or so... if he had posted the tonearm on craigslist, audiogon, audiomart or so, we would have done the transaction differently, I would have paid less and he would have gotten more.
Often times, when I see an item on eBay that I like I'll let the seller know, buy playing around the eBay filtering, that they'd better better off selling it on a different site.
I hate eBay, BTW. I begun using it in Y2K and it's the ONLY place online where I've gotten scammed, twice.
And then they started charging sales tax and issuing 1099s. So, either it's audiogon, audiomart, even Amazon, or nothing.
Today I bought a tonearm... the price was good, the seller seemed quite honest about the provenance of the arm -it was his- and I made an offer and it got accepted. Then as I checked out, the %&&* added over 100 bucks to the price for sales tax.
Mind you, I had made the offer about 150 less than the original price and even with the sales tax, it came to about 50 bucks less.
BUT!!
Given the that tonearm is not all that common and the price was reasonable I'm not too peeved.... BUT, as I told the seller, it came out of his pocket, He will likely lose 250 bucks or so... if he had posted the tonearm on craigslist, audiogon, audiomart or so, we would have done the transaction differently, I would have paid less and he would have gotten more.
Often times, when I see an item on eBay that I like I'll let the seller know, buy playing around the eBay filtering, that they'd better better off selling it on a different site.
I hate eBay, BTW. I begun using it in Y2K and it's the ONLY place online where I've gotten scammed, twice.
And then they started charging sales tax and issuing 1099s. So, either it's audiogon, audiomart, even Amazon, or nothing.
Hi Tony,
Ebay has probably been forced to do this by government agencies. It is only the first target.
We are used to buying used items tax-free from individuals. Our government is starting to chase the same dollars. Never mind taxes were paid when the items were originally purchased. It isn't fair, but I think if you look at their laws they probably do stipulate charging tax.
It's all about ripping as much money as possible from the public. It started here with used cars, now they want their end again, and again, and again. Plus nailing you when you earn that money to begin with.
This isn't a political post. Just an observation on how our society is changing. Take it up with your local government representative.
Ebay has probably been forced to do this by government agencies. It is only the first target.
We are used to buying used items tax-free from individuals. Our government is starting to chase the same dollars. Never mind taxes were paid when the items were originally purchased. It isn't fair, but I think if you look at their laws they probably do stipulate charging tax.
It's all about ripping as much money as possible from the public. It started here with used cars, now they want their end again, and again, and again. Plus nailing you when you earn that money to begin with.
This isn't a political post. Just an observation on how our society is changing. Take it up with your local government representative.
The feds forced Ebay to start collecting tax a few years ago. Maybe now it's worse.
I know a couple of people who work there and they say it's destroyed the business.
This was done because people were using it as a storefront for their businesses and were selling their products tax free.
Long story short, ebay doesn't like it either.
I know a couple of people who work there and they say it's destroyed the business.
This was done because people were using it as a storefront for their businesses and were selling their products tax free.
Long story short, ebay doesn't like it either.
Hasn't it always been the case that you were supposed to pay use tax (= sales tax) on purchases made out-of-state? That's what the accountant type I was working with at University of Washington told me many moons ago.
The only difference is that now the tax is collected at the time of purchase so you don't have to go to the tax office and pay it (which no one ever did).
Tom
The only difference is that now the tax is collected at the time of purchase so you don't have to go to the tax office and pay it (which no one ever did).
Tom
That's why I don't use eBay. I buy bunch of things that are used or built by amateurs...
I don't mind paying sales tax to a business, but not to someone selling something from their closet.
That's why I SELDOM even pay attention to eBay.
I mean, it's entertaining when you see greedy ignoramii that have a knick knack store and list a '72 Superscope receiver for 500 bucks because it was "built by Marantz".... I mean, that's entertaining in a "let's burn this greedy jerk" kind of way.
I don't mind paying sales tax to a business, but not to someone selling something from their closet.
That's why I SELDOM even pay attention to eBay.
I mean, it's entertaining when you see greedy ignoramii that have a knick knack store and list a '72 Superscope receiver for 500 bucks because it was "built by Marantz".... I mean, that's entertaining in a "let's burn this greedy jerk" kind of way.
As far as 1099s, ebay, Paypal, Reverb all have to report 1099s to IRS for sales over $5000 per annum (states differ, and amount slated to drop to $600 soon)
Just indicate purchase price, then sales price. If you can show you sold at a price lower than purchased (a loss), no taxes are due.
The Gov wants you to assume the item fell out of the sky and into your lap, then sold (zero cost basis), and they want you to assume taxes due on total sale amount. Just slap a spreadsheet together showing purchase price, and year , then sales price.
Just like Stock Market Capital Gains, you only are due taxes when you have a profit (gain) on a sale.
Just indicate purchase price, then sales price. If you can show you sold at a price lower than purchased (a loss), no taxes are due.
The Gov wants you to assume the item fell out of the sky and into your lap, then sold (zero cost basis), and they want you to assume taxes due on total sale amount. Just slap a spreadsheet together showing purchase price, and year , then sales price.
Just like Stock Market Capital Gains, you only are due taxes when you have a profit (gain) on a sale.
Hmm... if you show a loss... say you bought something new and now are selling it used...
Can you write the entire loss in your income taxes or is it based on something like only 80% above 2% of your gross?
The Gov taxes suck.
Can you write the entire loss in your income taxes or is it based on something like only 80% above 2% of your gross?
The Gov taxes suck.
The seller doesn't get the tax, Ebay collects it and sends it to the appropriate state, county, city. "eBay collects and remits Internet Sales Tax on your behalf." https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/resources/tax-information
^ I undertand that.... it's the buyer who pays the tax, BUT, if I'm making an offer for a product, I'm gonna subtract my tax from what I'm going to offer.
Eventually the seller is going to pay for that sales tax one way or another.
Eventually the seller is going to pay for that sales tax one way or another.
Yep, our state taxes for decades had a spot on our tax form where we were supposed to fill in the dollar value of items we ordered from out of state and weren't charged taxes.
I get why they made the collection mandatory, but it made it a mess for small businesses online that weren't paying for fancy shopping carts. When I was running an online store, we charged our local tax rate for any in-state order, because our cart wasn't fancy enough to calculate the exact amount in real time. Then we had to pay to run all the shipping addresses from our state through a system that told us how much to send to the various counties and cities based on the sales. Some places were 2% or more above our rate so we lost money. A few might have been below but our state said it was fine if we over collected as long as we sent it all to them.
The real fun part was other states. They had various different levels of sales that once we hit them we'd be responsible for paying them tax on every sale we made to people in that state that year. Fortunately, our out of state sales were low enough it didn't matter and we shut the store shortly after the tax laws changed anyways. However, long after we closed the business, we were getting letters from other states wanting to know how much we had sold to people in their state.
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Yes, it turns out when you make a sale, you are required to pay sales tax.
If you sell it on "Audiogon, Audiomart, even Amazon" you are also required to pay sales tax, if you do not you are committing tax evasion. Note, I copied the quoted part from post #1 - I'm pretty sure no one is selling on Amazon tax free but replace "Amazon" with "Craigslist" and its valid.
If anyone want to know the details, Google - South Dakota vs Wayfair Inc.
Here, is the Supreme Court Ruling.
If you sell it on "Audiogon, Audiomart, even Amazon" you are also required to pay sales tax, if you do not you are committing tax evasion. Note, I copied the quoted part from post #1 - I'm pretty sure no one is selling on Amazon tax free but replace "Amazon" with "Craigslist" and its valid.
If anyone want to know the details, Google - South Dakota vs Wayfair Inc.
Here, is the Supreme Court Ruling.
I get what you are saying that you will just offer less. The key difference is, the seller isn't filling out forms and paying the tax. From what the page says, the seller doesn't ever see that money. It is skimmed off by Ebay and sent directly to the local governments.
Otherwise it would be a nightmare for the seller to figure out what your local tax rate is, if you pay a county sales tax as well as a city sales tax and they'd have to fill out the proper forms and send payments to both along with the state.
Technically, you are still paying it because if the seller is accepting your offer that you adjust for the sales tax that means they would have accepted that offer without the sales tax so you would have been over paying at the other offer 🙂
Exactly. Which makes sense if eBay want to remain compliant with the various tax codes. And, frankly, it makes life much easier for the seller, assuming they want to remain compliant with the tax codes. As you wrote:
I didn't realize it was that complicated. If I had to file a sales tax report with each and every county out there I'm not sure I'd bother being in business either. Sales tax is pretty manageable in Canada, thankfully.
And the eBay seller doesn't get to deal with the mess. EBay takes care of it for them. I guess that 13% commission eBay charges buys something after all. 🙂
Tom
Exactly, the buyer pays the sales tax on the accepted price based on the state sales tax percent the buyer is located. The seller never "sees" the money.
BUT, eBay hammers the seller with their fees!
BUT, eBay hammers the seller with their fees!
It looks like he has a problem with the sell tax, not with eBay!
Tom, you have a commercial endeavor, so the sales tax makes sense. I don't have an issue paying sales tax for a new product from someone who is making a living our of selling me stuff.
I do, however, have an issue with the Government taxing a sales tax between individuals who are selling their old stuff.
I am not picking on eBay, I'm picking on eBay as a platform because it collects a tax that IMHO should not be imposed by the Gov.
That's why I prefer other sites for buying used audio equipment from non commercial individuals that allow me to step outside tax collectors. Usually I'll go directly with the seller ( or the buyer ) and we negotiate the transaction by ourselves. Then we pay each other... I like to use Paypal F&F since I've found out that most audiophiles are honest people.
I've sold using Audiogon and there I just paid them their fee based upon the sale price. I was asked what the price was and I told them the truth.
I suppose that eBay's issue is the many scammers who frequent the site, so the management can not trust the sellers to tell them honestly what they sold something for. Perhaps if eBay wasn't so expensive.... likely the issue is self fulfilling,,, they want too much, so the sellers want to lie so they can not trust and so on and on...
Recently I bought an amp from someone who posted their ad here in DIYAudio. We agreed to the transaction, I paid F&F and it got here in less than 10 days from Europe. Simple.
Personally, I think that if you can afford to run your own web site to sell things you'll be better off.
And if you are selling stuff from your closet, avoid eBay...
PS: I'll be selling my Linn Ittok Black tonearm soon. It's a beauty, rare... you bet I won't be using eBay.
I know that.
I also know I paid $@@K in income and real estate taxes last year. Then we got the sales tax, about 7.5% in my city....
I pay sales tax on toilet paper! I'm afraid they will try to tax me on the bidet seats we installed... think of all the money they are losing on the toilet paper I'm not buying!
If they can't run the country, state and city with that much money, then they should not be involved.
Have you ever had a garage sale?
Have you noticed on Hifishark.com when the same item is listed on audiogon, eBay, US Audio Mart, Canuck Audio Mart, Reverb, etc... ? You can see how the fees affect the price. I also run nationwide searches for craigslist. By far the cheapest.
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