So ebay is charging taxes in my state now...

[Gsinill]

Originally Posted by mdeth1313

I'm wondering why they can charge tax on used items. How many times can the same item be taxed?

Ever bought a used car?

[merckxman]

Some people sell stuff older than before sales taxes existed, now you pay tax on that too. Anyway, eBay started collecting taxes for NJ a few months ago.

Originally Posted by Gsinill

Ever bought a used car?

[AngryScientist]

I used to buy a bunch of “regular” stuff on eBay; consumables like chains tubes stuff like tht. The taxing makes the deals less attractive.

I can see them collecting tax for businesses but not on used crap. That stinks all the way around.

[dustyrider]

Growing up in NH and watching everyone from everywhere else buy their booze, cigarettes, and large ticket items just over the border makes me wonder if someone in the few tax free states will open a buying and forwarding business? Sort of like those forwarding businesses for overseas buyers.

[dem]

Basically what has happened is there was a case in the supreme court called "Wayfair vs. something" - and it set case precedent that States could force "Marketplaces" to collect their sales/use tax.

So pretty much every state now requires it and it is phased in over time.

Basically the act of selling on a marketplace makes it required to be sales taxed - not the fact it is used or not used.

[skiezo]

I just bought a pre owned 2017 IMac on ebay and my invoice showed PA tax on the item. After checking my PP as well as bank account the tax was not charged , only the selling price was charged. I also got a text from PP asking if I authorized payment to this seller and it was only the selling price excluding the tax.
I am guessing the the state tax is only on new items.

[unterhausen]

In pennsylvania, you do not have to collect sales tax for an isolated or one-time sale. Not sure how this translates to ebay though, the nature of ebay may make it different. I didn't see a specific ebay reference on their website. Cars are different, you have to pay sales tax

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Gsinill

Ever bought a used car?

Well, if you buy a used car from a private party, you don't pay tax, do you?
Or do you now?

[Bruce K]

That depends on your state

In MA, you pay sales tax at the RMV when you register ANY car.

BK

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Well, if you buy a used car from a private party, you don't pay tax, do you?
Or do you now?

To register it you do at least in California

[unterhausen]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Well, if you buy a used car from a private party, you don't pay tax, do you?
Or do you now?

I forget the story in PA, but in Virginia, you have to pay the sales tax on $500, minimum. I gave one of my mom's cars to someone, they still had to pay the sales tax on $500.

[cderalow]

Originally Posted by mdeth1313

I'm wondering why they can charge tax on used items. How many times can the same item be taxed?

In theory there should be tax on the value of said sale based upon the variance in sales tax between the states on used items.

So if tax in sellers state is 5% and buyers state is 6%, they pay 1% sales tax.

If the opposite were true, no tax should be paid.

At least that’s the way it was originally intended to work long ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Frankwurst]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Well, if you buy a used car from a private party, you don't pay tax, do you?
Or do you now?

You do in Wisconsin. If a car gets sold 10 times taxes are paid 10 times. Tax based on 5.5% of the amount of sale.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Bruce K

In MA, you pay sales tax at the RMV when you register ANY car.

... unless you can show that you paid the sales tax in another state. This comes up when you purchase a car in a different state then where you live, or you move to Massachusetts and bring your car with you.


There's two issues getting mixed up here - who owes sales tax when, and who is required to collect the sales tax. There has been no recent change in the requirements to pay sales tax. What has changed (due to the Wayfair decision) is who is required to collect sales tax. Sales taxes are owed by the purchaser, and are determined by residence of the purchaser. Before the Wayfair decision, if I in Massuchetts made a purchase from an internet retailer in another state, I was required to pay Massachusetts state sales tax, but the internet retailer could not be forced by Massachusetts to collect it. Instead I was required to report the sale to Massachusetts and pay the tax directly to the sate. As you can imagine, most internet purchasers rarely reported the sales and paid to the tax to their state.

Since the Wayfair decision, states can make agreements with each other to force sellers in their states to collect the sales taxes for other states. So if I make a purchase from an internet retailer (in a state that has a sales tax agreement with my state), that retailer can collect my states sales tax, which would then be reported and remitted to my state. Some states require sales tax to be collected for all sales, and some may have exemptions for "casual" sales. My state (Massachusetts) has such an exemption, so if I have a possession which I originally purchased for my own use, and then at some later time I sell it to someone else, it is considered a "casual" sale and I'm not required to collect sales tax (however, these "casual" sales does not included certain products, such as automobiles).

As you can imagine, the requirements to collect sales taxes for other states can be burdensome to retailers. Each state's tax codes can be tricky enough on their own, but having to keep track of the sales taxes in 50 states can be close to impossible for small retailers. So in a sense, eBay's new policy is actually a convenience service to sellers, who would otherwise have to keep track of sales taxes owed to other states on their own.

[unterhausen]

I learned in a business seminar that Pennsylvania expected you to pay sales taxes on internet purchases. But the only people that ever got caught were businesses that wrote off the item as a business expense and didn't pay sales tax.