ianoid Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Yes, I know international people are used to this, but it's new to see eBay charging taxes on many items I'm buying. I understand we all have to pay taxes and even manage sales tax ourselves, but now eBay is doing it for us? For example, I just bought an item from Canada, $75+$15 shipping. Taxes: $7. I'm not sure why I'd pay sales tax to a country I don't live in. Is this a new import tax from the US gov? I've seen some domestic purchases also having sales taxes, out of state. I understand if I buy in state, I have to pay sales tax, but now I'm paying for infrastructure in other states? It all makes no sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Yes, this is all crap. I wasn't aware they have started charging for international taxes, how the hell does that even work? That's just stupidly ludicrous. I buy a fair amount of items internationally, so I'm not going to be happy the first time I see that. This is definitely going to hurt eBay sellers, and in turn, eBay. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 This will be a headache but I guess the government is trying to figure out how to make money off internet sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bojay1997 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 (edited) Charging state tax on Internet purchases in the United States is now required in 34 states and was specifically authorized under Federal law a year or two ago in response to a Supreme Court decision. Charging foreign tax on purchases is not something that is authorized by US law, but sellers selling to the EU are now required to collect VAT, so if that is what Ebay is doing now, that is unfortunately lawful. Edited October 8, 2019 by bojay1997 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 3 minutes ago, TrekMD said: This will be a headache but I guess the government is trying to figure out how to make money off internet sales. It should not be dismissed that easily. Why should I have to pay sales tax into a state I don't live in? Why should businesses have to collect sales tax for states they don't have a business presence in? It's a cash grab by states, and you can thank the Supreme Court (with a 5-4 ruling) for this new mess. ..Al 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bojay1997 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 5 minutes ago, TrekMD said: This will be a headache but I guess the government is trying to figure out how to make money off internet sales. When the legislation was proposed, it was actually presented as something to protect small businesses as they were having to compete with Internet sellers that did not collect or remit sales tax. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 3 minutes ago, bojay1997 said: When the legislation was proposed, it was actually presented as something to protect small businesses as they were having to compete with Internet sellers that did not collect or remit sales tax. How is it different than buying items mail order before there was an Internet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 9 minutes ago, Albert said: It should not be dismissed that easily. Why should I have to pay sales tax into a state I don't live in? Why should businesses have to collect sales tax for states they don't have a business presence in? It's a cash grab by states, and you can thank the Supreme Court (with a 5-4 ruling) for this new mess. ..Al Oh, I agree with you on this. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 8 minutes ago, TrekMD said: Oh, I agree with you on this. I'm feeling this particularly hard now, as over the past two months I've been purchasing thousands of dollars in boxes, manuals, labels, posters, banners, electronic parts, and more from companies in various states. Thanks to the fact that I'm in Texas, one of the states affected by this ruling, most of these companies are now charging me sales tax when this was never the case before. I'm basically paying 8.25% more for all these items than I did a year ago. How is this helping small businesses again? ..Al 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 57 minutes ago, Albert said: How is this helping small businesses again? Well maybe not small business, but for government it helps their salaries and additional small positions to be created in the future for sure. ? 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magmavision2000 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Didn't some sellers already tax people? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwalla Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Bigger and bigger BIG BRO until you're homeless and totally dependent on it. Digital currency? is it a good thing? of course not. No bueno. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo-Torch Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 It's not eBay's fault or the sellers. Doesn't matter what state it comes from, I pay Indiana's 7% sales tax...it's something my state now requires. I noticed it a few months back when I got dinged an extra $140 in tax. I still think it's a gray area as you're often buying USED items...but then again, you're using eBay which is like a store. So are you guys paying Canada's tax or your state's tax? And technically, for anything bought out of state (mail order or whatever), we are responsible for keeping track and reporting it on our taxes every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Welcome to the club! eBay started charging PA residents about six months ago I want to say. It's terrible. However, they're just following the new laws, per the references above. 5 hours ago, Albert said: How is this helping small businesses again? The idea is that charging consumers taxes on goods purchased online (regardless of where they come from), consumers will be more likely to buy local or at least in-state if they're going to be taxed the same regardless. Will be interesting to see if it changes buyer's habits, but I doubt it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonGrafx-16 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, sixersfan105 said: Welcome to the club! eBay started charging PA residents about six months ago I want to say. It's terrible. However, they're just following the new laws, per the references above. The idea is that charging consumers taxes on goods purchased online (regardless of where they come from), consumers will be more likely to buy local or at least in-state if they're going to be taxed the same regardless. Will be interesting to see if it changes buyer's habits, but I doubt it. Considering most of the stuff I buy online would be pretty much impossible to find locally... that's why I buy it online. Edited October 8, 2019 by DragonGrafx-16 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoenixMoonPatrol Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 (edited) Damn and I was looking to buy another Atari Jaguar system as a backup to the one I have now. So if I grab one for $250.00 thats a small fortune in tax money when trying to buy these systems. The problem is most of the Jaguar systems sell for $300-400.00 Every dollar counts and now even more for this bullshit tax,ugh... Edited October 8, 2019 by PhoenixMoonPatrol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 5 hours ago, DragonGrafx-16 said: Considering most of the stuff I buy online would be pretty much impossible to find locally... that's why I but it online. I hear you. Sadly, the new laws are here to stay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 In my province, Quebec, you don't have to pay taxes on used good sold between individual. If eBay charge you taxes, you can always ask for a refund when filling your taxes. Of course if you buy from a commercial entity selling on eBay, ie an eBay store, you do have to pay taxes. Beside, in the good old days of early eBay, if you went to the forum and/or consulted the FAQ in regards to selling on eBay, they did say that you had to take taxes into account. They just didn't collect them for you, but you were supposed to declare your eBay selling as a revenu and pay taxes on it. Again, this didn't apply in my province for used goods sold between individual, but if you were selling as a business... Now, most governments have put legislations in place because a whole lot of sellers never, ever, declared any revenu from selling stuff on eBay. The side effect is that now when you purchase something from another country, you do end up paying taxes just as if you had walked into their store and bought the goods. I do end up paying US taxes on my US purchase even though I'm Canadian. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysOnPlanetPatrol Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 On 10/7/2019 at 8:05 PM, ianoid said: For example, I just bought an item from Canada, $75+$15 shipping. Taxes: $7. I'm not sure why I'd pay sales tax to a country I don't live in. Is this a new import tax from the US gov? You're not paying Canadian sales tax (HST/PST/GST); you're paying state sales tax to your state. eBay adds it in and sends the money to your state's coffers. The seller doesn't see that money or has to process it. The Canadian government doesn't get cent directly from that sale. Foreign buyers (e.g. tourists) are exempt from Canadian sales taxes. You typically also have to pay duty when you import something into the US that was not manufactured in Canada or Mexico (or the US originally) under NAFTA. If you bought Extraterrestrials for $90k, you wouldn't pay Canadian Sales Tax or US duty (provided the seller can show proof that it was made in Canada). You would still have to pay your state's sales tax under the new rules from a few days ago. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 33 minutes ago, AlwaysOnPlanetPatrol said: You typically also have to pay duty when you import something into the US that was not manufactured in Canada or Mexico (or the US originally) under NAFTA. I might be misreading but I've never heard of US buyers paying a duty of any kind on goods purchased internationally, and I certainly have never had to pay a duty personally on foreign purchases (as a US citizen living in the US). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 The state I live in doesn't have sales tax. Do I still have to pay it (the seller's state sales tax) if I buy something on eBay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krslam Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 IF they're doing it right, the tax collected goes to the buyer's state, not the seller's, so if your state has no sales tax you as a buyer should pay no tax. Wouldn't surprise me a bit to find that eBay is skimming a bit for themselves, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacman000 Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 (edited) On October 7, 2019 at 7:27 PM, Albert said: How is it different than buying items mail order before there was an Internet? Overnight shipping. If if I remember right the buyer was supposed to fill out a form pay their state & local sales tax, even in the era of mail order sales...but no one ever did that. Edited October 9, 2019 by pacman000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlwaysOnPlanetPatrol Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 7 hours ago, sixersfan105 said: I might be misreading but I've never heard of US buyers paying a duty of any kind on goods purchased internationally, and I certainly have never had to pay a duty personally on foreign purchases (as a US citizen living in the US). That's great; chances are these purchases were less than a certain amount probably ($1,500?). I've had to provide proof of manufacture in Canada for items that I shipped with UPS and Fedex to avoid my clients a lot of hassle; mind you these items were valued over $2,000 so there may be some sort of threshold. In Canada, it's a glorious $20 and then you have to pay duty. Canadian dollars. It puts a damper on a lot of purchases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 19 hours ago, AlwaysOnPlanetPatrol said: That's great; chances are these purchases were less than a certain amount probably ($1,500?). I've had to provide proof of manufacture in Canada for items that I shipped with UPS and Fedex to avoid my clients a lot of hassle; mind you these items were valued over $2,000 so there may be some sort of threshold. In Canada, it's a glorious $20 and then you have to pay duty. Canadian dollars. It puts a damper on a lot of purchases. Ah gotcha, glad the US has a reasonably high value for that customs rule. Unhappy with most other things associated with the feds these days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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