eBay Updates List of States for Which It Will Collect Sales Tax
eBay in its help section updates the number of states and effective dates for which it will collect sales tax.
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Since last year’s US Supreme Court decision that effectively removed physical nexus as the deciding factor when a state can collect sales tax from a remote seller, states have enacted new laws that may require marketplaces to collect and remit sales tax on behalf of sellers.
Here is the current list of states for which they are or plan to collect sales tax. This list may change as state legislatures pass new laws, and we will provide updates as needed.
- Minnesota – effective January 1, 2019 (However, Minnesota has enacted a small business exemption for out of state unregistered sellers whose taxable retail sales into Minnesota are less than $10,000 in the previous 12-month period. These sellers are not subject to the Minnesota marketplace tax laws, and eBay will not be collecting sales tax on these transactions.)
- Washington – effective January 1, 2019
- Iowa – effective February 1, 2019
- Connecticut – effective April 1, 2019
- New Jersey – effective May 1, 2019
- Alabama – effective July 1, 2019
- Oklahoma – effective July 1, 2019
- Pennsylvania – effective July 1, 2019
NOTE (June 20, 2019): This list has been updated, please see this post for more details, as it includes 27 states now.
Sellers May Be Responsible Before eBay Starts Collecting Sales Tax
It is important to note that some effective dates are well beyond effective dates for Economic Nexus that may impact sellers.
There are also inconsistencies with effective dates of when eBay will collect sales tax and the listed state’s sales tax laws.
And a few states are not listed that have passed marketplace facilitator laws that technically should require eBay to collect sales tax but are not included on their latest list.
It is unclear why these inconsistencies exist, and therefore sellers should consult their accountant or legal professional for more advice.
Furthermore, we have a Guide on Sales Tax that provides some additional information about reporting requirements.
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HAHAHA catch me if you can, the only state i will pay any tax to is my own. Why doesnt Ebay step up and do the right thing. Collect it and pay it. What a joke
Thumbs Up
ha! thumbs up !
My reaction was I cancelled and returned by refusing delivery- the first recent purchase- 3 shirts- that had tax added to it by Ebay AFTER checkout as a separate charge, and told Ebay to CLOSE my 20 year old account and why I was closing it.
Exactly!
I did the same thing closing the sales end of my account!
The items I used to sell were used or salvaged items sometimes from goodwill or resale shop.
My point is when theses items we’re originally sold or brought into this country the taxes were paid on these items and if they were from a resale shop they were sold and another tax was paid 🤬
So the Government is Double and Triple dipping in our pockets and sometimes even more.
What’s next taxing garage sales or even better taxing items you donate!
Kind of like taxing a buyer after paying a sales tax on another state.🤬😡
The concept of taxing pre-owned or used items is not new and existed well before “Internet Sales Taxes”. Buyers have paid sales tax on refurbished products, cars, etc. for decades. In some states, the legislatures exempted certain categories such as food or clothing, but ultimately, the laws always have said that tangible goods, no matter what the condition, are taxable.
Richard
I’m not paying double taxes on money I already PAID taxes on- income tax- when I do the only thing with it you can do- spend it. I never paid tax on on-line purchases and I’m not starting now, no more buying anything unless it’s something I absolutely have to have- you need a battery for the car, tires, things like that but the rest- nope!
Mike, sales tax is your state not Federal government. If you bought locally you would have sales tax this is no different. Sales tax is how municipality pay for police, fire dept. EMTs parts roads all sorts of stuff.
screw the poilce, fire dept, emt part, roads etc.. they don’t do squat expect for themselves. and the roads. give me a break. they are the worst.
I never understood how this was to “LEVEL” the playing field. On line stores someone pays shipping and that is added to the price. Brick and mortar stores buyers pay State sales tax…not shipping. On many many items works about about the same, no advantage to either seller. No bargain for a buyer,
But when Buyers have to pay both Sales tax and shipping, that will equal NO SALES on many items.. It will mean dozens of items I won’t bother so sell anymore.
Why can’t I use my resale tax number on eBay purchases . All brick and mortar stores do. Canceling my account.
In my eBay listings i am stating states that collect sales tax. I guess Craigslist and the like will have a resurgence.
I am so tired of people saying “I’m closing my eBay account after having it for 100 years because Ebay did …”
Really? Things change. I don’t love the changes but I roll with it. I don’t witch and whine about it. Why? Because I’m still making thousands a month even with all of the changes.
you realize this hurts buyers not sellers right. more money grab for the rich.
TRUTH! From people in high places who have NO ALLEGANCE to any particular country!
Do they pay their taxes? Really…..
eBay just charged me 8.875% (NY) tax today June 1st, just got 2 tablets and didn’t realize they started charging tax for buyers as well
Not fair 🙁
It’s possible the seller had to charge the tax because there doesn’t appear to be a marketplace law yet for NY. However, some sellers that sell a lot of products may be required to collect the tax as NY has a remote seller law which forces large sellers to collect and remit sales tax.
Richard
So far I have seen no mention of buyers who are DEALERS purchasing for resale. Such dealers typically have a sales tax license issued by their own state. Such good deals are few and far between, but they ARE out there. Why should a dealer with a sales tax license have to pay sales tax when purchasing for resale on eBay?
Well, I just found out besides ripping us off for sales tax, ebay also includes sales tax on the shipping amount!!
Sales tax on shipping?? This is on the same level that ebay pulls when they charge their sales collection percentage. They include the shipping amount as part of the sales price. The public looses millions of $ at the cost of the good old ebay bottom line. That’s it! Done with ebay!! Ebay needs to draw the line when it comes to yielding to these thieving politicians.
In NYS we must add the sales tax to shipping as well as product. Except food sales.
I don’t now how far back this goes, but as I’ve only been selling online since 2014, it’s always been that way for me.
sales tax now,on top of shipping taxes. no need to shop online anymore. brick and mortar are saved.
thanks to the government for killing another good thing.
As a buyer I only became aware of this a few days ago when my most recent eBay auction win invoice showed an add’l charge for NY sales tax. It seems eBay started collecting sales tax for NY residents on June 1st. As a buyer involved with auctions for collectibles, this added tax burden creates a playing field that is no longer level or fair since I have to now compete bid wise against other buyers located in states who are not having to pay such taxes. The net result of this is that I no longer expect to win such closely bid auctions since I have to reduce my bid amount in consideration of the over 8% in sales tax being tacked on by eBay. If I now have to lose these auctions to non-taxed buyers or else overpay for an item with known market value then what’s the point? I’m wasting my time. It would appear that I too may be done with eBay, as others above have stated. Leave it to the greedy politicians to find yet another way to bleed the American consumer for everything they can get their grimy hands on and shame on eBay for not fighting this more fiercely.
Agree with Steve above ! Certainly if this was a interstate purchase that would be reasonable, but I can no longer compete with the additional 8 +% fee.
I’m confused now. I live in NYS ,yuck I know. So I am not a business just a plain guy who once in a while buys a golf club or may resell one I don’t use anymore. So if I buy a club another state other than NYS I have to pay sales tax? Or if I sell one to somebody in another state I have to charge them sales tax? Thanks for any advise.John
If the merchandise is taxable and the buyer is in a state that has a marketplace law, then eBay will collect the sales tax and there is nothing you need to do. It doesn’t matter if it is a “private” sale or you are a business. If you buy something from out of state, eBay may add sales tax now to orders to NY residents.
Richard
Yes but EBay is now going even further and collecting sales taxes on items that are exempt in my state (CT), such as groceries and OTC medications. The help desk is NO help; asking for a supervisor just gets you put on permahold. Anyone have any advice. This is just plain wrong on EBay’s part!!!
It depends on the state the SELLER is in. The taxes that ebay collects go to THAT state.
This is just plain wrong. Most of the items purchased on Ebay are used…meaning tax has already been paid! This is just another way our government is taking our money. I guess as both a buyer and seller, I’ll look elsewhere to find the better deal. What’s next? Tax at a yard sale?
How come you buy something new you pay taxes on it, you used it. Sell it on ebay and pay taxes on it again???
It does not matter to make my item sellable i have to discount the taxes value on it.
tax collectors suck!
Something a lot of these nitwit politicians don’t understand is how internet commerce has helped keep prices competitive and inflation lower for many years. It’s a good point that if I buy something online, shipping must be paid or calculated in the price. If I buy from a brick and mortar store I pay no shipping but I do pay tax. Now when I buy something online I have to pay BOTH SHIPPING & TAXES! This is horrendous and completely unfair, and if not changed will slow economic growth and increase inflation. This terrible law needs to be repealed.
Keep in mind that some estimates have over 80 percent of online sales already being taxed because large retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and others have physical locations in many if not all states and have been collecting tax for years. Since the 80 percent of online sales that have been taxed have not dramatically changed economic growth, the remaining 20 percent won’t either. But the 20 percent of sales these economic tax laws will impact are mostly from smaller merchants, meaning they create an unfair burden to deal with complex sales tax regulations on smaller sellers. Sales tax collection on online sales is unlikely going to go away. What we need now is Congress to step in and create a simpler system instead of having 10,000 plus different tax jurisdictions. Basically the Supreme Court punted this back to Congress to fix it…
Which is why I avoided such retailers.
We are also expected to pay taxes on shipping!! On top of that we are now paying taxes on used items that could be several years or decades old? This is distorted since the average citizen is not getting tax breaks from depreciation on what they purchase so why are we expected to pay taxes on selling used items at a loss? I know, it doesn’t matter to the state government, as long as money is changing hands they want a f’ing cut! This is tax abuse IMO! A’hole states need to be held accountable for these ridiculous tax laws.
just another way for the greedy empire machine to squeeze every last breth of life from the guy at the bottom already selling his stuff to give money back to the corrupt system
Isnt this what the American Revolution was fought over?
The difference is going to be with buyers….any seller that thinks it wont matter will be losing alot of business…the only reason I buy off Ebay is because the savings of the tax amount…
Now I can just stop locally and buy it for the same price, And the same day…way to lose. Business
Hello. The Mn small sellers exemption for remote sellers is set at $100,000, not $10, 000, as stated in this article.
The $10,000 is the correct number for MN if a remote seller only sells on marketplaces (unregistered seller). There are two thresholds in MN, one for remote sellers that ONLY sell on marketplaces ($10K) and one for remote sellers that ALSO sell on marketplaces ($100K).
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/297a.66
As a seller, a buyer does a mental assessment of what they are willing to pay; total including taxes and shipping. So, they aren’t likely to bid more than that total. Who loses? The sellers do, as bidding slumps due to the new tax is being levied on the sale. Trust me, on high dollar sales, this is a serious issue when $70-90 is added to a $1000 sale.
Yep. I have been on Ebay since 2001 buying and sometimes selling. Paying tax on a used item is plain stupid. I can see maybe paying tax for something new. But with this change, I am pretty much done with buying on Ebay.
New or used tangible goods are subject to sales tax in most jurisdictions (s0me exception may apply here and there). Because of the marketplace sales tax laws, it has come into focus on eBay now too.
You pay sales tax on used cars, you pay sales tax on pre-owned (refurbished) cell phones, you pay sales tax in thrift stores…
Richard
I noticed today that just about every item I’m purchasing on Ebay is being taxed, whether used or out-of state. Why is the government benefiting from my used item transactions? What role did they have to play in those transactions? I’m a regular Ebayer, but as of today, I will not be buying any used items from Ebay if I have to pay tax. The only way I will pay tax is if I really need the item or if the item is priced low enough. Otherwise I’m switching to Craig’s list for local items where I’ll hand you the cash directly. Ridiculous!
Sales tax has nothing to do with the condition of an item. Thrift shops, used car dealers, and other retailers that sell used goods charge sales tax if the item they sell are taxable in their state. The fact this is now happening on eBay has to do with eBay being a marketplace and that states enacted sales tax laws that make the marketplaces responsible for collecting the sales tax. Other marketplaces are impacted by this as well. However, as you noted, classifieds sites may end up being the last places online where transactions will take place without sales tax if the transaction happens between two non-business entities. Technically, some states have sales tax collection or reporting requirements for such transactions as well, but the enforcement is too costly and too difficult.
Richard
What if you buy a car or motorbike on Ebay? Is Ebay going to charge you a sales tax to you, the buyer? Because they started charging me almost 10% sales tax on everything I buy (in-state and out-of-state), so if I buy a car on Ebay for $3000 from an other state, is Ebay going to attach a $300 sales tax now?
OK so as a seller I always knew this day was coming although of course I wasn’t pleased. There has literally been hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue that the states have not collected so it was inevitable. All 50 states will be on board very soon. And yes ebay is adding to buyer costs but is also simplifying reporting. I often wondered how sellers could ever report all sales tax to the thousands of counties throughout the country(which you would be liable for) but now ebay is simply collecting the sales tax and remitting it. There is no need to collect at all. And as Paypal payment processing is phased out, everything will be on site. It’s actually very efficient but following the pattern of all its decisions over the years, whether it be a difficulty in accepting cash or an inability for a seller to leave negative feedback it takes power and autonomy from people to conduct business in their own manner. And of course with the aim to control their platform. And maybe that’s not a bad thing because some of these sellers really need to be weeded out so at least some of us can make money. And by the looks of these comments there are some people who really should get an education before they comment. Because they have no idea what they’re even talking about.
C.O
STFU you are the one that needs an education!