US state Tax

Timbuck

Timbuck

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Just sold a uke on eBay to the US and when I wanted to send an invoice I noticed a 10% sellers Tax added to the Total that the buyer has to pay ...What is this all about? it's never happened before.
 
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It's the US version of VAT Timbuck. Doesn't work in quite the same way but that is the closest analogy to our tax system. Similar to me buying a uke in the US - it would have VAT slapped on it once it reached here.
 
Don't know about the US, but when using eBay from Australia and a few other online sites, all purchases outside the country will have 10% GST automatically added to the purchase price. Within the country the GST is already included in the purchase price.
 
Until last year out-of-state sales didn't need to collect sales tax (the buyer was still theoretically required to pay it). Last year the US Supreme Court's ruling South Dakota v. Wayfair) determined that states could require large vendors to collect sales tax even if they didn't have a presense in the buyer's state. EBay started collecting sales tax for some states around the beginning of the year and adding more as other states require it

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/taxes-import-charges?id=4121#section4
[/FONT]
 
Arcy said:
Until last year out-of-state sales didn't need to collect sales tax (the buyer was still theoretically required to pay it). Last year the US Supreme Court's ruling South Dakota v. Wayfair) determined that states could require large vendors to collect sales tax even if they didn't have a presense in the buyer's state. EBay started collecting sales tax for some states around the beginning of the year and adding more as other states require it

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/taxes-import-charges?id=4121#section4
Click to expand...
Did you have to pay when you shipped to me (California) the previous soprano?
 
Arcy said:
Until last year out-of-state sales didn't need to collect sales tax (the buyer was still theoretically required to pay it).<snip>
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/taxes-import-charges?id=4121#section4
[/FONT]
Click to expand...

To elaborate, if a company did business in the state, even running a warehouse, they had to collect taxes on sales in that state. So, if I'd order something from Amazon, I'd be charged California taxes, even if the item was from a third party based in Texas. But with smaller company's the cost of collecting the taxes has been considered burdensome because the taxes vary from state to state, and sometimes city-to-city. In these cases, the buyer was supposed to pay the state.

When I file my state taxes I'm asked whether I bought anything online. If I answer yes, I can enter the amount of purchases, or let the state set the tax based on my income.
 
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kerneltime said:
Did you have to pay when you shipped to me (California) the previous soprano?
Click to expand...

It's you that pays the tax, not me... But not on that Uke....I recon if you wait for the invoice you have to pay up front...But! if you pay for the item first before you recieve the invoice, you miss out the tax, ( I could be wrong tho')
 
Timbuck said:
Just sold a uke on eBay to the US and when I wanted to send an invoice I noticed a 10% sellers Tax added to the Total that the buyer has to pay ...What is this all about? it's never happened before.
Click to expand...

I find that odd because you don't have a business presence in the US at all. I could better understand the buyer having to pay an import tax. Have you contacted eBay to ask about this tax?
 
It's interesting, I can understand you'd need to come up with a system to collect taxes from out of state sales, but out of country sales are easy to deal with by the shipping company at point of delivery. Of course you end up paying a brokerage fee as well. But on the other hand, all the small purchases that don't get processed add up to a lot of missed tax revenue.
 
Something is not consistent with all the speculation here. When I googled state tax rates, the highest is 9.25%. If I purchase from Amazon, they tax me for the EXACT amount based on the rate. There is no such thing as "rounding up" to 10%.

What state was this uke shipped to?
 
This:
glennerd said:
. But on the other hand, all the small purchases that don't get processed add up to a lot of missed tax revenue.
Click to expand...

I know many people who would buy from Amazon just to save the 8% sales tax back in the day. Now Amazon collects that. As for Ken's situation, it's EBay that's processing everything, and they are big, so the taxes are being collected.
 
Here on Oahu the general excise tax (GET) is 4.5%. However, the state allows businesses to charge customers a maximum of 4.712% to recoup some of their total GET (the total GET assessment calculated on the item cost plus the 4.5%, i.e., you pay GET on the GET). I'm guessing some other states have similar practices. So not exactly roundinging off but merchants can charge slightly above the 4.5% GET rate.
 
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rainbow21 said:
Something is not consistent with all the speculation here. When I googled state tax rates, the highest is 9.25%. If I purchase from Amazon, they tax me for the EXACT amount based on the rate. There is no such thing as "rounding up" to 10%.

What state was this uke shipped to?
Click to expand...

Interesting, I checked eBay's website and they say they don't charge a fee on sales tax. The good news (for sellers) is they'll start collecting and remitting the sales tax on behalf of sellers later this year for 12 states.
 
rainbow21 said:
Something is not consistent with all the speculation here. When I googled state tax rates, the highest is 9.25%.
Click to expand...
Cities and counties have taxes, too. Chicago and Long Beach are both 10.25%
 
RickOlson said:
Cities and counties have taxes, too. Chicago and Long Beach are both 10.25%
Click to expand...

The CA tax is a "use tax" for out of state purchases and is for state tax forms. They do not account for different local taxes. And sellers do NOT and canNOT collect the differences between each municipality. In our county, there are different taxes for each city, and for the county. No one discerns the differences based on the address of the buyer and charges on behalf of entities smaller than states.
 
I think the question not being asked is, which should be by all citizens of America is, "What are these taxes for and how do they get disbursed?" On an unrelated matter I have just had a shipment completely pass under the radar. AT $700, I'd expect to be charged 20% VAT on a portion of that and I got charged nothing - unless Royal Mail has a new policy of shipping forward and then making import duties and VAT charges after delivery...
 
I hate using the Royal Mail when some goods are shipped to me from the US the RM hangs onto it and sends me a note to say I owe import duty and dont say how much, and then I have to go to the Depo to collect it, and then I have to proove my i/d while they add more to the bill and call it a Handling Charge.:(
 
The thing is, the US government isn't very consistent in these matters. I've bought dozens of expensive camera gear from Japan, Korea and Hong Kong without so much a blip on the radar. However, my wife had a package sent from Korea containing light clothing—mostly underwear and socks!—and US Customs tore it open, fingered everything and accessed a tax higher than the value of the items inside ($60). We told them they can keep it and refused to pay. I'm guessing they were looking for drugs (hand written mailing label might have been the trigger) and felt obligated to make us pay for their useless labor.
 
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