Rants, Raves, and Praise → [Rant] Sale tax on ebay

So I bought a used camera on ebay and the seller actually charged me sales tax. The camera is shipping from Ohio and I am in texas. What a joke.

I sent them an email bitching about their sales tax nonsense, but I doubt they will refund it. The camera is used and I got it half price so it was still significantly cheaper, but sales tax over the internet is a joke.
I canceled my amazon prime over their sales tax bullshit.
Sale tax is getting out of control.

Your telling me.

If a company fails to collect sales tax we are supposed to pay it when we file state return in July.

Sales tax isn't getting out of control. Getting out of control would imply that it is some outrageous rate like 20%. Sales tax is merely catching up with technology.

Where 'bullshit' means 'complying with applicable law'? It's Texas sales tax. Your complaint is with Texas, not Amazon.

Amazon should have stood their ground and refused to collect sales tax for internet purchases.

So you favour large commercial interests simply refusing to comply with laws they don't like?

(Actually, Amazon once before simply moved out - by closing their Dallas distribution centre - but they have apparently concluded that a physical TX presence is more important to them than helping you avoid paying your due taxes).

Im in favor of the acknowledgement that the internet is international and even outside of the planet. Countries should not have any regulation on internet commerce.

I cant believe there are people that see nothing wrong with companies collecting state tax on an internet sale.

as long as they have something in state and its going to the state I have no issue with them charging sales tax.

However on Ebay how do I know the seller isn't charging it and claiming they have to to comply and then just pocketing it. Texas has no power over someone all the way in Ohio and selling an item on Ebay. My guess is they charged tax and kept the extra money.

The 'regulation on internet commerce' is primarily the state you live in charging a sales or use tax on all purchases. You become liable for the tax when you either (a) buy an item in-state, or (b) buy it out-of-state and bring it in-state. Your requirement to pay the tax is nothing to do with the internet; it applies equally if you buy something in a store in the state next door.

»www.window.state.tx.us/t ··· nfo/use/

The only thing the internet has done is to make it more confused about when the seller needs to collect the tax at the point of sale.
A given state, of course, wants the seller to be required to collect the tax on all sales shipped to the state, but the Supreme Court ruled that unconstitutional; the seller had to have physical presence in the state before the state could force it to collect tax.

Again, it's all down to (in your case) Texas. The only federal involvement here is to tell Amazon (and their ilk) that they don't have to collect taxes in states where they have no presence.

So, to summarize: the only entity that's making you pay sales tax to Amazon is the great state of Texas. Not the federal government (yet) and not some other country.

(And you'd still be legally liable for the tax even if Amazon did not collect it. I can't believe there are people who fail to understand this).

Your argument about the international nature of the internet is frankly bizarre, because stuff purchased internationally is still subject to taxes.

What about intergalactic?

Historically no one pays state taxes voluntarily on interstate purchases or on the internet.
The practice of internet retailers being forced to collect tax is BS. A warehouse is not retail presence in a state. State governments are just trying to get more money by forcing internet companies to collect taxes they know otherwise no one will pay.
In the end it just hurts the business as consumers will go somewhere else than places like amazon.

I find it odd that anyone on here would be against a rant against sales tax on internet purchases. Very odd.

What I'm against is self-serving arguments. Yours is transparently "I don't want to pay it therefore it is wrong that Amazon charges it". I'm simply capable of separating the ideas of right/wrong from what I personally would benefit from.

It's good that I have read your post. Thank you for informing us. I was suppose to buy something but because of this, I think I won't buy it anymore.

Very odd I say.

here in SNJ we have the Delaware Solution. aka if the sales tax is more than Fuel and the Bridge you drive to Delaware and get it with tax free shopping.

Considering the State of Delaware advertises itself as the "Home of tax free shopping" I imagine its completely legal to go there and never declare it once back home.

NH advertises the delights of tax-free shopping but the state of MA still expects you to pay the MA use tax on your purchases.

NH is under no obligation to remind anyone of what MA law says.

(NH also builds state-owned liquor stores on major highways just over the border from MA...)

In my state of Oregon we are still sales tax free also, and on the border of Washington there's a large electronics mall. People come here to buy large ticket items sales tax free, even smaller stuff like cigarettes which cost less here even before adding their sales tax.

The only way we would ever vote in a sales tax is the abolishment, or severe reduction in property, and income taxes.

Is this sample of what's to come if the Feds pass the bills requiring Internet/out-of-state sales tax collection?

Stores envy ebay and the deals. I see it as a bigger conspiracy. After all why would these big stores want ebay dealers to steal their customers.

It was a used item, sales tax as already collected on the first sale. Also if the seller is taking out Ohio sales tax when the buyer is in texas, they are doing it wrong. Sales tax is to be collected in the buyer's state.

Sure - back to the original issue, the eBay thing sounds like a total scam. If I were the OP, I would have refused to pay it, and if that meant I lost out on the "bargain", so be it. If you deal with crooks then you encourage crookedness. Or, on a more selfish level, how can you trust someone who's crooked in one thing to only be crooked in that one thing?

(I don't quite understand how sales tax could be charged after payment had been agreed, but it sounds like the OP got told about the tax too late to not buy).

I won the auction which requires paypal payment.
Checking out in paypal and then there is a sales tax.

Yes the item is used, so the sales tax should have been paid originally when sold as new. It would not make sense to keep charging tax on the same item over and over again.
Also the seller is in Ohio and I am in Texas. Paypal put in texas sales tax at checkout I assume based on my shipping address.

So is that Paypal screwing up or the vendor cheating you?

(I use neither Paypal nor eBay)

Tell the seller that Paypal req'd sales tax on this purchase which is in error. Remind him that you might have to confirm with the state of TX that he submits the collected tax too (bluffing, of course).

In the checkout comments I explained that he should refund the sales tax as I am in texas and it was wrong to charge that to me.
I now have a tracking number saying it is shipped and I never got a response to the comment.
I will send an email to see if they will respond.

They need to charge me sales tax, then let them. Rather pay it then and then having to dick with it later.

Internet sales tax:

violates interstate commerce (states shall not interfere)

kills the market for internet (already pay shipping and have to wait a week, as opposed to B&M no shipping and take it home right now).

is a nightmare to administrate for the sellers involved.

As soon as I see sales tax being charged on something I'm about to buy on the internet, I cancel the transaction and go elsewhere.

1) It is not "an internet sales tax" -- it's a state sales tax collected on goods delivered for purchases in a particular state. The difference in wording is subtle, but TX (in this case) charges the tax not because it was a purchase made on the internet, but because it was delivered in TX.

2) It's no different from mail-order in terms of crossing state lines. Judging by past posts from you, you simply don't like taxation in any form. I note that states that assess no sales tax tend to have higher property taxes. That'll make you happier, eh?

3) Having to pay shipping is nothing to do with having to pay taxes. What an argument: "I have to give money to UPS therefore it's unfair for me to have to pay the state too".

4) "Take it home right now". Yes indeedy, those internet companies sure are at a competitive disadvantage compared to bricks-and-mortar stores, so they need a tax bypass to remain in business?

5) It's the very fact that Amazon wants in-TX warehouses for faster delivery that has caused them to accede to TX demands to collect the due tax.

6) "A nightmare to administrate for the sellers involved". Yeah, that one is probably true, but we're not talking mom-and-pop, we're talking about huge corporations.

7) "As soon as I see sales tax being charged on something I'm about to buy on the internet, I cancel the transaction and go elsewhere". You are presumably familiar with the expression "cutting off your nose to spite your face"?

8) Usual caveat: I'm not a tax fan, i just abhor poor arguments.

Your arguments are odd and very poor.

Why, precisely?

Be substantive. "Your arguments are very poor" does not advance the discussion one iota.

So far, you haven't even attempted to explain why your state's tax on articles imported from another state ('use tax') should not be collected in accordance with your state's laws. Instead, you prefer to talk about 'intergalactic' and 'international' commerce, which is entirely irrelevant. TX says that if you have a physical presence in TX you have to collect TX taxes. That the order was placed by internet rather than US mail is irrelevant.

No they aren't. If they were, you would be able to supply ample retorts.