Ebay taxing exempt items - I'm done!

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by TheFinn, Oct 10, 2019.

  1. TheFinn

    TheFinn Well-Known Member

    Ebay decided to start charging sales tax on all items sold, regardless if a state charges tax or not.
    The State of Utah does not charge sales tax on bullion, or coins that are legal tender in any country.
    If I took a $20 bill to the bank and got 2 rolls of Quarters, they would have to charge sales tax on the transaction, since I am purchasing coins.
    Ebay is to lazy to even have a few extra lines of code put into their programming. I guess if you don't mind fencing counterfeit items and breaking the law, then what is not following state codes?

    I'm done with ebay. I've been a member since 1999, and spent tens of thousands of dollars.
    Great Collections doesn't charge it. Heritage doesn't charge it.
    Guess where I'll be buying in the future?
     
    yakpoo, Stevearino, Spark1951 and 6 others like this.
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  3. tommyc03

    tommyc03 Senior Member

    I just started Christmas shopping and noticed this. I knew it was coming but did not think this way. I know N.H. is sales tax free so I'm wondering if @ToughCOINS will have anything to say about this. I'm in Ma. so I don't know yet how it's going to work on my end. Everything I've ordered has been from out of state.
     
    Paul M. likes this.
  4. Dougmeister

    Dougmeister Well-Known Member

    Ugh. Thanks for the heads-up.
     
  5. derkerlegand

    derkerlegand Well-Known Member

    Every day killing the golden goose.
     
    I_like_Morgans likes this.
  6. ToughCOINS

    ToughCOINS Dealer Member Moderator

    I'm glad to be in New Hampshire.

    Not only do we have no sales tax in NH, but NH State Law also makes it difficult for states which have sales tax to force NH-based remote sellers to collect sales / use taxes for those jurisdictions.

    I just might move all of my inventory over to my website and leave eBay with none of my sales at all.
     
  7. Paul M.

    Paul M. Well-Known Member

    Being a California resident, I can now see that my use of eBay is either going to be limited, or my bids decreased by ~10% to offset the tax.

    CA doesn't tax bullion or coin purchases over $1500. Does anyone know what the process is to get that refunded? Do you just have to declare it on your state tax returns?
     
  8. TyCobb

    TyCobb A product of PMD

    Looks like eBay has CA setup correctly. I just tested it.
    6 bars gets taxed:
    upload_2019-10-10_14-41-44.png
    7 bars falls into the $1,500 requirement and no tax
    upload_2019-10-10_14-42-24.png

    EDIT: I am willing to bet that this will cause people to properly categorize their listings to help people avoid the tax in their state.
     
    slackaction1 likes this.
  9. Paul M.

    Paul M. Well-Known Member

    Hmm ok, that's interesting. I'll have to give it a try with numismatic coins and see if it works.
     
  10. TheFinn

    TheFinn Well-Known Member

    That is interesting that they did California correctly. I guess it's their home turf, so it affects them directly.
     
  11. Mainebill

    Mainebill Bethany Danielle

    And for antiques and coins I have a resale exemption as I am buying them for resale. I am required to collect sales tax from non exempt buyers but so many of my customers have a resale certificate too and I do an awful lot of business in New Hampshire because of the tax free status
     
  12. justafarmer

    justafarmer Senior Member

    Has Ebay not incorporated a feature that allows a buyer to provide them with a Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement Certificate of Exemption?
     
    HaleiwaHI likes this.
  13. justafarmer

    justafarmer Senior Member

    Link to a blank Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement Certificate of Exemption. Buyers with a legitimate claim of exemption and having purchases delivered into states who are members of The Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement should be able to provide the seller/marketplace facilitator with a completed copy and conduct the transaction free of sales tax.
    https://www.streamlinedsalestax.org...certificate.pdf?Status=Temp&sfvrsn=e02b70bc_4
     
    Mainebill likes this.
  14. Mainebill

    Mainebill Bethany Danielle

    I’m not on there enough to know but thanks for the link that will be helpful
     
  15. Paul M.

    Paul M. Well-Known Member

    FYI, eBay still calculated tax for me in California with a cart containing $1500+ in numismatic coins. It was my understanding that coin purchases over this amount should be exempt.
     
  16. TheFinn

    TheFinn Well-Known Member

    Every citizen of the State of Utah should be exempt. There is NO sales tax on legal tender coins, currency or bullion, regardless of quantity purchased.
     
    Stevearino likes this.
  17. TyCobb

    TyCobb A product of PMD

    Only bullion as far as I am aware. They consider $1500 in bullion an "investment".
     
  18. Derek2200

    Derek2200 Well-Known Member

    Terrible situation hurts ordinary people.
     
  19. red_spork

    red_spork Triumvir monetalis

    Interestingly it seems to correctly exempt coins shipped to Colorado. I added a non exempt item to my cart and it calculated sales tax but exempt coins don't seem to. Might be worth reaching out to eBay, this could just be a bug in the code that calculates their taxes.
     
  20. tommyc03

    tommyc03 Senior Member

    If they are calculating wrong now, I wonder how long it will be before someone files a lawsuit and how long it will take them to refund the buyers.
     
  21. Paul M.

    Paul M. Well-Known Member

    Nope. The regulation specifically applies to numismatic coins.

    See https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/vol1/sutr/1599.html

    eBay is just doing it wrong.
     
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