eBay Begins Collecting Sales Tax In 13 More States

Update 6/30/19: eBay will begin collecting sales tax in the following states on July 1st, 2019:

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Indiana
  • Kentucky
  • New Mexico
  • Oklahoma
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Dakota
  • Virginia
  • West Virginia
  • Wyoming
  • Vermont

They will begin collecting sales tax on these states starting October 1st:

  • California
  • North Dakota
  • South Carolina
  • Texas
  • Utah

They already collect sales tax in these states:

  • Minnesota
  • Washington
  • Iowa
  • Connecticut
  • District of Columbia
  • Nebraska
  • New Jersey

For more information, head to the eBay tax page.

Original post: eBay has begun to collect sales tax in Washington & Minnesota as of January 1st, 2019. eBay will also begin collecting sales tax in these other states on the following dates:

  • Iowa, February 1, 2019
  • Connecticut, April 1, 2019
  • New Jersey, May 1, 2019
  • Alabama, July 1, 2019
  • Oklahoma, July 1, 2019
  • Pennsylvania, July 1, 2019

This stems from the supreme court ruling (South Dakota v. Wayfair) regarding internet sales tax. This means that states may now charge tax on purchases made from out-of-state sellers, even if they have no physical presence in that state. I’ll let readers argue the merits of this in the comments, this is really just a note to let people know about eBay collecting these taxes.

 
    William Charles
  • On July 1, 2019, 00:21

View Comments (99)

  • This is misleading. In Minnesota eBay only collects from out of state sellers. MN sellers in Minnesota all have to collect State taxes

  • So I just bought an item with free shipping and we all know there is no such thing as free shipping , it's added into the price. So I just paid tax on shipping.

  • Wow. This is unfair. Collecting double sales tax on used items? Ebay not disclosing sales taxes until after you commit to buying it? Having to pay sales tax to a state I don't live in if I ship a gift to a friend? Dang.

    • Yea, It's WayUnFair...... you can thank them, Wayfair for all of this.
      They should be boycotted out of business.

  • Since eBay charges tax what happens if I start charging tax on my listings too, does the tax payment from the buyer go to me or to eBay?

  • New York also has to pay sales tax as of 1 June, something I discovered to my unpleasant surprise when I tried to use the 13% eBay bucks in June. I'm also now seeing estimated sales tax for all the third party sellers on Amazon, which essentially means the advantage of buying from those sellers alisnlost if prices are the same as Amazon's.

  • Hi, is this tax only on ebay sellers? I guess I can presume they'll increase their sales prices to roll it over to the buyer?

    • It's a tax on buyers that eBay will add and collect at the time of checkout. The seller does not see that money.

      For example, you checkout with a $1 item, eBay adds tax and charges you $1.06 or whatever, eBay holds and sends the state the $.06, the seller gets $1 less the usual fees.

      • Do you know if it only affects the big seller, or any individual seller? I usually buy from people that usually sell 1-2 items a month, so I guess when texas is coming up (oct1), than I'll get charge the 8.25% tax (my county) regardless of who I buy it from? If that was thee case, there's not much incentive eBay vs Amazon these days (except of course, its much easier to find the rarer/unique stuff on eBay)

        Sam

  • I live in NY and lately I've am also charged sales tax on every item, are you sure it's only the above states?

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