I searched eBay today for some Hario coffee filters. I'm in California, and in the past only CA sellers would charge taxes. I noticed today that every seller I looked at outside of Japan, regardless of where they were located in the U.S., was charging tax. Researching this, I found that a June 2018 Supreme Court decision allowed LARGE retailers to collect taxes in states where they lacked a physical presence. This ruling specifically did not apply to small sellers. Here's an excerpt from eBay's official response to the ruling: The Court’s decision states that the South Dakota law “applies only to sellers who engage in a significant quantity of business in the State, and respondents are large, national companies that undoubtedly maintain an extensive virtual presence.” So the gist of the ruling changes from "physical presence" in a state to "significant quantity of business." Here's another excerpt from eBay's response: “While we are obviously disappointed to see Quill’s standard (physical presence) overturned, we are pleased that the Court was very clear about the importance of protecting small businesses from unfair burdens.” Problem: small businesses have taken this ruling as a green light to start charging taxes to everyone, regardless of what state they're purchasing from. Rather than paying these collected taxes to the state, the sellers are (IMO) using the money to offset eBay fees. And sellers are free to make up tax rates however they see fit. One West Virginia buyer was charged 10% tax on an out-of-state eBay purchase---and the West Virginia tax rate is 6%. This may not seem like a big deal on a $20 purchase of coffee filters. But I predict that Little Joe's Watch Emporium in Dismal Seepage, Iowa will soon be charging tax on $5,000 Speedies sold to any state in the U.S.
eBay will collect sales taxes for sellers if they request and pay them over as agent. For a fee, of course. There will be a day where eBay collects sales or GST on almost every transaction. VAT is less likely to be an issue, as resellers can claim VAT credits against purchases for resale. As the law stands today, purchases coming to you from out-of-state, where the seller falls below the state threshold for sales in your state (many states seem to be settling around <$100K in sales for exceptions from application of nexus rules), are still exempt from collection at point of sale. However, as a resident of your home state, you still have a legal obligation to pay use tax if the sales tax does not apply to a purchase. Most states don’t bother going after their own citizens for this unless they are operating a business. Some appeal to your conscience by putting a line for use tax on their personal income tax returns. Hope this helps, gatorcpa
Ebay collects taxes from buyers, on behalf of the Aussie govt. at POS. Looks like the seller is charging it, but it's ebay.