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For the record, State and Federal tax revenues are at all time highs. Government can sing a sad song about losing revenue to internet transactions. The bottom line is, they have more money than ever.
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What happens if I collect tax, and end up at say 199 transactions and under 100K? Do I refund the tax collected (which would be proper, as it wasn't required) Or do I still pay it (Which is also proper as I've collected it on their behalf, so it's owed to them) And, if I have a competitor who hasn't met the threshold and hasn't been collecting tax because they know they won't pass that level. Can I then stick it to them by having a friend make a bunch of purchases right near the end of the year putting them over and possibly being on the hook for the taxes they'd now owe. What a mess. |
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Also, in cases where a person/company reaches the threshold during some year, I would just start the process of collecting and remitting the sales tax at that point, and going forward. Don't forget that before doing so, the person/company would also have to register with the state of South Dakota first to let them know they are now liable for collecting and remitting sales tax. Not 100% sure what that process is in South Dakota, but you normally have to register in whatever state(s) you're in and get some kind of license or ID #, and then start filing sales tax returns and remitting the sales tax collected going forward. The states know it isn't easy to go back and try to collect sales tax from prior customers, so I doubt they'll end up forcing any person/business to do so. As for the idea of having a friend start buying from a competitor to push them over the threshold to have to start collecting sales tax in a particular state, how would you know how close to the thresholds someone is? You could have a friend end up spending a lot of time, effort and money, for nothing. Also, just because someone hits one of these thresholds doesn't mean they'll pay attention to it. And as of right now, no one knows to what extent South Dakota, or any other state for that matter, will go to check up on companies to enforce these laws. These states don't have the resources to go after every single person/business out there to enforce rules like this. They'll immediately go after the low hanging fruit and get the big companies, like Wayfair, Amazon and Overstock to comply, if they aren't already. As to how much time and effort they then put in to go after the smaller businesses.....that is a whole other question no one can likely answer as of right now. Since these vendors are by definition outside of the state they'll be collecting sales tax for, its not like some state auditor is going to pull up at their doorstep and ask to check their records. That's where I wonder if the states will try to get third party information from someone like Ebay to start determining who to go talk to. |
IMO a simple solution would be to begin the taxation at sales above the $100K threshold, that way once it is reached then retailer can begin collecting taxes.
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A simpler solution would be not to have any taxes.
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I can't believe states just don't charge per year for a "sales tax license". In Michigan, the license is free ! Just paperwork for Michigan Sales at the present time. It would be simple to just charge all businesses , for example: $ 100 a year for the license, and high volume stores etc. would need to fill out additional forms.
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You did mention in your suggestion that larger, high volume stores would have to do additional paperwork, but what exactly does that mean? As I noted above, are you saying that over a certain amount of taxable sales they'd have to start paying in more money towards their sales tax license? If so, how are you going to figure that out and who decides what the threshold is for such additional payments, and on and on? And what you are suggesting is already in practice. For example, in Ohio there is a state sales tax in force that requires seller's to apply for a one-time vendor's license at a cast of just $25. After that they are required to file and remit any sales tax they collect, even if they have $0 to report, until they formally cancel their license with the state. In addition, back in 2005 Ohio enacted something called the Commercial Activity Tax, which sounds a little like what you may be proposing. It requires all businesses that sell to anyone in Ohio to record and report their qualifying Ohio based sales and pay in what is termed a Commercial Activity Tax for sales over certain amounts. Annual Ohio based sales from $0 - $150K per year you, don't have to file or pay anything. Annual Ohio based sales of $150K - $1MM a year, you register and pay $150 with a once a year report you then file. Once your annual Ohio based sales go over $1MM though, you then have to pay in $0.0026 per dollar of sales in excess of $1MM. And this is in addition to Ohio sales tax which can be as high as 8% in some counties. When they enacted this Commercial Activity Tax back in 2005 they did away with a state franchise taxes on businesses and business property taxes on assets and inventory owned by businesses. It was an offset of one new type for for two previous types of taxes. This type of activity tax as Ohio calls it doesn't get charged directly to the buyers, but you can be sure that prices charged to them got increased to cover the additional Commercial Activity Tax cost increase to the sellers. Oh, and unlike sales taxes which often don't get charged for things like food, the Commercial Activity tax in Ohio does cover food sales as well, so those prices go up for everyone as well. There are so many nuances to these taxes, and what is deemed fair and equitable to everyone, it is not easy to simply replace what we already do with something simple. |
You would still have to pay the sales tax + the $100 ( example) fee, not instead of the fee.
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likely method for implementation
would be - if your company hit that threshold in a preceding lookback period (let's say the prior tax year as one possibility) - you would be required to collect tax in the current year.
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Michigan to start enforcing sales tax on more online retailers
LANSING » Michigan’s 6 percent sales tax will soon be applied to many companies with no physical location in the state, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury. The department announced Monday (August 13th, 2018)that sales tax will be collected from online out-of-state retailers that exceed $100,000 in sales or have 200 or more transactions in Michigan within the previous calendar year. The rule change beginning Oct. 1 will bring in an extra $200 million per year in state revenue, according to the state agency’s estimates. “We will be working closely with our retail and business partners to ensure a smooth transition to the new rule,” State Treasurer Nick Khouri said. The move follows a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave states authority to require online retailers without a physical presence in the state to collect sales tax on their behalf. Michigan already requires large retailers with a presence in the state, such as Amazon and Overstock, to charge the tax. — The Associated Press |
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For those of us who are not licensed resellers, is sales tax now added to all purchases, regardless of the buyer's state of origin? If so, do you use the buyer's sales tax rate? Hello, Thank you for your email. Eventually all states will have applicable sales tax but for now, the taxable states are as follows: New York Illinois Florida Texas California Connecticut New Jersey Hawaii Kentucky Maine Mississippi Ohio Pennsylvania Vermont On September 1st 2018 we will be charging sales tax in: Colorado Massachusetts Michigan Oklahoma Rhode Island Tennessee Washington The tax charged will be the rate in each Buyer’s location. |
Noticed the following message posted on ebay:
As you may know, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of South Dakota in June 2018, which removed the requirement that certain retailers have a physical presence in a state in order for that state to impose sales tax obligations on these retailers. Some states have extended the tax collection obligation to marketplaces. We believe this ruling is unfair to small businesses and will continue to call for greater simplicity. In the meantime, we’re working to find the best way to support our sellers. What this means for eBay sellers: Regardless of where you’re physically located, if you sell to buyers in certain states, those states may require you to collect applicable taxes on your transactions. Therefore, based on these new laws, we will calculate, collect, and remit sales tax for orders shipped to customers in the following states on the following schedule: •Washington—starting Jan 1, 2019 •Pennsylvania— starting July 1, 2019 •Oklahoma—starting July 1, 2019 Once we start collecting tax in these states, you do not need to take any action. There are no extra charges or fees for this service. Prior to these dates, please continue to collect and remit tax in these states and comply with any other applicable requirements they impose. There are no opt-outs for selling items into the states listed above, or out of eBay automatically collecting sales tax for items shipped to the states above. Additional states will likely be added to the above list. Stay informed on the Help pages. For more information on these new tax requirements, we recommend that you consult with your tax advisor. If you do not have a tax advisor, we’ve partnered with Avalara and TaxJar and they will have specific insights into the best course of action for you. It appears for the first three states they mention, that ebay themselves will not only calculate, but collect and remit the taxes at no extra cost to the seller. My only question is will re-sellers buying through ebay still be required to pay the sales tax? |
PA
So basically as a CONSUMER BUYER of eBay items from PA PENN my bill will include a 6% tax starting JULY 2019!!!!?????
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https://dor.wa.gov/find-taxes-rates/...seller-permits This could become a nightmare for anyone that buys items for their business through Ebay to then resell if Ebay is not going to honor their re-seller and sales tax exemption certificates. This could become a real paperwork and tax nightmare if this happens. I've got to believe Ebay hasn't fully explained what will actually happen in this case as they're probably still working this out themselves. I'm guessing before they have to actually start doing this that they will come up with a program to allow valid re-sellers purchasing items through them to submit exemption certificates that will allow those purchases to be sales tax exempt. How they're going to implement it though, and differentiate between taxable and non-taxable purchases that a buyer might make, is going to interesting to say the least. This is exactly why Ebay was against this new Supreme Court ruling and was sending petitions out to people and asking for signatures and telling people to call their Congressmen and so on. And if Ebay does end up having to go through with this and start doing it, you can bet it is going to cost them time and money to comply. How long before you think they'll come up with some way to pass the added cost on to their dealers then??? There was another thread not too long ago where someone asked the question about the possibility that card shows might make a comeback because of all this nonsense. Well, if the various states and taxing authorities keep going after everyone like this it, it may start to happen sooner than later. |
Just wanted to bump this back up with the new year 2 days away.. Has anyone heard anything new lately about this?
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