eBay vault

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Deertick

BobC,
I think you are incorrect on this point. Sales tax is owed by the purchaser to the State of their residence. (if they live in a destination-based State, which is most). A seller who collect and remits sales tax is doing so for the "convenience" of the purchaser. It is the purchasers responsibility to report a purchase and remit the appropriate tax to the State. (nearly impossible to enforce in face-to-face transactions).

I believe there used to be a way to request a refund of sales tax from the non-resident state to transfer to the resident state, but that was a long time ago and may not be the case anymore.

I believe the holding in the vault may just be technically a suspension of the transaction. Completion upon delivery would trigger the taxable event.

You obviously did not fully understand what my point is.

If in my example you live in Delaware and buy the Mantle card off Ebay, and have it sent to your house, there is NO sales tax. Delaware doesn't have a sales tax so.........Ebay won't charge you any sales tax because there's nothing due, and you as the purchaser don't have a responsibility to pay anything to your resident state of Delaware because once again, Delaware has NO sales tax! So you're still living in your Delaware home, with your Mantle card you didn't have to pay any sales tax on because none was due, and then say five years after buying it you and your family end up moving to California. You take all your furnishings and belongings with you, including the Mantle card. The state of California is not going to suddenly be charging you sales tax, nor expecting you to voluntarily be reporting and paying sales tax to them, on all your belongings and such that you had purchased while still living in Delaware, and are now bringing with you to California as part of your move. And that should include the Mantle card you brought with you, that you bought years earlier.

Also, you seem to be talking about "use tax", not "sales tax". Use Tax is when you purchase something from a seller outside your state of residence that does not have what is known as "nexus" in your state of residence for sales tax purposes. That basically means the state you live in can't make the seller charge you sales tax, and then send it to them. In which case, if the state you live in has a Use Tax provision in place, that generally means you the purchaser are required to voluntarily report the purchases you did not get charged any sales tax on by out of state sellers, and figure out what they should have charged you for sales tax so you can now send that money in to your state of residence yourself.

Also, sales tax isn't necessarily charged on where you live, it is charged based on where the item being purchased is supposed to be sent to and used/kept. Think of someone with a main home in Chicago, and a condo they go on vacation to on Sanibel Island in Florida. If they're buying something online for the Florida condo, they should be paying Florida sales tax on it, not Illinois sales tax. And if you are using a "vault" to hold your cards, for safekeeping like a safe deposit box, to facilitate your card sales and deals because you consign or sell through the party running the "vault" you are using, or whatever your reason for using a "vault", when cards are sent there it is deemed to be where the cards are to be kept/used. And that is why people running these "vaults" usually put them in states with no sales tax, so the people using these "vaults" don't have to pay sales tax on any of their purchases sent directly to the "vault" they're using.

I have never heard of this "suspension of transaction" concept you brought up in regards to sales taxes. I would appreciate knowing what state(s) this is valid in, and would love any references or links you can provide to read more about.

And for the record, each state has their own Sales & Use Tax laws, and they can definitely vary state to state. So my above comments are in general terms, most likely, but not necessarily, applicable in those states that do have a sales (and use) tax.

Thank you, look forward to hearing back with those links and/or specific info.