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Ebay-Taxes

tempdoug

PATRON
nd
time to time i like to buy a part on ebay, but now there charging tax on everything, even used pieces of junk. so beware. new i can understand but say for instance a used towel, i dont get it. auctions here in the state theres no tax on anything used, so far. called the resolution center at ebay, this is only ten bucks, but the guy said the state of california is after tax money and they would let me know on my 10 bucks in a couple of days. just a heads up is all. the tax was 7%.
 
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Every time an item changes hands for money it is taxed by most states - new or used. Has been for years - decades. They are just getting around to enforcing it.

In the olden days they would come after the buyer after the fact. Still do, for big ticket stuff - buy an airplane and fail to pay the tax? Big time penalty.

Buy a pair of socks from LL Bean? You are supposed to self-report. Nobody does.
 
go to an auction anywhere in north dakota and buy anything-no tax, never has been. so is ebay a store or a auction house? state always required a purchase tax on motor vehicles, but never on a used tractor part or engine part.
 
Every time an item changes hands for money it is taxed by most states - new or used. Has been for years - decades. They are just getting around to enforcing it.

In the olden days they would come after the buyer after the fact. Still do, for big ticket stuff - buy an airplane and fail to pay the tax? Big time penalty.

Buy a pair of socks from LL Bean? You are supposed to self-report. Nobody does.


so if i go to a farm or estate auction in california i am suppose to pay tax on a used hair comb if i would buy one?
 
Dunno about California, but here in Wa purchases at auction are taxed and paid at settle-up. Pretty sure Ebay does it here also.
 
Yes. And if you go to Nevada, buy said curry comb, and immediately return to California, you are supposed to declare it and pay a "use tax".
 
I got audited a few years back. Geeky IRS guy asked me several times about ebay selling. They very much treat you 'guilty until innocent' Every deposit into every checking and savings account had to be reconciled.

JP
 
Yes. And if you go to Nevada, buy said curry comb, and immediately return to California, you are supposed to declare it and pay a "use tax".

bob, quick pack some underwear and a couple of tee shirts and get out of there before its too late!:smile:
 
Where would I go? I grant you our idyllic paradise is very close to freeway gridlock - this town was 100,000 when I got here; over three million now. But it is always 70 degrees, the tower folks seem to love me, I have bunches of friends, and my house (and of course airplanes, cars, and convertible Mustangs) are paid for.

And . . . and, tomorrow is display day, which enables us to escape property taxes on our Cubs! That alone pays for use tax on as many curry combs as I will ever need.
 
I used to have t mobile cell service, block-time bought $100 at a whack.
They charged me $10 "local taxes" on top of that.
I guess there's sales tax and utility taxes, but that ten bucks even sounded fishy to me.
I always wondered if they were just pocketing it.
Ditto for ebay tax now.
I see they bill it separately from your purchase.
 
As you will recall, many people did not pay sales tax on airplanes. Then some clever guy with internet access started telling the states they were missing a big opportunity and sold them a "service", which they could have just looked up themselves. I had to pay sales tax on both planes well after the fact - they did not question or ask for proof of purchase price, just wanted me to give them the numbers.

My accountant told me that we are always responsible to pay the tax - even on a hair comb - if required by that state, no matter new, used, etc. It's why you now pay sales tax when you register your car.

sj
 
There is a way to escape - you probably need an expert or an attorney, and I personally would get a written guarantee. I believe it goes this way: you buy your King Air in a no sales tax state, then park it there for a year. Document that, and do not even for a second overfly California. Then, when you bring it in, no tax. Tricky, and don't take my word for it.

Oh, and this did not start with the internet. It was definitely a fact of life in the 1980s. And in Calif, you must pay property tax on aircraft annually!
 
I pay a "use tax" every year in AL for my airplane. I bought it in AK and am an AK resident that just happens to live in AL because of my job.

Not a fan.
 
There is a way to escape - you probably need an expert or an attorney, and I personally would get a written guarantee. I believe it goes this way: you buy your King Air in a no sales tax state, then park it there for a year. Document that, and do not even for a second overfly California. Then, when you bring it in, no tax...

Washington requires proof of sales tax having been paid when you bring in an airplane or car.
If you can't document that, you pay use tax here.
Legally seems like the only way to avoid sales tax in a tax state, here anyway,
is to have the airplane live in another, non-tax state over 50% of the time.
 
In California, "use tax" is a sales tax, and is the same percentage - one time.

Each county then assesses a property tax. Totally different. Every year.
 
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