@Davideo said:
You don't submit a listing of every single sale such that the state could look up if a sale to Jim in Springfield was properly reported and submitted.
BAJJERFAN says he was able to get that info:
"I reported a seller to my state revenue fraud dept who was collecting sales tax on their behalf and not submitting it and I received a reply within a few days."
We can let him chime in, but a reply does not mean that the state replied with the requested details (which BAIJERFAN didn't indicate he even requested any specifics).
@Davideo said:
You don't submit a listing of every single sale such that the state could look up if a sale to Jim in Springfield was properly reported and submitted.
BAJJERFAN says he was able to get that info:
"I reported a seller to my state revenue fraud dept who was collecting sales tax on their behalf and not submitting it and I received a reply within a few days."
I didn't say that I got it because I didn't request it. I reported a seller for collecting Iowa sales tax and keeping it instead of remitting it to Iowa. I did get a response from the Iowa tax fraud folks is what I was saying. If I wanted to report an eBay seller for collecting sales tax and keeping it I'm sure that the Iowa folks could contact eBay and ask if $313 was collected improperly on or about zz/xx/2021 for listing 0123456789 I'm sure eBay could tell them. I could ask the Iowa people if eBay sends a detailed list with the EFT, but I probably won't.
The complainant would be better off to ask for a refund from the state at this point.
@logger7 said:
... I complained to my state of CT senator and the state tax department replied that they could send a letter to ebay asking them to refund taxes not due.
what did you get hit on? (I'm in CT, too.)
I am in CT too and have noticed that many purchases of mine has been taxed extra than usual. Tried to reach out to eBay customer service thrice and the reply was the same, we will look into it.
Seriously planning to reach out to the attorney general's office.
You could work through your state representative or state senator as I did and they forwarded the response from DRS to me, that it was ebay's job to refund it and they could write a letter in your behalf to ebay (from the DRS/tax dept). Also they told me that due to covid they had a huge pile of correspondence in the office they had not been able to respond to.\
Also I have found the Department of Consumer Protection highly effective in getting results on rip offs. You can contact them and they will send you the fillable form (online) in 15 minutes and then email it back to them. Your and the businesses information and description should be enough. I filed a complaint about a cell phone company and cable company and got a response within about 24 hours from corporate!
@Davideo said:
You don't submit a listing of every single sale such that the state could look up if a sale to Jim in Springfield was properly reported and submitted.
BAJJERFAN says he was able to get that info:
"I reported a seller to my state revenue fraud dept who was collecting sales tax on their behalf and not submitting it and I received a reply within a few days."
I didn't say that I got it because I didn't request it. I reported a seller for collecting Iowa sales tax and keeping it instead of remitting it to Iowa. I did get a response from the Iowa tax fraud folks is what I was saying. If I wanted to report an eBay seller for collecting sales tax and keeping it I'm sure that the Iowa folks could contact eBay and ask if $313 was collected improperly on or about zz/xx/2021 for listing 0123456789 I'm sure eBay could tell them. I could ask the Iowa people if eBay sends a detailed list with the EFT, but I probably won't.
The complainant would be better off to ask for a refund from the state at this point.
I'm reasonably sure sellers don't collect sales tax on eBay, but rather eBay keeps it to remit to the various states.
Wow! Ebay called me back today like they said they would. I would have lost that bet
They said "I followed up on this for you and you were correct, certain items sold are exempt from tax, for example coins money gold and bullion."
I had to go over everything again with item numbers & amounts. They should have had this from the 12 prior calls/request but okay I can give it to them again.
Then the CSR said "I have filed a new request with the info that we have verified there is no tax in your state you should have a refund within 72 hours"
I will give them until Friday to see if a refund is issued. I have heard this before
The one time I had to do this in my State that's been coin tax free for around 25 years I had the refund within the hour after speaking with CS. They say longer but usually it's pretty quick.
@Davideo said:
You don't submit a listing of every single sale such that the state could look up if a sale to Jim in Springfield was properly reported and submitted.
BAJJERFAN says he was able to get that info:
"I reported a seller to my state revenue fraud dept who was collecting sales tax on their behalf and not submitting it and I received a reply within a few days."
I didn't say that I got it because I didn't request it. I reported a seller for collecting Iowa sales tax and keeping it instead of remitting it to Iowa. I did get a response from the Iowa tax fraud folks is what I was saying. If I wanted to report an eBay seller for collecting sales tax and keeping it I'm sure that the Iowa folks could contact eBay and ask if $313 was collected improperly on or about zz/xx/2021 for listing 0123456789 I'm sure eBay could tell them. I could ask the Iowa people if eBay sends a detailed list with the EFT, but I probably won't.
The complainant would be better off to ask for a refund from the state at this point.
I'm reasonably sure sellers don't collect sales tax on eBay, but rather eBay keeps it to remit to the various states.
I am quite sure that you are right and I 200% agree mitch you. Course the situation that I was referring to was not an eBay thing, but another site run by one individual. He rarely delivered the goods and AFAIK never issued a refund unless one did a chargeback with their CC company after which he threatened to sue. I am 100% reasonably certain that the guy never remitted the sales tax to any state for which he collected it. I reported him solely to add to his grief and aggravation. To answer my first comment one more time when I contacted my state revenue department they DID respond and it didn't take 8 years.
Well I waited the 72 hours and even waited 168 hours (7 days) just to give them time to correct the problem. Still no refund!
The call today was 3 different CSR's and about an hour on the phone.
First CSR took about 15 minutes to get all the information.
Then said "I can't take care of this let me transfer you to a supervisor"
The next CSR took about 10 minutes to get all the information again.
Then said "Please hold while I talk to a supervisor."
I said "I thought you were a supervisor, the last CSR said they were transferring to a supervisor."
She said "I am trying to help you if you will please just hold."
I said "Okay"
She comes back and says "I have submitted this to the tax department and you should have a refund within 7 days."
I say "Wait just a minute! This is the same thing I have been told for 3 months and 15 phone calls." It's clear you are not a supervisor because you had to go talk to one, I want to talk to that supervisor you just talked to."
She says "please hold."
The supervisor comes on the line and says "Just so I get everything right we need to start at the beginning.""Please give me all the item numbers & the amounts."
I said "You have all of that information in the many reports I have filed, have you looked?"
I said "The last time I called the CSR said I will have a refund with 72 hours and here is the report # for you to double check."
After about 30 minutes of telling the story again & several holds while he checked things.
He comes back and says "I will make sure this gets fixed for you. I have requested a priority call back on this matter. A soon as I hear anything I will call you, I hope to hear back soon but if I have not heard anything by Friday 8/6 I will call you then to let you know I am still working on it."
He said "I can see we have confirmed there is no tax on these items and and you should have been refunded.""Someone isn't doing their job and we need to find out who & why."
I said "This is exactly the same thing that happened 7 days ago and I was told 72 hours, now I am waiting another 5 days." "I have been told this more times than I can remember at this point, why is this going to be any different?"
He said "I hope to call you back within 24 hours but I don't want you to have any expectations of a call back that soon. If they have not answered my call I will call them again tomorrow and request another call. I told you Friday because I can't see how I would not have an answer by then and even if I do not have an answer I will still call you."
I did get a follow up on Friday 8/6 in my ebay messages. "I just wanted to reach out to advise I am still investigating your issue.
I hope to have an answer soon and will be in contact as soon as I do."
On Monday 8/9 I did get a refund for 1 of the 3 items I have been requesting a refund for.
It was the item that the lowest amount of tax was collected.
After 3 months I was able to recover $1.71
I don't understand how I can request 3 items be refunded at the same time and only get a refund for 1 item.
Maybe after another 3 months I can get a refund for 1 more.
I am still waiting for the follow up.... "I hope to have an answer soon and will be in contact as soon as I do."
Last night I sent a reply to the message I received from ebay letting them know I only got a refund for 1 item.
This morning I have a response from ebay. "Thank you for reaching out to eBay regarding your concern. I certainly understand your concern about this situation, and I realize the urgency of securing your eBay account."
Log in to your eBay account.
Click on “Help & Contact”.
In the search bar under “How can we help you today?” type “Get help with a hacked account”.
Click on “Get help with a hacked account”.
Hacked account?!?!? I have been trying for 3 months for a refund and there are many reports. If the CSR would have even read the message I responded to they would realize the inquiry was about a refund not a hacked account.
I'm sure in the hiring process ebay gives the potential CSR's a CT scan and if their brain is larger than a pea they don't hire them.
I called this morning and was told "I see the request for the other items and they have been refunded."
I tell them "I just checked my PayPal and I have not been refunded."
They said "You will have it by the end of the day and if you don't call us back tomorrow."
I just received a new message from ebay. "I just wanted to let you know the refund for the sales tax on the items discussed have been refunded to you.
These should appear to you within the next couple of working days if they haven't already."
It just went from "by the end of the day" to "within the next couple of working days."
On 8/12 they said "You will have it by the end of the day and if you don't call us back tomorrow."
And then sent another message the same day. "These should appear to you within the next couple of working days if they haven't already."
I called again today because I still don't have a refund after 5 days.
The phone call today was about 45 minutes and 2 CSR's.
The first CSR was worthless and said "It looks like we have processed the return already, have you checked your bank?"
I told them "Yes, I just checked it and the money is not there."
They said "We have requested it and it is approved so the only thing you can do is wait."
I told them "The last CSR said I would have a payment within 24 hours, that was 5 days ago, they said to call back and there would be notes in the file if I needed to call back again."
They said "There is nothing I can do, you will just have to wait."
I asked to speak to a supervisor.
The supervisor came on the line and said. "I have reviewed the notes in the file and see the troubles you are having." "I am very sorry you have not received better customer service with this issue, I would be happy to give you a $10 coupon for a future purchase for the troubles you have had.""I see where your refund was approved on 8/9 so you should see it anytime."
I said "That is what I was told 5 days ago and they said if you don't have it by tomorrow call us back." I appreciate the $10 coupon but because of this issue I have not bought anything off ebay for over 3 months and if the problem is not resolved I will not be using the coupon."
He said "That is up to you, I have issued you the coupon and you should see it at checkout if you decide to use it. At this point you will just have to wait for the refund because we have no way to request another refund when it is showing approved. If you don't see a refund by 8/24 you can call us back."
I said "That is another 7 days and I have been told another 7 days for the last 3 months by at least 15 different ebay CSR's."
He said "I'm sorry that is all I am able to do for you today, call us back on the 24th if you still have a problem."
Anyone wanna bet if I get a refund on or before 8/24 ? EBAY SUCKS !!!
@logger7 said:
... I complained to my state of CT senator and the state tax department replied that they could send a letter to ebay asking them to refund taxes not due.
what did you get hit on? (I'm in CT, too.)
I am in CT too and have noticed that many purchases of mine has been taxed extra than usual. Tried to reach out to eBay customer service thrice and the reply was the same, we will look into it.
Seriously planning to reach out to the attorney general's office.
@logger7 said:
... I complained to my state of CT senator and the state tax department replied that they could send a letter to ebay asking them to refund taxes not due.
what did you get hit on? (I'm in CT, too.)
I am in CT too and have noticed that many purchases of mine has been taxed extra than usual. Tried to reach out to eBay customer service thrice and the reply was the same, we will look into it.
Seriously planning to reach out to the attorney general's office.
I did that in Michigan, it didn't do any good.
Keep contacting ebay with the law/evidence and eventually they will act on it.
Refunded 8/24/2021
Just checked PayPal and it looks like sometime yesterday I got the refund from ebay.
It took about 117 days or about 4 months to get the money back. Unacceptable & poor customer service
I started this thread back in December of 2020 and was reporting the problem to ebay at the time.
Ebay has known about this problem for over 7 months
There is no reason for it to take that long to correct the problem, they had it working correctly at one point.
After the amount of time and the number of reports to them, failure to correct the problem is criminal.
I just double checked on ebay and they are still collecting tax for my state so I will not be making any more purchases.
If I do make another purchase to further document the ongoing crime or if I hear from any State or Federal agencies I will update the thread.
Thanks for all the replies & sorry for a 7 month rant.
I noticed a coin I had been looking for on ebay. I wanted the coin and I wanted to see if the problem still has not been corrected. I used another account to see if it was a problem tied to just the one account or if the other account would be charged sales tax also. I purchased the coin on Aug. 28th and sales tax was collected. I waited for the coin to show up before requesting a refund for the sales tax, I called ebay for the refund on Sept. 7th. After an hour and a half on the phone with 2 different CSR's I could tell it was going to take another 3 months to get a refund. I waited until today to see if ebay refunded me that is 11 working days, they have said 10 days for refunds. This time I did not pay with PayPal, I paid with a credit card. I called my credit card today and disputed the transaction, they agreed to remove the tax. They also said they would be sending a letter to ebay about fraudulently collecting sales tax. This was soo much easier than dealing with ebay!
I thought about disputing the entire amount and let ebay wait 3 months and 20 phone calls before I paid them.
If you are buying from a state that doesn't charge sales tax on coins or paper money you will make getting your money back much easier if you pay with your credit card.
I noticed a coin I had been looking for on ebay. I wanted the coin and I wanted to see if the problem still has not been corrected. I used another account to see if it was a problem tied to just the one account or if the other account would be charged sales tax also. I purchased the coin on Aug. 28th and sales tax was collected. I waited for the coin to show up before requesting a refund for the sales tax, I called ebay for the refund on Sept. 7th. After an hour and a half on the phone with 2 different CSR's I could tell it was going to take another 3 months to get a refund. I waited until today to see if ebay refunded me that is 11 working days, they have said 10 days for refunds. This time I did not pay with PayPal, I paid with a credit card. I called my credit card today and disputed the transaction, they agreed to remove the tax. They also said they would be sending a letter to ebay about fraudulently collecting sales tax. This was soo much easier than dealing with ebay!
I thought about disputing the entire amount and let ebay wait 3 months and 20 phone calls before I paid them.
If you are buying from a state that doesn't charge sales tax on coins or paper money you will make getting your money back much easier if you pay with your credit card.
@amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
@ifthevamzarockin said: @amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
@ifthevamzarockin said: @amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
Most buyers know what they want to spend on a coin and will adjust their bid downward when they factor in the cost of shipping and the sales tax.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
@ifthevamzarockin said: @amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
Most buyers know what they want to spend on a coin and will adjust their bid downward when they factor in the cost of shipping and the sales tax.
So you think the sellers are refunded the transaction fees they have to pay on the illegally collected sales tax? I don't. It may not be much but it's all in the principal and the frog in a pot being slowly brought to a boil. They say Pennies make millionaires!
@ifthevamzarockin said: @amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
@amwldcoin said:
So you think the sellers are refunded the transaction fees they have to pay on the illegally collected sales tax? I don't. It may not be much but it's all in the principal and the frog in a pot being slowly brought to a boil. They say Pennies make millionaires!
@ifthevamzarockin said: @amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
Ebay refunds fees on transaction reversals. It's happened to me.
Even if they didn't, it's 10% of 10% which is only 1%.
@amwldcoin said:
So you think the sellers are refunded the transaction fees they have to pay on the illegally collected sales tax? I don't. It may not be much but it's all in the principal and the frog in a pot being slowly brought to a boil. They say Pennies make millionaires!
@ifthevamzarockin said: @amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
Ebay refunds fees on transaction reversals. It's happened to me.
Even if they didn't, it's 10% of 10% which is only 1%.
@amwldcoin said:
So you think the sellers are refunded the transaction fees they have to pay on the illegally collected sales tax? I don't. It may not be much but it's all in the principal and the frog in a pot being slowly brought to a boil. They say Pennies make millionaires!
@ifthevamzarockin said: @amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
Ebay refunds fees on transaction reversals. It's happened to me.
Even if they didn't, it's 10% of 10% which is only 1%.
Yes, but I did catch your saying 5 to 10% of the sale which is clearly inaccurate.
@amwldcoin said:
So you think the sellers are refunded the transaction fees they have to pay on the illegally collected sales tax? I don't. It may not be much but it's all in the principal and the frog in a pot being slowly brought to a boil. They say Pennies make millionaires!
@ifthevamzarockin said: @amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
Ebay refunds fees on transaction reversals. It's happened to me.
Even if they didn't, it's 10% of 10% which is only 1%.
Never heard that, but if you have a handful of high grade chain cents, yes!
The state I live in has no state tax on coin/bullion purchases over $1000. eBay adheres to this state law. I make sure my purchase is equal to or greater than $1000 when I buy on eBay. The purchase can be of a single item or an aggregate of coin/bullion items in my cart.
@amwldcoin said:
So you think the sellers are refunded the transaction fees they have to pay on the illegally collected sales tax? I don't. It may not be much but it's all in the principal and the frog in a pot being slowly brought to a boil. They say Pennies make millionaires!
@ifthevamzarockin said: @amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
Ebay refunds fees on transaction reversals. It's happened to me.
Even if they didn't, it's 10% of 10% which is only 1%.
Yes, but I did catch your saying 5 to 10% of the sale which is clearly inaccurate.
@amwldcoin said:
So you think the sellers are refunded the transaction fees they have to pay on the illegally collected sales tax? I don't. It may not be much but it's all in the principal and the frog in a pot being slowly brought to a boil. They say Pennies make millionaires!
@ifthevamzarockin said: @amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
Ebay refunds fees on transaction reversals. It's happened to me.
Even if they didn't, it's 10% of 10% which is only 1%.
Yes, but I did catch your saying 5 to 10% of the sale which is clearly inaccurate.
True. My apologies. I hadn't realized you had stepped into the middle of my correction of a different poster.
@amwldcoin said:
So you think the sellers are refunded the transaction fees they have to pay on the illegally collected sales tax? I don't. It may not be much but it's all in the principal and the frog in a pot being slowly brought to a boil. They say Pennies make millionaires!
@ifthevamzarockin said: @amwldcoin"The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
Ebay refunds fees on transaction reversals. It's happened to me.
Even if they didn't, it's 10% of 10% which is only 1%.
Yes, but I did catch your saying 5 to 10% of the sale which is clearly inaccurate.
True. My apologies. I hadn't realized you had stepped into the middle of my correction of a different poster.
Buyers have AVOIDED sales tax for years. I am not surprised the complexity of maintaining 50 states' worth of tax rules has resulted in some issues. In the end, I believe they do a pretty good job of it, and thankfully have taken the burden of being unpaid tax collectors and not me!
MLAeBayNumismatics: "The greatest hobby in the world!"
@AMRC said:
Buyers have AVOIDED sales tax for years. I am not surprised the complexity of maintaining 50 states' worth of tax rules has resulted in some issues. In the end, I believe they do a pretty good job of it, and thankfully have taken the burden of being unpaid tax collectors and not me!
I think this is generally true. It is surprising, however, that it took them so long to fix problems with a couple of states.
Now, if someone would just crack down on the tax cheats at coin shows.
@ifthevamzarockin said:
Anyone else having problems with ebay charging sales tax in states that do not tax coin sales?
Most states have sales tax to help generate revenue for its operations - but five states currently have no sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.
“When you don't know what you're talking about, it's hard to know when you're finished.” - Tommy Smothers
Well, let's add a worse insult to injury. I recently sold a $125 shell to a buyer in Belgium. Ebay collected the VAT Tax and then it was held up in customs demanding he pay the VAT tax again. I'm not sure what he did but it may be coming back to me. Quite frankly I wouldn't blame him either as the tax is absolutely rediculous.....as a side note if this country continues in the direction it is headed we will be seeing a tax like this soon.
@amwldcoin said:
Well, let's add a worse insult to injury. I recently sold a $125 shell to a buyer in Belgium. Ebay collected the VAT Tax and then it was held up in customs demanding he pay the VAT tax again. I'm not sure what he did but it may be coming back to me. Quite frankly I wouldn't blame him either as the tax is absolutely rediculous.....as a side note if this country continues in the direction it is headed we will be seeing a tax like this soon.
How did you ship it?
If you ship using eBay shipping, it puts the reference to the duty on the shipping label. [At least for the UK.]
@rooksmith said:
Sales tax Stink. Buy from Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon coin dealers ??
No, you have to live in a state that doesn't tax coin purchases.
I'm rather surprised that everyone hasn't figured this out yet.
Not only that, the argument is completely backwards. I live in a state that doesn't tax coin purchases but if you don't and you buy something from me, you'll be taxed.
Ebay international standard shipping. To be honest I don't think it matters. Ebay is collecting the VAT Tax now so I guess it's on the buyer to prove they were paid. I suppose the buyer could print a copy of the sales record as proof the taxes were paid.
@amwldcoin said:
Well, let's add a worse insult to injury. I recently sold a $125 shell to a buyer in Belgium. Ebay collected the VAT Tax and then it was held up in customs demanding he pay the VAT tax again. I'm not sure what he did but it may be coming back to me. Quite frankly I wouldn't blame him either as the tax is absolutely rediculous.....as a side note if this country continues in the direction it is headed we will be seeing a tax like this soon.
How did you ship it?
If you ship using eBay shipping, it puts the reference to the duty on the shipping label. [At least for the UK.]
@jmlanzaf said:
I had an international customer buy a $700 stamp and then requesting that I label it a "gift" fur customs. I'm still expecting him to refuse delivery.
When I used to do international sales, I got the request regularly. Almost always from someone in Canada or Great Britain.
i made 5 calls to e bay about getting my tax money back in a 3 month time frame. i talked to 5 different people also and all 5 claim it's the first time they heard of such a problem. i find that really hard to believe
@coinpalice said:
i made 5 calls to e bay about getting my tax money back in a 3 month time frame. i talked to 5 different people also and all 5 claim it's the first time they heard of such a problem. i find that really hard to believe
Well, call centers could have high turnover. It's not exactly a plum job.
@coinpalice said:
i made 5 calls to e bay about getting my tax money back in a 3 month time frame. i talked to 5 different people also and all 5 claim it's the first time they heard of such a problem. i find that really hard to believe
Well, call centers could have high turnover. It's not exactly a plum job.
Comments
We can let him chime in, but a reply does not mean that the state replied with the requested details (which BAIJERFAN didn't indicate he even requested any specifics).
I didn't say that I got it because I didn't request it. I reported a seller for collecting Iowa sales tax and keeping it instead of remitting it to Iowa. I did get a response from the Iowa tax fraud folks is what I was saying. If I wanted to report an eBay seller for collecting sales tax and keeping it I'm sure that the Iowa folks could contact eBay and ask if $313 was collected improperly on or about zz/xx/2021 for listing 0123456789 I'm sure eBay could tell them. I could ask the Iowa people if eBay sends a detailed list with the EFT, but I probably won't.
The complainant would be better off to ask for a refund from the state at this point.
You could work through your state representative or state senator as I did and they forwarded the response from DRS to me, that it was ebay's job to refund it and they could write a letter in your behalf to ebay (from the DRS/tax dept). Also they told me that due to covid they had a huge pile of correspondence in the office they had not been able to respond to.\
Also I have found the Department of Consumer Protection highly effective in getting results on rip offs. You can contact them and they will send you the fillable form (online) in 15 minutes and then email it back to them. Your and the businesses information and description should be enough. I filed a complaint about a cell phone company and cable company and got a response within about 24 hours from corporate!
I'm reasonably sure sellers don't collect sales tax on eBay, but rather eBay keeps it to remit to the various states.
Wow! Ebay called me back today like they said they would.
I would have lost that bet
They said "I followed up on this for you and you were correct, certain items sold are exempt from tax, for example coins money gold and bullion."
I had to go over everything again with item numbers & amounts.
They should have had this from the 12 prior calls/request but okay I can give it to them again.
Then the CSR said
"I have filed a new request with the info that we have verified there is no tax in your state you should have a refund within 72 hours"
I will give them until Friday to see if a refund is issued.
I have heard this before
wow
progress
and someone actually cares about an individual customer
The one time I had to do this in my State that's been coin tax free for around 25 years I had the refund within the hour after speaking with CS. They say longer but usually it's pretty quick.
I am quite sure that you are right and I 200% agree mitch you. Course the situation that I was referring to was not an eBay thing, but another site run by one individual. He rarely delivered the goods and AFAIK never issued a refund unless one did a chargeback with their CC company after which he threatened to sue. I am 100% reasonably certain that the guy never remitted the sales tax to any state for which he collected it. I reported him solely to add to his grief and aggravation. To answer my first comment one more time when I contacted my state revenue department they DID respond and it didn't take 8 years.
Well I waited the 72 hours and even waited 168 hours (7 days) just to give them time to correct the problem.
Still no refund!
The call today was 3 different CSR's and about an hour on the phone.
First CSR took about 15 minutes to get all the information.
Then said "I can't take care of this let me transfer you to a supervisor"
The next CSR took about 10 minutes to get all the information again.
Then said "Please hold while I talk to a supervisor."
I said "I thought you were a supervisor, the last CSR said they were transferring to a supervisor."
She said "I am trying to help you if you will please just hold."
I said "Okay"
She comes back and says "I have submitted this to the tax department and you should have a refund within 7 days."
I say "Wait just a minute! This is the same thing I have been told for 3 months and 15 phone calls." It's clear you are not a supervisor because you had to go talk to one, I want to talk to that supervisor you just talked to."
She says "please hold."
The supervisor comes on the line and says "Just so I get everything right we need to start at the beginning." "Please give me all the item numbers & the amounts."
I said "You have all of that information in the many reports I have filed, have you looked?"
I said "The last time I called the CSR said I will have a refund with 72 hours and here is the report # for you to double check."
After about 30 minutes of telling the story again & several holds while he checked things.
He comes back and says "I will make sure this gets fixed for you. I have requested a priority call back on this matter. A soon as I hear anything I will call you, I hope to hear back soon but if I have not heard anything by Friday 8/6 I will call you then to let you know I am still working on it."
He said "I can see we have confirmed there is no tax on these items and and you should have been refunded." "Someone isn't doing their job and we need to find out who & why."
I said "This is exactly the same thing that happened 7 days ago and I was told 72 hours, now I am waiting another 5 days."
"I have been told this more times than I can remember at this point, why is this going to be any different?"
He said "I hope to call you back within 24 hours but I don't want you to have any expectations of a call back that soon. If they have not answered my call I will call them again tomorrow and request another call. I told you Friday because I can't see how I would not have an answer by then and even if I do not have an answer I will still call you."
Waiting again and will post any updates.
Man
Hope shot down in flames
I did get a follow up on Friday 8/6 in my ebay messages.
"I just wanted to reach out to advise I am still investigating your issue.
I hope to have an answer soon and will be in contact as soon as I do."
On Monday 8/9 I did get a refund for 1 of the 3 items I have been requesting a refund for.
It was the item that the lowest amount of tax was collected.
After 3 months I was able to recover $1.71
I don't understand how I can request 3 items be refunded at the same time and only get a refund for 1 item.
Maybe after another 3 months I can get a refund for 1 more.
I am still waiting for the follow up.... "I hope to have an answer soon and will be in contact as soon as I do."
Last night I sent a reply to the message I received from ebay letting them know I only got a refund for 1 item.
This morning I have a response from ebay.
"Thank you for reaching out to eBay regarding your concern. I certainly understand your concern about this situation, and I realize the urgency of securing your eBay account."
Log in to your eBay account.
Click on “Help & Contact”.
In the search bar under “How can we help you today?” type “Get help with a hacked account”.
Click on “Get help with a hacked account”.
Hacked account?!?!? I have been trying for 3 months for a refund and there are many reports. If the CSR would have even read the message I responded to they would realize the inquiry was about a refund not a hacked account.
I'm sure in the hiring process ebay gives the potential CSR's a CT scan and if their brain is larger than a pea they don't hire them.
I called this morning and was told "I see the request for the other items and they have been refunded."
I tell them "I just checked my PayPal and I have not been refunded."
They said "You will have it by the end of the day and if you don't call us back tomorrow."
I guess I will be calling back tomorrow.
I just received a new message from ebay.
"I just wanted to let you know the refund for the sales tax on the items discussed have been refunded to you.
These should appear to you within the next couple of working days if they haven't already."
It just went from "by the end of the day" to "within the next couple of working days."
I am caught in a circle of stupid!
On 8/12 they said
"You will have it by the end of the day and if you don't call us back tomorrow."
And then sent another message the same day.
"These should appear to you within the next couple of working days if they haven't already."
I called again today because I still don't have a refund after 5 days.
The phone call today was about 45 minutes and 2 CSR's.
The first CSR was worthless and said "It looks like we have processed the return already, have you checked your bank?"
I told them "Yes, I just checked it and the money is not there."
They said "We have requested it and it is approved so the only thing you can do is wait."
I told them "The last CSR said I would have a payment within 24 hours, that was 5 days ago, they said to call back and there would be notes in the file if I needed to call back again."
They said "There is nothing I can do, you will just have to wait."
I asked to speak to a supervisor.
The supervisor came on the line and said. "I have reviewed the notes in the file and see the troubles you are having."
"I am very sorry you have not received better customer service with this issue, I would be happy to give you a $10 coupon for a future purchase for the troubles you have had." "I see where your refund was approved on 8/9 so you should see it anytime."
I said "That is what I was told 5 days ago and they said if you don't have it by tomorrow call us back." I appreciate the $10 coupon but because of this issue I have not bought anything off ebay for over 3 months and if the problem is not resolved I will not be using the coupon."
He said "That is up to you, I have issued you the coupon and you should see it at checkout if you decide to use it. At this point you will just have to wait for the refund because we have no way to request another refund when it is showing approved. If you don't see a refund by 8/24 you can call us back."
I said "That is another 7 days and I have been told another 7 days for the last 3 months by at least 15 different ebay CSR's."
He said "I'm sorry that is all I am able to do for you today, call us back on the 24th if you still have a problem."
Anyone wanna bet if I get a refund on or before 8/24 ?
EBAY SUCKS !!!
I did that in Michigan, it didn't do any good.
Keep contacting ebay with the law/evidence and eventually they will act on it.
Refunded 8/24/2021
Just checked PayPal and it looks like sometime yesterday I got the refund from ebay.
It took about 117 days or about 4 months to get the money back. Unacceptable & poor customer service
I started this thread back in December of 2020 and was reporting the problem to ebay at the time.
Ebay has known about this problem for over 7 months
There is no reason for it to take that long to correct the problem, they had it working correctly at one point.
After the amount of time and the number of reports to them, failure to correct the problem is criminal.
I just double checked on ebay and they are still collecting tax for my state so I will not be making any more purchases.
If I do make another purchase to further document the ongoing crime or if I hear from any State or Federal agencies I will update the thread.
Thanks for all the replies & sorry for a 7 month rant.
A little update.
I noticed a coin I had been looking for on ebay. I wanted the coin and I wanted to see if the problem still has not been corrected. I used another account to see if it was a problem tied to just the one account or if the other account would be charged sales tax also. I purchased the coin on Aug. 28th and sales tax was collected. I waited for the coin to show up before requesting a refund for the sales tax, I called ebay for the refund on Sept. 7th. After an hour and a half on the phone with 2 different CSR's I could tell it was going to take another 3 months to get a refund. I waited until today to see if ebay refunded me that is 11 working days, they have said 10 days for refunds. This time I did not pay with PayPal, I paid with a credit card. I called my credit card today and disputed the transaction, they agreed to remove the tax. They also said they would be sending a letter to ebay about fraudulently collecting sales tax. This was soo much easier than dealing with ebay!
I thought about disputing the entire amount and let ebay wait 3 months and 20 phone calls before I paid them.
If you are buying from a state that doesn't charge sales tax on coins or paper money you will make getting your money back much easier if you pay with your credit card.
The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem.
@amwldcoin "The seller is still screwed but maybe it will cost ebay so they will remedy the problem."
It's clear ebay doesn't care if buyers complain maybe when sellers start to complain they will do something.
A seller losing an additional 5-10% on a sale will really hurt especially on a larger purchase.
Thanks for mentioning it, I will contact the seller and tell them to watch for a problem.
Why is the seller losing 5 to 10%? The seller doesn't see the sales tax money.
What the seller is likely to lose is 100% of the transaction until eBay works it out with the CC.
Most buyers know what they want to spend on a coin and will adjust their bid downward when they factor in the cost of shipping and the sales tax.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
But that's not what happened here. Scroll up.
So you think the sellers are refunded the transaction fees they have to pay on the illegally collected sales tax? I don't. It may not be much but it's all in the principal and the frog in a pot being slowly brought to a boil. They say Pennies make millionaires!
Ebay refunds fees on transaction reversals. It's happened to me.
Even if they didn't, it's 10% of 10% which is only 1%.
Did you miss the pennies make millionaires part of my statement?
Yes, but I did catch your saying 5 to 10% of the sale which is clearly inaccurate.
Never heard that, but if you have a handful of high grade chain cents, yes!
The state I live in has no state tax on coin/bullion purchases over $1000. eBay adheres to this state law. I make sure my purchase is equal to or greater than $1000 when I buy on eBay. The purchase can be of a single item or an aggregate of coin/bullion items in my cart.
Ummmm, that wasn't me that said that!
True. My apologies. I hadn't realized you had stepped into the middle of my correction of a different poster.
That would be hard not to do!
Buyers have AVOIDED sales tax for years. I am not surprised the complexity of maintaining 50 states' worth of tax rules has resulted in some issues. In the end, I believe they do a pretty good job of it, and thankfully have taken the burden of being unpaid tax collectors and not me!
I think this is generally true. It is surprising, however, that it took them so long to fix problems with a couple of states.
Now, if someone would just crack down on the tax cheats at coin shows.
There's more than 50 sets of tax rules- found this on the intertubes...
"As of July 17, 2019, there were 11,113 total sales tax jurisdictions across the country according to Vertex, Inc."
Most states have sales tax to help generate revenue for its operations - but five states currently have no sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.
Yes. Most states do it County by county. Don't cities have surcharges. It's a mess
Sales tax Stink. Buy from Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon coin dealers ??
Uggh - it gets more complicated than that:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Sales-Tax-on-eBay-Can-it-be-Avoided-Particularly-by-Sellers-Who/td-p/30334016
No, you have to live in a state that doesn't tax coin purchases.
Well, let's add a worse insult to injury. I recently sold a $125 shell to a buyer in Belgium. Ebay collected the VAT Tax and then it was held up in customs demanding he pay the VAT tax again. I'm not sure what he did but it may be coming back to me. Quite frankly I wouldn't blame him either as the tax is absolutely rediculous.....as a side note if this country continues in the direction it is headed we will be seeing a tax like this soon.
How did you ship it?
If you ship using eBay shipping, it puts the reference to the duty on the shipping label. [At least for the UK.]
I'm rather surprised that everyone hasn't figured this out yet.
Not only that, the argument is completely backwards. I live in a state that doesn't tax coin purchases but if you don't and you buy something from me, you'll be taxed.
Ebay international standard shipping. To be honest I don't think it matters. Ebay is collecting the VAT Tax now so I guess it's on the buyer to prove they were paid. I suppose the buyer could print a copy of the sales record as proof the taxes were paid.
I guess people will gripe about this until eBay hades freezes over lol. Just add the tax to acquisition cost of item.
I assume most people do.
However, other people do pressure sellers.
I had a customer reject my offer unless I dropped the price a further 10% to cover their days tax.
I had an international customer buy a $700 stamp and then requesting that I label it a "gift" fur customs. I'm still expecting him to refuse delivery.
When I used to do international sales, I got the request regularly. Almost always from someone in Canada or Great Britain.
i made 5 calls to e bay about getting my tax money back in a 3 month time frame. i talked to 5 different people also and all 5 claim it's the first time they heard of such a problem. i find that really hard to believe
Well, call centers could have high turnover. It's not exactly a plum job.
Well, call centers could have high turnover. It's not exactly a plum job.