Question About Paying Tax on Auction...

scarlette1969

scarlette1969

O.G.
Nov 29, 2006
728
31
#1
I recently won an auction for some jeans. The seller lives in Ontario, Canada. In the invoice she sent me, the seller added a few dollars for California tax (which is where I live). In the auction, there is no mention of any tax to be collected. Also, this seller is in Canada. Is there any reason she should be collecting California tax? I paid it (small amount) and questioned the seller but she sidestepped the issue. In the big grand scheme of things, this is definitely not a big deal, but I'm wondering if this is a sneaky way to get more money for the seller.
 
#2
That's really odd, since she wouldn't remit for the California State or US Federal tax...(nor would she be obligated as a non-US citizen to remit US tax)? If she were selling in Canada and you were buying in Canada, and she were a business, she would have to remit taxes, but I've never heard of that cross-border. Perhaps it was an honest mistake, since some auctions do specify that you have to pay your State tax if both the seller and buyer are in the same State.

Are you sure she's in Ontario, Canada and not Ontario, California?
 
#5
She is definitely from Canada. I got the tracking info for Canadian post. In the auction, it says Toronto, ON, Canada. I think she's just trying to make a few more bucks since the jeans I got are at a fairly cheap price. The fact she ignored my question about the taxation and just emailed me the tracking info confirms that it's probably not a mistake, just greed.
 
#8
She specified it was CA state tax, calculated at 8%. Since I already paid, I'm wondering how to leave feedback to reflect this little deed. She charged $13 to ship and an additional $3 or so for tax. Now I see in her auctions that she decreased the shipping fee to $6-7 and raised the starting bid by $20. Still NO mention in any of her auctions about charging tax.
 
#9
I doubt she'll be passing that cash onto the U.S. Internal Revenue Service... I would report this seller to the IRS. Whether it's $1 or $100,000--charging a fake tax is BS.
 
Last edited:
#15
kittypurse said:
Yea she/he cannot collect California tax from you.
Also a online seller can collect tax from you if you live in the same state they do business in
Click to expand...

Yes, unless it is a business that has a counterpart in your state (i.e. Fujitsu's auctions that require MI tax from me despite that their business is in TN and CA).

However, as an international seller she should NOT be collecting tax.

QUESTION- if a seller charges tax does Paypal hold the tax and forward it or does it go to the seller.

OP- I would call Paypal on this one and report this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back