The Catch-All Thread for Off-Topic Tangents in Threads

[Sonnar Brian]

This is the thread for off-topic tangents in Threads.

 

[das]

Oh man. Had my eye on a rare-ish Konica lens and a Konica point & shoot from Japan that I've wanted forever. Unfortunately, the double whammy of both state sales tax and the tariffs are just making ordinarily "ok" deals now "too expensive." I'm not even sure how a state can constitutionally force eBay to collect its sale taxes on the value of an international transaction where eBay or Etsy is not warehousing or accepting delivery. And, no, a state use tax that normally applies to out of state goods cannot apply to goods from abroad. 🙂.

 

[splitimageview]

Oh man. Had my eye on a rare-ish Konica lens and a Konica point & shoot from Japan that I've wanted forever. Unfortunately, the double whammy of both state sales tax and the tariffs are just making ordinarily "ok" deals now "too expensive." I'm not even sure how a state can constitutionally force eBay to collect its sale taxes on the value of an international transaction where eBay or Etsy is not warehousing or accepting delivery. And, no, a state use tax that normally applies to out of state goods cannot apply to goods from abroad. 🙂.

If the seller has nexus in your state (meaning they have a physical presence or enough sales activity to trigger tax obligations), the seller is legally required to collect your state’s sales tax at checkout.

If the seller does not have nexus in your state, they may or may not charge you sales tax. Some sellers will collect sales tax for out of state sales. KEH used to not collect tax when I bought from them (they are in GA and I'm in TX. But now they do. Do they have a location or nexus here? No.)

In the case of the seller not collecting sales tax, the buyer is responsible for paying what’s called "use tax" to the home state, usually at the same rate as sales tax. Use tax is a “backup tax” designed to level the playing field so that buying from an out-of-state seller doesn’t mean you escape tax entirely.

This also applies to international purchases...use tax goes to the state.

Do individuals actually pay this use tax to their state? Almost certainly not, but that's the way things are structured.

This is of course separate from duties.

 

[das]

If the seller has nexus in your state (meaning they have a physical presence or enough sales activity to trigger tax obligations), the seller is legally required to collect your state’s sales tax at checkout.

If the seller does not have nexus in your state, they may or may not charge you sales tax. Some sellers will collect sales tax for out of state sales. KEH used to not collect tax when I bought from them (they are in GA and I'm in TX. But now they do. Do they have a location or nexus here? No.)

In the case of the seller not collecting sales tax, the buyer is responsible for paying what’s called "use tax" to the home state, usually at the same rate as sales tax. Use tax is a “backup tax” designed to level the playing field so that buying from an out-of-state seller doesn’t mean you escape tax entirely.

This also applies to international purchases...use tax goes to the state.

Do individuals actually pay this use tax to their state? Almost certainly not, but that's the way things are structured.

This is of course separate from duties.

But state "use taxes" cannot apply to intentional transactions - only to purchases from other states. States cannot tax the value of goods purchased from and delivered directly by a foreign seller because the Constitution provides that power only to the federal government. For instance, importers don't pay state sales taxes on top of federal custom duties when they take direct delivery from abroad. By forcing sites like eBay to treat an intentional transaction like an in-state or out-of-state purchase, the states are likely violating the Constitution, at least arguably. That is in addition to the likely illegality of many of the Trump tariffs as they are neither authorized by the Constitution nor by that statute he is attempting to invoke.

 

[splitimageview]

But state "use taxes" cannot apply to intentional transactions - only to purchases from other states. States cannot tax the value of goods purchased from and delivered directly by a foreign seller because the Constitution provides that power only to the federal government. For instance, importers don't pay state sales taxes on top of federal custom duties when they take direct delivery from abroad. By forcing sites like eBay to treat an intentional transaction like an in-state or out-of-state purchase, the states are likely violating the Constitution, at least arguably.

No states are ‘forcing’ ebay with regards to international transactions; use taxes are self-assessed.

You should do your own research to confirm, but most states, if not all, treat international purchases exactly the same way as out of state purchases with regards to use tax.