Ebay US taxes Non US Seller March 29th

[rekinpur]

Hello everybody.

A week ago ago a buyer won an item from me, the I sent him an invoice but the weird thing is I saw taxes on this invoice and I was unable to edit the invoice, I know I am using a US paypal account but I am not in the US and my products are not being located there, it is the first time I saw that. I remember I saw something like the ebay is collecting taxes when checking this invoice. Anyways the buyer didn't pay me, so I cancelled the transaction. I can also realize after that I have almost no US sales, maybe because of the taxes but I'm not sure about this, on the other hand when selling to other non US countries and sending invoices to the buyers there is no tax mention on the invoice, therefore it looks like they are treating me like an american but I remember in my ebay shipping address I never input WA as my state address, so I have no idea why there are even charging me with american taxes, anybody with an idea why it is happening.

Thanks.

[agent006140]

is your ebay account a US account?

[agent006140]

could it be you are selling on EBAY-USA to an US buyer,Ebay is collecting sales tax for his state

[rekinpur]

Hi.

I don't have a US ebay account, I just used sometimes the US address to buy stuff on ebay. On the otherhand I am also seeing when selling to Australia on the ebay shipping address something new to me, it s the ABN#, what is that? I don't see that on the paypal buyer's address, it looks a lot of changes are happening here. This australian guy is just a buyer, he doesn't sell anything on ebay.

Thank you.

[agent006140]

Australian goverment is now charging customs duty on any purchase under $5xx and venues like eTSY and EBAY will collect and remit to the goverment everytime an Australian makes purchase overseas.
It has been in place for months now,also more and more US states are asking venues to collect sales tax,like PA,VA,etc.
My guess is that altho you are in Mexico and you will be shipping your item from Mexico ,you are selling on US venue to US buyer,so Ebay is obliged to collect sales tax for the buyer's state.
Imagine you come to USA from Mexico and set up a booth in a fair selling to US buyers from all over the country,you should be collecting sales tax for their purchase,even tho y our goods will be shipped from Mexco,it makes no difference where your merchandise is,it could be from Timbutu.
It is where you are selling and whom you are selling to.

[agent006140]

Australia used to be rather lenient when it comes to import customs duty and when the Aussie dollar is strong,we get many Aussie buyers on Ebay ,they pay NO import duty.
Now it has all changed,any purchase under $5xx,there is stiff customs duty the buyers have to pay,I lost all my Aussie buyers!
One by one ,states are collecting sales tax for online purchase,those sellers who use AMZN FBA to manage their inventory,pack and ship,the states are now asking AMZN to collect sales tax from these sellers on bubble wrap,labor cost to pack and ship,
My speculation is that like my state which has been hit hard with flooding and vowed to upgrade their infrasturcture ,instead of burdening the homeowners on their already high property tax,is looking to collect more from sales tax.
My state is looking to increase sales tax by 1/4%,so I would be collecting 8.5% instead of 8.25% sales tax from my fellow state residents.
Many southern states are hit hard with flooding !

[agent006140]

here is what is an ABN# FROM Australia
With an ABN you can:

confirm your business identity to others when ordering and invoicing
avoid Pay as You Go (PAYG) tax on payments you receive
claim Goods and Services Tax (GST) credits
claim energy grants credits
obtain an Australian domain name.
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your buyer could be a business which is reselling your products