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Do Canadian sellers required to collect US sales tax?
 

Hey all,

CONCERN #1 I figured out that as of November 2019, eBay is automatically collecting sales taxes on all purchases by US buyers.

QUESTION 1: This leads me thinking, how do Canadian sellers specify on PayPal shipping labels that eBay already collected the taxes from US buyer, so they US border agent do NOT apply the tax once again during brokerage/duty inspection?

QUESTION 2 Do Canadian sellers that sell to US via private eCommerce stores like Shopify or Magento also required to collect taxes from US buyers?
From what I remember in past, Canadian sellers that do not have a physical business in US, but rather simply ship their product across the border, were not required to collect taxes from US customers. They just specify the values of goods on a declaration and US border agents do the rest of the job.

Re: Do Canadian sellers required to collect US sales tax?
 

Re: Do Canadian sellers required to collect US sales tax?
 

if you sell on a US website,your US customer will pay US state tax.

Re: Do Canadian sellers required to collect US sales tax?
 

I am not aware I am competing with any one,you have a family and run a business,you should focus more on your business ,just a humble advice !!

Re: Do Canadian sellers required to collect US sales tax?
 

I am a direct importer from France,Germany,Japan,Turkey,HK,UK,Italy,Ireland.
I dont do much importing now,unless they have changed,antiques and handcrafted artwork ,there is no import duty.
I think the amount of merchandise imported has to be more than $800,I have a case of French shipment $3K,I have to argue with the US customs due to the conversion rate from Euro to US $.
We can find out from the US customs website/

Re: Do Canadian sellers required to collect US sales tax?
 

This is based on a MEXICAN seller selling on US website,he questions why he has to collect sales tax?
Never meant to be an authority and meant to compete with anyone,keep this in mind and how is your family,still shopping at WMT and still cling to the idea all supermarkets buy from the same wholesaler??
Next time when I run into the president of WMT USA,I will ask him and since you always ask for proof,I will ask him to sign a letter ,just for you

Re: Do Canadian sellers required to collect US sales tax?
 

As for the third party sellers with their own websites,if they elect not to collect sales tax,the states have ways to go after them,it is called sales tax audit.
In a sales tax audit,you are guilty until you prove innocent,every order is an instate order until you prove otherwise,which is oxymoron for ecommerce,some states are coming around to adjust their audit procedures,some have not.
It is always a good idea to download Paypal history every year ,it has records of every order with name of the buyer,his address(state and country) ,order amount,sales tax collected.
exception is digital sales,Paypal history would not show their address since there is no physical delivery when the purchase is made
My state,audit goes back to 4 years.

Re: Do Canadian sellers required to collect US sales tax?
 

I am more concerned about whether Canadian sellers have to Collect tax from US buyers when selling via their own e-commerce platform (i.e. Shopify). I can't just start collecting US taxes without being registered with IRS.

Re: Do Canadian sellers required to collect US sales tax?
 

sales tax is remitted to the state,not the Federal govt via IRS.
But to answer your question,if you have your own website and someone from US buys from you,you dont have to collect sales tax for the state where your buyer resides,it is like the buyer comes to Canada and buy from a Canadian store.
But if you are selling on Ebay,I beleive Ebay being US based ,will collect sales tax for you and remit to the buyer state ,you dont have to do anything.
the rationale is Ebay USA is a US sales venue.
I am not familiar with Shopify,why dont you ask them>