Another Chapter In My Ongoing Odyssey With Ebay On Improper Charging Of Sales Tax

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 2,747
hokiefan_82 Pillar of the Community United States 3634 Posts	Posted 02/10/2022 10:37 pm I've posted here before about my struggle with ebay continuing to charge Arkansas sales tax on numismatic items, even though they became exempt last fall. As I related in my last topic, ebay is no longer charging sales tax on U.S. coins and currency for buyers in Arkansas, so I had partial success. However, I was recently going to purchase a Confederate note, and noticed sales tax was applied. I cancelled the order and contacted ebay again. The reason given was that Confederate currency was considered a collectible and not a medium of exchange (i.e. legal tender). I realize many states do specify that the exemption only applies towards legal tender and/or U.S. coins and currency, but the new Arkansas exemption is quite broad. In part, it's specified that ""Coin or currency" means a coin or currency that was or is used solely as a medium of exchange, security, or commodity by any state, the United States Government, or a foreign nation." "Was or is used" is the key phrase. As long as it was used at some point as described, then it should be exempt. Also, since foreign currency is also included, the currency of the Confederate States of America should be covered. Things like obsolete currency, Continental currency and the such should also be covered by this broad definition. Interestingly enough, "is used" was the wording of the original bill, which would have made it more restrictive. "Was or is used" was added as an amendment before passage. To wrap up my long and wordy post, today I've forwarded the full text of the new law back to ebay, highlighting the pertinent parts discussed above, and hopefully it won't take too long for them to once again make a correction. I am trying to be patient, as I realize it's not easy to keep track of the different tax laws for each state. However, I'm getting the sense that only minimal effort is made by ebay to implement any changes and it's only when customers keep hounding them that they reluctantly do so. Member of SPMC, FCCB, ANA and ANS. My U.S. Classic Commemorative Complete Set: https://www.NGCcoin.com/registry/co...sets/278741/ My U.S. Fractional Note Set: https://notes.www.collectors-societ...eSetID=34188 Edited by hokiefan_82 02/11/2022 12:01 am Report this Post to the Staff

luvmyCAM Pillar of the Community United States 1476 Posts	Posted 03/31/2022 1:33 pm I had to jump off the ebay train a year ago due to their well... can I say suckiness? maybe monstrosities is more appropriate, they just plain had the ability to cause kaniption fits in me. I sat down and tried to remember the good old days of ebay compared to 2021, then I fired them 4 ever. This was not easy closing my account regardless of what they say claim or do and how hard you scroll its very difficult and takes cunning. Here's how I finally got closed and a $3.87 paypal (amazingly I never ever gave them my bank info always used Paypal because you could back then) I always ended my correspondence to ebay with the phrase "lock her up" first was told to read safety rules, then warned about harmful speech, then warned again then warned about hateful use of language then finally banned fired and account closed for defamatory hateful speech towards others. I don't want to see anyone locked up and reminded ebay my original multiple attempts to close my account all were futile and that ebay was fired first etc but their ( ebay) firing trumped (no pun intended) mine. After being labeled a defamatory/harmful corresponded about 14 mo. ago I recently received an offer from the Bay giving me one more chance to recover my powerseller status and "list again now it's easy" I deleted it. ebay is not for me anymore it was hard I loved the hunt the wheeling dealing and made extra money selling at some reasonable prices to buy more coins and sell more coins but it just got suckie that's all it just in tiny increments got backwards with them and breaking even became my new norm. I was encountering buyers who were trying to scam me for partial refunds on really fair coin deals 5 bucks here (flecks on slabbed coins) 15 bucks there (don't look as good as pics) then in 2020 I started getting "I didn't get the tracked and insured coins" and all that jazz covid etc. I pulled the plug ebay never backed me in any dispute even in clearly bull cases with clear pics, honest tactful descriptions, greysheet prices, tracking and insurance. Without furthering this manifesto I summarize " ebay ain't so great anymore". Report this Post to the Staff
hokiefan_82 Pillar of the Community United States 3634 Posts	Posted 06/20/2022 2:37 pm One last update to this topic - after 4 additional months, ebay is no longer improperly charging Arkansas sales tax on Confederate notes, obsolete currency, and other items that are no longer legal tender. So a rough timeline to summarize: 1) In May, 2021 Arkansas repealed sales tax on U.S. and foreign numismatic items. It is a very broad exemption covering both current legal tender and items that had been used as legal tender in the past. The law was enacted on October 1, 2021. 2) I repeatedly contacted ebay in early November as they were still charging the tax. I was given the runaround each time and nothing was done. 3) After making no headway, I contacted the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration to report the improper charging of sales tax by ebay on these items. Within 30 minutes, I had an email address of an ebay employee who was not just a help desk person. 4) By December, sales tax on legal tender coins and currency was no longer being applied. Yay! 5) In February, I noticed sales tax was still being charged on currency that was no longer legal tender and reported this to the same ebay contact. I eventually had to provide the full text of the bill to prove that these items were also exempt, as they argued that only legal tender was covered. 6) Last week (mid-June of 2022), those items are no longer being taxed. Success! So, my stubbornness finally paid off. The key was involving the Arkansas DFA; once that happened, the contact they provided at ebay was very responsive to my emails, provided useful information, and kept me up-to-date on the progress. The process still took far too long, but they did quickly refund the sales tax to me that had been improperly charged on the purchases I'd made before the correction was implemented. By comparison, Heritage took 1 or 2 days to implement a similar update when I found they also were still charging tax on certain items improperly. And, all that took was an email to the Heritage help desk. Member of SPMC, FCCB, ANA and ANS. My U.S. Classic Commemorative Complete Set: https://www.NGCcoin.com/registry/co...sets/278741/ My U.S. Fractional Note Set: https://notes.www.collectors-societ...eSetID=34188 Edited by hokiefan_82 06/20/2022 2:38 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Boba Debt Pillar of the Community United States 732 Posts	Posted 06/30/2022 5:24 pm Better check again, ebay has started to add sales tax to coin purchases AGAIN It just started the other day Report this Post to the Staff
hokiefan_82 Pillar of the Community United States 3634 Posts	Posted 06/30/2022 7:02 pm @Boba Debt, I did a quick test for a U.S. coin and a foreign coin, and neither one was charged Arkansas state sales tax. I'll definitely be on the lookout, however! It wouldn't surprise me if that happened; even Heritage had initially quit charging sales tax, but then mistakenly started charging tax again on some items... Member of SPMC, FCCB, ANA and ANS. My U.S. Classic Commemorative Complete Set: https://www.NGCcoin.com/registry/co...sets/278741/ My U.S. Fractional Note Set: https://notes.www.collectors-societ...eSetID=34188 Report this Post to the Staff
Boba Debt Pillar of the Community United States 732 Posts	Posted 06/30/2022 9:15 pm Hokie, check my thread about this ebay has been adding taxes to my purchases since June 22nd Report this Post to the Staff
hokiefan_82 Pillar of the Community United States 3634 Posts	Posted 06/30/2022 11:13 pm @Boba Debt, I share your frustration on dealing with this. As you mention in your referenced thread, they do refund the taxes when you report it, but it's very aggravating, especially when they once again start incorrectly charging tax on exempt items. Most things I buy on ebay have free shipping, but I have seen that sales tax is charged on all shipping, regardless of whether the item itself is exempt or not. That, however, seems to be OK (I'd checked with the Arkansas DFA on that, as well...). As mentioned in my original post, contacting your state Department of Finance and Administration to report this seems to help move things along, but even then not very quickly. Member of SPMC, FCCB, ANA and ANS. My U.S. Classic Commemorative Complete Set: https://www.NGCcoin.com/registry/co...sets/278741/ My U.S. Fractional Note Set: https://notes.www.collectors-societ...eSetID=34188 Edited by hokiefan_82 06/30/2022 11:14 pm Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 6 / Views: 2,747

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