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Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.
“– You will make the determination of where you need to collect and file sales tax. We will collect the sales tax on your behalf based on your tax setting and remit it back to you for tax filing.”
Nasty clever ! Throw it right back at the individual seller. What are they going to do? Send each of their sellers information for ALL 50 states? so Seller can pick the one(s) that apply?
Unfortunately their definition of “your tax setting” apparently means a seller is allowed to specify only ONE number for a % that would be charged statewide. (I do not sell via Newegg so someone please correct me if I’m wrong!? ) One single % amount collected is not “one size fits all” but that will become the Seller’s problem, not Newegg’s (or can Neweggt be held responsible for collecting the CORRECT amount ?)
In New York there are dozens of jurisdictions and even temporary ones. For example, the City of Rome may charge a 1/4% additional sales tax between May 25 and June 14th. When a Seller personally bills customers there, s/he can invoice Customer for the additional 1/4%, but if Newegg does the billing will they know about this special temporary tax? I think not … so they won’t collect it and it falls on the Seller to do so, i.e., EAT the LOSS.
By using a flat number across the entire state – likely 8% – this is ripping me off by NOT charging additional tax that should be due (example, New York City which is MORE than 8%). And what happens in the jurisdictions that sales tax is LESS than 8% ???
Newegg is thinking it has figured a way out of having to comply with the Quill decision by foisting everything back on its sellers and I am sure others will follow.
What do Sellers do when THEY make a mistake collecting the taxes that they are going to force Sellers to correctly remit ??