eBay is a great place for people who sell things online to list them for sale. They are easy to use, have a good reputation, and get a lot of traffic, which makes it easy to understand how to sell things online. Because of this, many online sellers think it’s the best place to start.
Once your ads are up and running, the process is pretty easy. On the other hand, eBay sales tax is a subject that makes a lot of online sellers uncertain. Let’s look at what you need to know about sales tax and eBay.
What Is Sales Tax on eBay?
Even the sales tax is hard to understand. Sales tax is a tax that the state charges, which may make it hard to understand. As an online seller, it is your job to figure out if you need to pay eBay sales tax.
It’s important to remember that each state has its own ideas about how to tax purchases made on the internet. Some places charge sales tax based on where the customer lives, while others do it based on where the product was made.
Also, laws passed in 2018 made it clear that you don’t have to be physically in a state to pay sales tax. Because of this, it’s important to learn about eBay sales tax as soon as possible and set up your listings correctly.
What Does the Sales Tax on eBay Cover?
Unless you only use eBay for garage sales once in a while, you have to pay taxes on your profits. This is how much money you make from sales minus the money you spend on things like managing your stock, shipping and handling, advertising, and other costs of running a shop, in addition to the money you spend on buying goods.
What taxes should you keep an eye out for? On the money you make from sales, you’ll have to pay income and self-employment taxes. Depending on the state you live in, you may also have to collect sales tax.
Tax on income
As a vendor, FICA only pays for part of the taxes you have to pay. You’ll also have to pay taxes on the money you make from your eBay business. Depending on where you live, your state may also get your income taxes.
You can use our income tax calculator to figure out how your income and FICA taxes will work out, so you won’t be surprised.
Sales Tax
Sales tax isn’t really a tax that you have to pay on the money you make from eBay. Depending on how you run your business, you may need your customers to pay. Not all stores have to collect taxes on sales. Everything depends on where you are. If you need help collecting and sending the money, eBay will do it for you.
You might be surprised to find out that most sellers on eBay have to deal with sales tax, since that wasn’t always the case.
In the past, a business had to be physically in the state to have to pay sales tax. We’re talking about real, brick-and-mortar shops. All of that changed in 2018, when the Supreme Court harshly criticized Wayfair. This made it harder for anyone who sells or buys things online.
Tax on Self-Employment
Self-employment tax is how the business owner pays for FICA taxes (Social Security taxes and Medicare). FICA taxes must be paid by everyone, including people who get a W-2. But the tax rates are twice as high for people who work on their own, like eBay sellers.
Traditional workers only pay 7.65% of their income in FICA taxes. 7.65 percent comes from their employers. But people who work for themselves have to pay the full 15.3% FICA tax, which includes both the employee and employer parts.
When we talk about self-employment tax, we mean this twofold FICA tax rate. Unfortunately, it could cause new vendors to be shocked by the prices.
Who Doesn’t Pay Sale Taxes on eBay?
If a seller runs their store as a business, they have to pay taxes on the money they make through the site. You could ask, “Aren’t all stores companies?” Almost only two things could be different:
Stores for Online Garage Sales
Some eBay shops are unique entities. People can throw away their old things when they open them. Think of them as garage sales or yard sales for the 21st century. They made it possible for people to give their old clothes and appliances to a group with a wider reach than their own community. But these things don’t make someone a real business owner.
If you run a business like this, you won’t have to pay taxes on your income. You don’t have to tell the IRS about those earnings. But remember that this could lead to trouble.
If you have a lot of garage sales, what started as a one-time thing can quickly become a business. If you start collecting things to sell again, for example, your virtual yard sale is probably now a real business. And you have to deal with taxes.
Shops for Hobbies
A “hobby shop,” the third type of eBay store, is in between an online garage sale and an eCommerce company. Instead of someone doing a spring cleaning once in a while, they are run by casual sellers who sell a lot on eBay.
If you like to shop online, you are in a bad position because of the way taxes are set up now. The IRS needs to know how much money you made from selling something, but you can’t write it off.
How can you tell if your eBay store is a business or something you do for fun? The difference is in the reason behind it. Does it happen for fun or to make money? Whether your store is a business or a hobby, you should plan for your taxes to be safe.
How to Find Out About eBay’s Sales Tax
Your eBay account’s seller’s center serves as your sales tax destination. Here, you can see your total eBay sales, the sales tax you collected, the tax table you chose, and a lot more. It is the best place to go if you sell on eBay and have questions about taxes.
You can get to the seller’s center with your eBay account. You can get ready for tax season by getting used to the platform. It has all the information you need to figure out how much sales tax to pay on your eBay purchases and pay it. If you’re having trouble with your sales tax returns, you can find the answers here.
How to Pay Your Taxes as an eBay Seller
If you sell on eBay, you will need to get and fill out a number of documents for your tax situation. Here are some easy steps you can take to solve all of them.
Watch out for the Form 1099-K.
If you made more than $600 in sales on eBay, you will get a 1099 form. (These forms show how much money you made as a self-employed person running a store.)
You will receive a form called a 1099-K. These are given to freelancers, independent contractors, and business owners who get paid by credit cards, PayPal, or other third-party payment processors. Of course, this includes people who sell things on the Internet.
Before 2022, vendors could only get 1099-Ks if they did at least 200 transactions and sold goods worth at least $20,000. The barrier, on the other hand, is now only $600. There is no longer a minimum number of transactions needed. A 1099-K can be made out of a single sale of $600.
When you get your 1099-K: By January 31, you must be able to find your 1099-K on websites like eBay. You’ll get a copy in the mail on its own. But you could also download it directly from the Seller Hub.
Check out the 1099-K Detailed Report.
Along with your real 1099-K, eBay will also give you a report that breaks down the form in great detail. This report is called your “1099-K detailed report.” Here, you can see how much money you made from each transaction that made up your 1099-K income.
There are two ways to get it: through My eBay or the Seller Hub.
From the Hub for Sellers
In the Seller Hub, you can customize a 1099-K detailed report by choosing the time period you want to see:
- Find the “Payments” tab and click on it.
- On the left menu, choose “Taxes.”
- Pick the “1099-K detailed report” option.
- Choose when the transactions you want to look at happened.
- Pick “Create report.”
I bought on eBay
On My eBay, you can see a summary of all your purchases for the year:
- Find the “Payments” tab and click on it.
- You can also click on the “Taxes” tab.
- Choose “1099-K Forms” > “Request Detailed Report”
- Watch for an email that tells you how to download.
1099-Ks from PayPal are important.
If you sold things through PayPal for at least $600, you would get a second 1099-K from them. PayPal must send out 1099-K forms by January 31, just like eBay does. If you don’t want to wait for it to come in the mail, you can connect to your PayPal account online and see your form there.
Get ready to fill out a tax form.
No matter if your paperwork is from eBay, PayPal, or both, there is one important thing you should know: If you can’t see your 1099-k, that doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay taxes. This is a trap that a lot of small business owners on eBay fall into. But even if you don’t get a form, you still have to report the money your business makes through eBay.
Fill out your income and tax deductions on Schedule C.
How do you report money you made on eBay on your taxes? Schedule C will be filled out. Box 1 of the form is where you should put your “gross revenues,” which are your profits before costs. Box 2 is also where you list any refunds you gave to clients.
Part II of the form is where you list all of your business costs if you want to deduct them from your taxable income. Because of this, Schedule C is your best friend as a salesperson, even though it might be hard to fill out.
Last Words
At its most basic, eBay sales tax is easy to understand. However, as your business grows, things can quickly get complicated. You need to know a lot about eBay sales tax to make sure that your online business runs well and without any wrongdoing. On dropship-empire Blog, you can learn more about how to market online and do business online.