I work in the technology sector, so I’ve seen more than my share of eBay scam e-mails, so I did a little reading before publishing this post. After the reading exercise, I decided to share the contents of the e-mail message (message text in italics) I received from eBay Government Relations:
From: eBay Government Relations <eBay@reply1.ebay.com>
To: [me]
Subject: Tell Congress: Keep Tax Collectors off the Net
Date: Thursday, March 27, 2008 7:08:50 PM
Make Your Voice Heard Today
Tell Congress: Keep Tax Collectors off the Net
Members of Congress are considering sales tax legislation that could change the way you shop on the Internet and through catalogs.
Luckily, creating a new sales tax collection system for Internet and catalog shopping requires Congressional approval. That means YOU have a say in how new tax systems apply to Internet commerce before sweeping changes are made.
The current federal rules on sales tax collection for Internet and catalog sales are pretty simple: if you buy something from a business operating in your state, the business is required to collect the sales tax and send it to the state revenue office.
The Supreme Court created an exception for most small Internet and catalog sellers because it would be very difficult for them to collect for 15,000 tax jurisdictions in the 45 states with sales taxes. This problem is less daunting to large retailers.
A number of state governments and big retailers want to change federal law to impose sales tax burdens on all Internet sellers, regardless of size. Many small business sellers believe a new tax collection system would drive up costs, be very difficult to comply with, and could reduce Internet business opportunities and affect consumer prices.
eBay has helped hundreds of thousands of small business entrepreneurs use the Internet to reach buyers across America and around the world. We oppose adding a new tax burden for those sellers.
Think creating a new sales tax collection system for Internet commerce is a bad idea? Make your voice heard today!
Sincerely,
eBay Government Relations
If you go to the eBay Government Relations website, you’ll see this is the real thing. Such legislation discussed in the message would wreak havoc on the entire eBay commerce model.
What do you think? Are we giving an undue advantage to individuals and businesses who conduct their sales transactions on the Internet? Perhaps this is a worthy question for our candidates for the US Congress House of Representatives’ 3rd District Seat.
EBay’s arguments are without merit. Accurate local sales tax calculation can be done by any internet merchant (even an eBay seller) absolutely for free with TaxCloud.
For EBay to claim it is to difficult is particularly laughable when one considers that they enable over 14 million active sellers to sell over $60 billion in goods annually. These sellers process payments, and can even calculate shipping rates in real-time to every corner of the globe, stratified by speed and the weight of the shipment-certainly a combination of tasks FAR more complicated than simply calculating 10,787 local tax rates.
EBay is using their sellers as human shields to avoid liability for not having enabled their sellers to collect local sales tax before. Clearly the undue burden cited by the Supreme Court in 1967 (Bellas Hess) and 1992 (Quill) can be easily overcome through modern technology-the same technology that has enabled EBay to become the largest marketplace in world history.
When this law passes it will be EBay’s obligation to enable their sellers to comply, just as it is EBay’s obligation to keep consumer payment details secure.