eBay will start charging e-commerce sales taxes in four U.S. states in 2019

eBay announced in Monday (October 29) that the platform would start imposing a sales tax on buyers ‘ deals in Minnesota State next year.

eBay had previously advised sellers that it was obliged to impose a sales tax on other states that had issued the “Marketplace Facilitator Laws”.




In September, eBay notified sellers that it would begin levying sales tax on orders from 2019 in three states: Washington, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma.

” we believe the ruling is unfair to small businesses and will continue to find the best way to support and champion sellers.” eBay said.

Under the new law, eBay will calculate, collect and remit sales tax for orders that apply to the following states:

Washington – January 1, 2019 begins
Minnesota – starting January 1, 2019
Pennsylvania – July 1, 2019 begins
Oklahoma – July 1, 2019 begins

eBay explains:

” once we start taxing in those states, sellers don’t need to take any action. There is no additional charge for this service. Before these dates, please continue to collect and pay taxes in these states and comply with any other applicable requirements set by those States. ”

” sellers cannot choose not to sell to those states, nor can they refuse the platform to automatically collect sales tax on orders from those states.”




“More states are likely to join the list in the future,” eBay said. “Please get the latest information on eBay’s help page.”

eBay also noted that sellers should consult their tax advisers for more information.

Amazon and Etsy move much faster than eBay in terms of sales tax,both platforms have been collecting sales tax from consumers in Washington on behalf of third-party sellers since January 1, 2018, followed by taxes on consumers in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma.
EBay has not previously explained why it did not levy a sales tax on orders from these states, as required by the 《Marketplace Facilitator laws》.

It is understood that this may be because of the collection mechanism of eBay.

eBay says sellers cannot choose not to sell to consumers in Washington, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, nor can they refuse the platform to charge sales tax directly to orders from those states.