Help, question about sales tax??

[Former_Member]

If I reside in California and I sell an item from my shop to a customer who lives in Oregon, should i still Charge the sales tax or not?
I have a customer from Oregon that bought an item from my shop and is asking why I charged her sales tax since oregon has no sales tax.

Help! I need to know what to do so I can make it right :)
patiently waiting
Angelica

[TOMgirlApparel]

Your customer is right, you only charge sales tax to customers in your own state. You can set it up on Etsy that way.

[Former_Member]

What Amanda said. But, check your local state/county/city laws. Because in some states you have to take into account state, county, and city sales tax.

[Former_Member]

I live in Cali and sell on Etsy. You only charge sales tax to Cali customers. You can set it up for each county, but it's time consuming. I just set mine at 7.75% and pay the difference when it's tax time.

[krochetlady]

Amanda, how do you set it up on Etsy to charge sales tax in your own state?

Thanks

[TOMgirlApparel]

Wanda, go to Info & Appearances, then on left under Shop Settings, click on Shipping & Payment. Then at the top there is a tab for Sales Tax, click there to set it up :)

[Former_Member]

Ok got it, thank you so much for helping me out with this. Now I need to go and make this right with my customer.
Again, thanks!! You all are awesome!

Angelica

[GoTo]

The paperwork CA supplied when you registered should have explained the rules of how to properly collect sales tax.

If you need more info, the links to the CA state website on the blog post in the first post of this thread here should provide you with answers to frequently asked questions about sales tax & selling online:

US: Sales Tax & Business Registration--Links to Official Government Websites
http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/9799713

[Former_Member]

Best to ask your tax guy (not H&R block). Some states if they order from you (even if they have tax) you can't charge them tax and others you have to charge them tax no matter what.

I know I didn't get any information when I got my business license regarding taxes except I have to pay them. Right now I'm not charging taxes on Etsy except for GA customers until I get clarification from my CPA.

[GoTo]

HLRoperPhotography--the link above should help you get the answers straight from your state--your best source. (We have seen plenty of inaccurate sales tax info folks got from CPAs here especially since mail order businesses sometimes have slightly different rules within a state. )

There's one federal rule when it comes to sales tax, and it is that a state in which you have no business nexus cannot require you to collect sales tax for them.

If you only sell from home and have no reps in another state, then you only register & collect from buyers in your home state. You cannot collect your state's sale tax from buyers who are out of your state since you don't have the authority to tax them.

[BooBahBlue]

THanks for the tips... I have enjoyed (well thats a LIE..but its been helpful) reading all these posts on tax stuff. I probably should have set mine up a while ago, but like most creative types...I HATE and get confused with the legal business end. I keep great tax records, but have not been charging sales tax, until just now :) Still hung up on getting all the right permits :-/ Please tell me I'm not the only one who just picked a name, set up a shop and started selling stuff?? Its been great...but now its a full time job here on etsy, so time to make it all legit.
If anyone has any words of advice...I would love them. I'm in California.
THanks!!