Washington sales tax/paypal question

just a tiny bump in case any Washingtonians have appeared in the forums. . .

Posted at 9:31pm Feb 2, 2010 EST

I just eat the sales tax.
I figure out how much I need for people in the seattle city limits per sale- and for state when my taxes are due-
I do keep records and I just do it all at once-

Posted at 9:48pm Feb 2, 2010 EST

I just filed my WA state taxes - I charge all WA a flat 9% in paypal. I undercharge some cities and overcharge others. Technically I would offer those overcharged a refund, but never had to do that. In paypal there's really no other easy way to do it since the WA tax code is different from the zip codes which is what paypal uses. Even if you entered every zip code manually it wouldn't always match up.
When I filed my return, I had to figure it out for each zip code manually which is a total pain. I asked them how a large business does this and they said they import files from quicken and things like that. Also they file monthly. But basically, yes, every WA state transaction gets its own little line item on your return. They were very helpful when I called, btw.
Keep track of every WA state sales address so you have it. In fact, dowload their excel sheet and keep all of your WA state sales on it so you'll have it at the end of the year. dor.wa.gov/Content/GetAFormOrPublication/FormBySubject/forms_ExcelW...
But as for actually charging it...I am going with my best effort and eating the difference.

Posted at 11:59pm Feb 2, 2010 EST

yes, I'm eating the difference, too - but the post above makes me scared I'm doing something wrong!

Posted at 12:25am Feb 3, 2010 EST

Thank you so much for your responses!

And thank you for the link & info, WinkyDinks.

The whole thing is so confusing and frustrating. I don't want to eat the difference. Is it this complicated in other states?

Posted at 12:05pm Feb 3, 2010 EST

Given the fact that I want to collect and report accurately, the WA state sales tax issue has been extremely frustrating to me as well!

Apparently, WA state just wants us, as online sellers, to make a good faith effort. They recognize the problems involved with accurately and easily collecting destination based sales tax.

Take a look at this link: aldebaranwebdesign.com/blog/washington-destination-based-sales-tax-...

Good luck to my fellow Washington State Etsians!

Kai

Posted at 11:45pm Feb 15, 2010 EST

Hi - Jumping onto this thread to ask, do you send a second invoice once you have a sale to a Washington state residence, or is there a way to have Paypal automagically add the sales tax when the buyer goes to pay?

At this point I'm just eating the cost of the sales tax, because I can't figure out how to have it automatically done via Etsy or Paypal - I don't know how to insert the sales tax in the middle of that process.

Any suggestions?

TIA!
Lisa B

Posted at 5:26pm Feb 22, 2010 EST

You either have to make them wait to pay, and send them an invoice for their total including tax (otherwise you have to pay payal fees on the second invoice and you would lose more than you gathered in taxes)...
OR, you can set up your paypal account to add tax to all WA orders, its under Merchant services>>shipping & tax>>tax calculator and create a new line item for WA.

And, fyi, shipping is taxable in WA state.

As far as I know, WA is only one of a few states who does destination based sales tax...getting back at us for not doing income tax I guess?

Posted at 11:22pm Feb 22, 2010 EST

for WA you cant set paypal accurately and should be invoicing in state customers for the correct ammount per their address. in many states it is illegal to overcharge and refund, the correct sales tax must be itemized on receipts

Posted at 11:26pm Feb 22, 2010 EST