Collecting Taxes - State and Local - USA

CyberVinnie · 2015-12-03T20:08:52.000Z

There is definitely some interesting reading regarding income tax reporting, but I don't see much discussion about sales tax. I am gearing up to begin selling off 30+ years of collectibles aside from my LEGO stash that is constantly in flux (ever growing). I've been a casual seller on eBay for over 15 years now, but only just recently have I begun to get all of the paperwork in place to become a licensed and registered business (Sole Proprietor). The collectibles were not purchased for profit, but they are still MISB or MOC, so those I'm not too worried about and will most likely start with liquidating those. Combined with LEGO sales, most of which were purchased in multiples for the express purpose of resale at a later date, I'm sure that by the end of 2016 I will have sold enough stuff to trigger the tax man. I picked up Skip McGrath's book the other day since so much has changed since the last time I sold something on eBay more than two years ago. He talks a lot about the legal necessity of getting a state tax license to collect sales tax and charging tax on all eBay transactions where appropriate (varies by state and I also learned for the first time about a "nexus"). I suspect Amazon is no different. How many of you actually do this? If the IRS can find you, I'm sure the local bean-counters can as well. I've engaged with TaxJar to build the knowledge and kick things off. Just curious.