Tax collection for orders shipped to Illinois - Effective January 1, 2021

#1

Based on changes to Illinois state tax law, Amazon will begin calculating, collecting, and remitting retailer occupation tax for all orders shipped to customers in Illinois on January 1, 2021.

Your existing tax calculation and account settings do not require any changes as a result of the legislation. Order details and payment reports will automatically reflect any tax Amazon collects and remits from your orders.

The Illinois Department of Revenue published a resource page "Leveling the Playing Field for Illinois Retail Act" and flow chart for your reference. However, you may consider working with your tax advisor to determine if your business has any other ongoing tax remittance or reporting obligations.

Answers to common questions are available in the Marketplace Tax Collection FAQ.

#2

January 1, 2021

I thought amazon is kidding about the date.

#3

That’s a good time-frame from #brokenamazon are you crazy!? lol

#4

are the dates correct???

#5

YES. The date of January 1, 2021 is correct. The law went into effect January 1, 2021.
Read the link to The Illinois Department of Revenue you were given for reference…

2021
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#6

This didn’t make sense to me until I noticed that it isn’t about Illinois marketplace sales tax collection (which Amazon has been doing since 1/1/2020). This is about new marketplace local ROT (retailer occupation tax)

I still don’t understand why Amazon waits over 45 days after it goes into effect to announce the change.

#7

Thanks for your advance notification. :roll_eyes:

#8

I’m in Michigan, Amazon collecting sales tax for my state. So what do I do? Did Amazon pay the Michigan sales tax? Or just collected it and I have to pay? Did Amazon pay that on my behalf? Or collected it and pay as “Amazon”? Do I have to report those? If It’s paid on my behalf, I just report the numbers and write that it’s paid already? Why Amazon won’t tell basic information to the sellers? :frowning:
Filing the annual sales tax is only 10 days, yet, I have no idea how all this thing changed…

#9

You need to contact Michigan Dept of Revenue and ask them. Different states handle the return differently. My state of Tennessee has me report zero sales, but I know some states require you to report the dollar amount and that it was paid by Amazon.

#10

I know, and I’m going to do that tomorrow. I just don’t understand if Amazon has all the tax-accountant professionals and they know everything for each state, then why won’t they just tell us what to do exactly. Their accountants know the answer, so why make like a million people individually call their own state treasury for something that Amazon could just tell us in a few simple words? The fact that they won’t tell us this basic info about sales tax is just not logical to me. :-/

#11

i don’t know how it is for MI, but in CA, you’re supposed to report total CA gross sales, and then indicate under the marketplace sales that same number. that’s how you report that a marketplace (Amz) collected and remitted sales tax on your behalf.

they don’t do all taxes because if they can save time and money, they would rather do it that way. i agree with you. not logical, but that’s the way it is.

#12

Liability. Look at how much Amazon instructions contradict themselves, are confusing, or just wrong. Doing that for a tax or legal situation would be a bad idea (and possibly illegal).

#13

I see that, but they have tax information all around the site, just like we are talking about information about a blog they published about the Illinois sales tax collection. They have links to FAQs, and to state/gov websites too.

Telling us that “we pay on your behalf and you don’t have to”, would be basic info. Not even that, but if they do something with MY sales Tax, shouldn’t I have to know about it? I mean it’s my business, my name is on documents, etc. They are handling our business, they know everything, they got the experts on their side. It feels like the rules of listings, they don’t tell exactly things, they turn off things without notification, listings disappear, then reappear, tons of grey areas. Just like on social media.

Just like a few days ago, Amazon said tracking becomes mandatory. All the small-lightweight sellers did freak out. Then it turned out that tracking is not mandatory for products that $10 or less. Why stressing out people for no reason?

I don’t know, maybe I’m rambling, but not enough information, confusing info, no obvious rules, etc. It makes running a business difficult.

#14

Yes, that is what they have told everyone who is in a MTC state. There are only a few states that are not.

However, it varies from state to state as to what you must do about this. In NJ, we still have to report our sales; then there is another line for the amount of sales that are not tax-due. We have to file quarterly, even though we remit no taxes.
Different states will have different rules, and it may even vary based on the size of your business.

The information is in the FAQ: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/help.html/?itemID=G7VYHGJ8ZT2M58CP&ref_=xx_G7VYHGJ8ZT2M58CP_a_r3_cont_sgsearch

Note that collection for Michigan began 1/2020; and as stated in the FAQ “Amazon will become the taxing seller of record and be responsible to calculate, collect, and remit sales and use tax…”. That seems pretty clear to me.
But they do not tell you what the filing requirements are for your state. If you are unable to figure it out from your state

#15

FWIW, I just spoke to a CDTFA rep last week who assured me that I did not need to report anything when I sold on eBay and/or Amazon. I think that I believe her.

#16

partially true. see below and the following link for reference.

Reporting Requirements
If you are a marketplace seller that is required to be registered, you are required to continue to report your total sales on your sales and use tax returns, including those sales facilitated through a marketplace that is owned, operated, or controlled by a marketplace facilitator that is registered or required to be registered with the CDTFA. However, on and after October 1, 2019, you may claim a deduction from sales or use tax as “other” on your sales and use tax return for sales facilitated by marketplace facilitators.

https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/industry/MPFAct.htm

#17

Careful. If CDTFA reps are 100x better than Amazon reps, this would still indicate that they are often wrong about policy. :wink:

#18

IL is voting to tax air in 2022 :joy:

#19

After spending an hour on hold with the Illinois Department of Revenue, I did receive some real world guidance from the agent on the phone. The ST-1 still has to be filed, either monthly or quarterly depending on what Illinois ordered you to do, and enter all zeroes on every line. Simple!

I then asked about the thousands of dollars Illinois Amazon sellers had to improperly pay for the ROT tax that Amazon submitted on their behalf, but did not get credit for the Amazon submission. He acknowledged that the tax WAS collected TWICE from Illinois Amazon retailers, but could offer no guidance on how to get that money back.

Has anyone tried to get this doubled tax money money returned to them? If so please weigh in here.

#20

We haven’t figured that out yet. The answer we have received repeatedly from IDOR is that we need to ask Amazon for a refund and the state has nothing to do with it. Amazon reps say that unless the state refunds the monies to Amazon, Amazon will not refund to us.

Can you message me, we will probably need to talk to our state representatives to get involved.