Team GRC Will Be Watching for Similar Legislation, Too!

October 15, 2025

Effective October 1, 2025, if your company uses a marketplace such as eBay or Amazon to sell merchandise you took in pawn or by purchase from a customer, Texas will impose a sales tax on the commission Texas sellers will pay to the marketplace.  So, if you pay the marketplace an 8% or 15% commission, you will pay at least 6.25% more as sales tax.  In some Texas cities and counties, you might pay as much as 8.25% in sales tax. These are taxes on “data processing services.” 

The sales tax just “ate” a portion of your profit from the transaction. We get it: the only polite reaction to this news is “aaaaarrrgh.” We can think of less polite terms we might think or say.

Texas pawnbrokers already know about this new sales tax – or they now know. The NPA has not been tracking state tax legislation that may affect pawnbrokers, but we are adding bills imposing sales taxes on commissions for “data processing services” to our list of state legislative topics to watch for members effective immediately.

Will such legislation be introduced in other states? We do not know but we think the answer is “probably.”  Why?  Because states are trying to balance budgets every legislative session and this type of tax won’t show to the average voter.  It will affect retail stores – like your retail operations on marketplace — the most and the fastest!  Get ready in case you get a notice from TEAM GRC that we have found a bill imposing sales taxes on marketplace commissions in your state.

So, Texas pawnbrokers selling goods on marketplaces will see smaller payouts for their October sales transactions. Because for entities located in or registered in Texas, marketplaces will be collecting these new sales taxes.

This is not legal advice. Please contact your lawyer or accountant for advice. 

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