How should I pay the taxes on my website? Should I be charging the 8.5% TX rate on all goods sold? This is a low income website maybe at the most $1000 a month.
What taxes would be the question? If you are selling goods you are only required to collect sales taxes for sales to buyers where your compamy has a location (note that New York State may be an exception to that rule). For most of us that means the state we reside in. Income taxes are due to the Fed and your state and local leeches based on net income in most cases.
You are required to collect sales tax according to your state laws - it doesn't matter if you are just an individual. You will be required to pay the tax, plus penalties, if you did not properly collect it. Who is required to hold a Texas sales and use tax permit? You must obtain a Texas sales and use tax permit if you are engaged in business in Texas and you: * sell tangible personal property in Texas; * lease tangible personal property in Texas; or * sell taxable services in Texas. http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/sales/faq_permit.html#permit1
May be different in Texas, here in Kentucky when you start selling you are a business. In most cases the tax people are not interested in collecting 8.50 on a 100.00 in sales per year. The scale of your operation enters into the equation. If you are doing any serious business within your home state you should check it out and learn more. Also really do check out what those wackos in New York have passed.
Where could i go to find out about how to pay this and such? All my payments are through paypal if that helps?
Go to the link I posted above and see # 4. How do I get a permit? You will need to get a resellers permit and collect sales tax on the items shipped within the state. You then make monthly or quarterly payments to the state. The method of payment you accept doesn't matter. Make sure you are also reporting the income from you business for income tax purposes (you pay on net profit). I don't know about Texas, but in California, the State Board is more diligent than the IRS in making sure you are collecting and paying sales tax. You don't want to ignore it and wind up getting caught and forced to pay back taxes and penalties.
I am not sure if this helps but the last time I had servers in The Planet which is in Texas and when I rented some dedicated servers, I wasn't made to pay any sales tax but from what I heard from those who colocated their servers in their premises were charged sales tax even if they were not from the US. I guess because the services was rendered in Texan soil.
Should I only pay taxes in texas if i am the owner of the site and me and a friend both sell the product, but my friend lives in sweden and takes care of all the purchases from europe?
You should really consult a CPA - but you need to collect sales tax for any orders you take and ship to Texas. You need to pay taxes on any net income you personally receive, and will likely need to document any payments your friend receives from you.