EBay Agreement With San Jose Blunts Covid-19 Related Tax Losses

San Jose’s agreement to share some of its local sales-tax revenue with eBay Inc. wouldn’t have happened if some state lawmakers had their way, but now it’s helping the Silicon Valley city close a multimillion-dollar hole in its budget from the coronavirus pandemic.

All California transactions conducted on eBay are taxed as if the sale was made in San Jose under a 15-year revenue sharing agreement between the online auction platform and its home town reached last year, shortly after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed a bill that would have prohibited such deals. The state in February forwarded $7.3 million ...