My wife and I order online from various places.
We order gifts for us or family and friends.
I order woodworking stuff, pen blanks, etc.
She orders clothes, sewing supplies, etc.

Recently we ordered something and was charged sales tax.
I looked back at several of our other orders and none of them had
sales tax. All had shipping and handling unless it was a promotional
special with free shipping.......but none of them had sales tax.

I thought this was one of the things the states were complaining about
that they were losing sales tax on online orders.

Anyone know what is the law on this?

George (aka Bumhead)

bumhead wrote in
:

My wife and I order online from various places.
We order gifts for us or family and friends.
I order woodworking stuff, pen blanks, etc.
She orders clothes, sewing supplies, etc.

Recently we ordered something and was charged sales tax.
I looked back at several of our other orders and none of them had
sales tax. All had shipping and handling unless it was a promotional
special with free shipping.......but none of them had sales tax.

I thought this was one of the things the states were complaining about
that they were losing sales tax on online orders.

Anyone know what is the law on this?

George (aka Bumhead)



You'll have to do some research in official sources to be sure, but sales
tax is normally charged if a business has a physical presence (or maybe
legal--as in their billing address) in the same state.

If you think you were incorrectly charged sales tax, call the company you
ordered from and ask about it.

Puckdropper

bumhead wrote:
My wife and I order online from various places.
We order gifts for us or family and friends.
I order woodworking stuff, pen blanks, etc.
She orders clothes, sewing supplies, etc.

Recently we ordered something and was charged sales tax.
I looked back at several of our other orders and none of them had
sales tax. All had shipping and handling unless it was a promotional
special with free shipping.......but none of them had sales tax.

I thought this was one of the things the states were complaining about
that they were losing sales tax on online orders.

Anyone know what is the law on this?

I believe technically you are responsible to declare and pay taxes
yourself on these items. Was the online store in question in *your* state?

Note, I am Canadian, but I do believe I came across that in my reading
somewhere.
--
Froz...


The system will be down for 10 days for preventive maintenance.

"FrozenNorth" wrote in message
...

I believe technically you are responsible to declare and pay taxes
yourself on these items. Was the online store in question in *your*
state?

Note, I am Canadian, but I do believe I came across that in my reading
somewhere.
--
Froz...


The system will be down for 10 days for preventive maintenance.

I think you're right Froz, and AFAIK the same rules apply in Canada.

"bumhead" wrote in message
...
My wife and I order online from various places.
We order gifts for us or family and friends.
I order woodworking stuff, pen blanks, etc.
She orders clothes, sewing supplies, etc.

Recently we ordered something and was charged sales tax.
I looked back at several of our other orders and none of them had
sales tax. All had shipping and handling unless it was a promotional
special with free shipping.......but none of them had sales tax.

I thought this was one of the things the states were complaining about
that they were losing sales tax on online orders.

Anyone know what is the law on this?

George (aka Bumhead)


Most states want the online companies to charge sales tax but in most
instances that is next to impossible in inforce.

BUT if the company has representation in your state the company is suppose
to collect sales tax. When the company has representation, a store front,
or sells it's products at trade shows/traveling salesmen, in your state they
have to collect sales tax.

More than likely your taxed on line order came from a company that you could
go to, to buy yourself, some where in your state. In the US, LeeValley
would not charge state sales tax when shipping to you but would if you went
to a trade show and purchased their tools in your state.

This is not gospel as each state works a little differently but is true in
most instances.

Doug Brown wrote:
"FrozenNorth" wrote in message
...

I believe technically you are responsible to declare and pay taxes
yourself on these items. Was the online store in question in *your*
state?

Note, I am Canadian, but I do believe I came across that in my reading
somewhere.
--
Froz...


The system will be down for 10 days for preventive maintenance.

I think you're right Froz, and AFAIK the same rules apply in Canada.

I don't order online often, but when I do I will usually go for a Canadian
source, where taxes are always charged in my experience, and I avoid the
UPS penalty too.

--
Froz...


The system will be down for 10 days for preventive maintenance.

"bumhead" wrote in message

I thought this was one of the things the states were complaining about
that they were losing sales tax on online orders.

Anyone know what is the law on this?

George (aka Bumhead)


The law is simple and straightforward. You owe the tax. If not a sales tax,
it is called a use tax on out of state purchases. If the seller does not
charge the tax, you are obligated to remit the tax to the state. Here in CT
you can do that when you submit your income tax forms with a simple
declaration.

If a business has a physical presence in your state, such as a sales office,
service facility, or anything else, they are obligated to collect the tax
for the state. Some sellers that do not have a physical presence collect
the tax anyway to avoid hassles from 45 or so different tax collectors.

If the seller is out of state to you, he may not care and is not obligated
to do the collection. Then you have to decide what to do after. I'm sure
everyone here declares the purchase as a "use tax" and pay what is due. If
you physically go across the state lines, you pay the tax due in that state
at the time of purchase.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

The law is simple and straightforward. You owe the tax. If not a sales
tax,
it is called a use tax on out of state purchases. If the seller does not
charge the tax, you are obligated to remit the tax to the state. Here in
CT you can do that when you submit your income tax forms with a simple
declaration.

If a business has a physical presence in your state, such as a sales
office, service facility, or anything else, they are obligated to collect
the tax for the state. Some sellers that do not have a physical presence
collect the tax anyway to avoid hassles from 45 or so different tax
collectors.

If the seller is out of state to you, he may not care and is not obligated
to do the collection. Then you have to decide what to do after. I'm sure
everyone here declares the purchase as a "use tax" and pay what is due.
If you physically go across the state lines, you pay the tax due in that
state at the time of purchase.

Correct!

And if you go to another state, pay sales tax on an item that is less than
you would in your own state, technically you owe the difference to your
state.

I think it depends on the state. Ohio wants on-line retailers to
collect tax, no matter their location. If they do not then Ohio has a
place on the annual tax form where they want you to declare what you
bought W/O paying tax. I heard Ohio will check retailers records with
the tax payer records.

Mike in Ohio

bumhead wrote:
My wife and I order online from various places.
We order gifts for us or family and friends.
I order woodworking stuff, pen blanks, etc.
She orders clothes, sewing supplies, etc.

Recently we ordered something and was charged sales tax.
I looked back at several of our other orders and none of them had
sales tax. All had shipping and handling unless it was a promotional
special with free shipping.......but none of them had sales tax.

I thought this was one of the things the states were complaining about
that they were losing sales tax on online orders.

Anyone know what is the law on this?

George (aka Bumhead)

More than likely your taxed on line order came from a company that you
could go to, to buy yourself, some where in your state. In the US,
LeeValley would not charge state sales tax when shipping to you but would
if you went to a trade show and purchased their tools in your state.

That's not quite true:

LV Ships US orders from Ogdensburg, NY. Sadly all of us deidicated patrons
in NY State get to pay accordingly.

;-(

More than likely your taxed on line order came from a company that you
could go to, to buy yourself, some where in your state. In the US,
LeeValley would not charge state sales tax when shipping to you but would
if you went to a trade show and purchased their tools in your state.

That's not quite true:

LV Ships US orders from Ogdensburg, NY. Sadly all of us deidicated patrons
in NY State get to pay accordingly.

;-(

StephenM wrote:
More than likely your taxed on line order came from a company that you
could go to, to buy yourself, some where in your state. In the US,
LeeValley would not charge state sales tax when shipping to you but would
if you went to a trade show and purchased their tools in your state.


That's not quite true:

LV Ships US orders from Ogdensburg, NY. Sadly all of us deidicated patrons
in NY State get to pay accordingly.

;-(



I believe LV has a store in the NYC area which is why you're taxed.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

Nova wrote:
StephenM wrote:
More than likely your taxed on line order came from a company that
you could go to, to buy yourself, some where in your state. In the
US, LeeValley would not charge state sales tax when shipping to you
but would if you went to a trade show and purchased their tools in
your state.


That's not quite true:

LV Ships US orders from Ogdensburg, NY. Sadly all of us deidicated
patrons in NY State get to pay accordingly.

;-(



I believe LV has a store in the NYC area which is why you're taxed.

They only have a warehouse south of the border, no store.

--
Froz...


The system will be down for 10 days for preventive maintenance.

"Nova" wrote in message
...
StephenM wrote:
More than likely your taxed on line order came from a company that you
could go to, to buy yourself, some where in your state. In the US,
LeeValley would not charge state sales tax when shipping to you but would
if you went to a trade show and purchased their tools in your state.


That's not quite true:

LV Ships US orders from Ogdensburg, NY. Sadly all of us deidicated
patrons in NY State get to pay accordingly.

;-(



I believe LV has a store in the NYC area which is why you're taxed.

Doesn't matter if they have a store in the state or not. If they have a
physical operation in that state they have to collect the tax. Here in
Washington, we have to pay sales tax on orders from Amazon though all they
have here is a call center.

"Nova" wrote in message
...
StephenM wrote:
More than likely your taxed on line order came from a company that you
could go to, to buy yourself, some where in your state. In the US,
LeeValley would not charge state sales tax when shipping to you but would
if you went to a trade show and purchased their tools in your state.


That's not quite true:

LV Ships US orders from Ogdensburg, NY. Sadly all of us deidicated
patrons in NY State get to pay accordingly.

;-(



I believe LV has a store in the NYC area which is why you're taxed.

Doesn't matter if they have a store in the state or not. If they have a
physical operation in that state they have to collect the tax. Here in
Washington, we have to pay sales tax on orders from Amazon though all they
have here is a call center.

State Sales Tax

You are obligated to pay sales tax on all taxable items to the state
where you reside.

If the merchant has a facility in your state, they are obligated to
collect the tax and forward it to the state.

If the merchant does not have a presence in your state, they are still
obligated to collect the sales tax and forward it to your state.

Unless your state pursues out of state merchants to collect their
sales tax due them, most merchants either ignore or refuse to collect
sales tax on out of state sales.

Doesn't release the merchant from their responsibility, but usually
not worth the time to pursue collection for small amounts.

Some states such as New York and California aggressively pursue
collecting sales tax due them on out of state purchases.

States are beginning to work with each other to close the out of state
sales tax loop holes.

Computers make it a rather straight forward task.

Bottom line..............................................

The buyer is responsible for paying sales taxes to the state where
they live, regardless of where the item was purchased.

Lew

"StephenM" wrote in message
...
More than likely your taxed on line order came from a company that you
could go to, to buy yourself, some where in your state. In the US,
LeeValley would not charge state sales tax when shipping to you but would
if you went to a trade show and purchased their tools in your state.

That's not quite true:

LV Ships US orders from Ogdensburg, NY. Sadly all of us deidicated patrons
in NY State get to pay accordingly.


Yeah I forgot that it goes to NY first to go through customs.

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
...
State Sales Tax

You are obligated to pay sales tax on all taxable items to the state where
you reside.

If the merchant has a facility in your state, they are obligated to
collect the tax and forward it to the state.

If the merchant does not have a presence in your state, they are still
obligated to collect the sales tax and forward it to your state.

Unless your state pursues out of state merchants to collect their sales
tax due them, most merchants either ignore or refuse to collect sales tax
on out of state sales.

Doesn't release the merchant from their responsibility, but usually not
worth the time to pursue collection for small amounts.

Some states such as New York and California aggressively pursue collecting
sales tax due them on out of state purchases.

States are beginning to work with each other to close the out of state
sales tax loop holes.

Computers make it a rather straight forward task.

Bottom line..............................................

The buyer is responsible for paying sales taxes to the state where they
live, regardless of where the item was purchased.

Lew

Unfortunately the computers need to know how to apply sales tax for each
sale. While that may seem straight forward many states do not have that
information for computer input, basically speaking it is still only
available in print.

Now while that may seem simple, read the print and input the information for
taxing, it is really astoundingly complicated.
Sales in tax in Texas alone is a night mare. If you live in the Houston
metro area you will pay different sales taxes depending on what street you
make the purchase on. Some additional taxes apply for different
authorities.
I have had to charge up to 3 different rates to customers that live within
15 minutes from where I live.
Collecting sales tax from a store front is simple as the sale is made from a
single point and the sales tax is always the same. It gets complicated when
the item is sold to a location where possession of the goods do not take
place in the store. That is when other tax authorities and rate come into
play.

My son works PT during school for a fortune 500 company. His job this past
summer and fall was to contact every state that the company does business in
and validate the tax collections for the stores in each of the states.
After 6 months of research I believe that they are going to settle for what
they believe to be correct.

Because you cannot normally get the same answer from state employees as to
what taxes should be collected for any one particular location, inputting
the information into your personal business computer is going to be a good
guess at best.

If it were black and white, tax collection from other states would already
be being enforced.

But you are correct that everything you buy should be taxed and technically
you are oblogated to pay the tax one way or another.

Leon wrote:

If it were black and white, tax collection from other states would already
be being enforced.

It suits the *******s right that they've made it too complicated to
collect. Way to go bureaucrats!

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)