? Online sales tax, and shipping

[101stinfantry]

I think I know the answer to this already, but I'm going to ask anyway. My state recently passed a bill to collect sales tax from online orders (fucking piece of shit Republicans). So my question is this: If I order something from out of state, but have it shipped to a different state, which state gets the sales tax?

 

[Sean the Nailer]

All three, you pay triple! Yours, the 'buying' State, and the 'ship to' State.

There, all better now?

(ducking for cover, whilst I'm sure SOMEBODY that actually knows what they're talking about will actually answer you with facts. HA)

 

[XTREM HTR16]

The state where the store is located collects the sales tax.

 

[j741]

As a Washington resident, when I order something from an out of state online retailer such as Brownells, the retailer collects the correct local sales tax for my shipping address. That amount is apparently paid to Washington state through some process. If I were to ship to family in some other state, they would collect the correct sales tax amount for their location and pay that to the other state.

 

[101stinfantry]

Goddammit Sean! I'm sure those money hungry motherfuckers are working on that angle already!? Ok, I know the vendor collects the tax, and supposedly remits it to your home state. What I'm asking here, (and j741 probably has answered it) is: I live in Arkansas, I order online from a Vendor in say Colorado, and then have it shipped to Missouri, which sales tax rate do I pay Arkansas (billing address), or Missouri (shipped to address)?

 

[j741]

Goddammit Sean! I'm sure those money hungry motherfuckers are working on that angle already!? Ok, I know the vendor collects the tax, and supposedly remits it to your home state. What I'm asking here, (and j741 probably has answered it) is: I live in Arkansas, I order online from a Vendor in say Colorado, and then have it shipped to Missouri, which sales tax rate do I pay Arkansas (billing address), or Missouri (shipped to address)?

Using my experience at Brownell's, it's based on the ship to address.

 

[101stinfantry]

OK thanks, one caveat though (at least in my cursory Google search), it depends on if your state has an Origin, or Destination based sales tax. This shit is confusing as hell, as I suppose it was intended to be. I'm really not very happy with Arkansas' legislators or Gov'ner at this point (if you couldn't tell), they basically slapped me with a Republican tax hike. Luckily, I don't live far from MO, and can have my shit shipped there at a lower tax rate than AR.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

I'm so glad I was able to assist. That's how I roll.....

 

[101stinfantry]

Lol! I've been fired up all week over this tax shit, my wife even commented on my "fixation" with it. Now I'm trying to figure out ways around it. Your assistance is much appreciated! I think I might need a drink, to keep from going on a AJ rant!

 

[knuckleballz]

Part of my justification for stocking up on everything over the past few years before needing it was knowing that the state sales tax for future online purchases was goung to add another 10 percent to the price in the near future.

 

[101stinfantry]

Believe me I'm stocked up, but I still want more stuff. That's the reason I keep going to work!

 

[Rocketvapor]

I think it is an effort to collect tax that you would have paid by shopping local.
Amazon is the cause for the state uproars that started this.
You may not LIKE tax, but it pays the bills for YOUR state.
States that don't charge sales tax get it from the tourists.
Of course, if your state politicians are mishandling your tax dollars, then oh well

 

[101stinfantry]

Eff my state, they can do more with less, like I have to do. I don't shop local, because there is no where to shop local. Who was it that said "Giving money and power to politicians, is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys"?

 

[Drvenkman556]

What happens if Someone was purchasing ammo for religious purposes, like Sunday pot luck target practice? Need to keep the Christian Soldiers trained for the current Muslim take over, you know they are out to cut off the Christians heads.

Can this be considered a non taxable purchase? Need bullets to protect the Bible’s

 

[Bender]

Guess my taxpayer ID may come in handy.....

 

[Rthur]

Tellem' to eat a dick.
Fucking pricks think they are entitled to a slice of the pie from every angle.
With a little search foo many times a guy can find the item without the "tariff".

R

 

[101stinfantry]

Guess my taxpayer ID may come in handy.....

Holy shit! I didn't even think about that angle! Bender! You're a goddamn genius!

 

[Bender]

Holy shit! I didn't even think about that angle! Bender! You're a goddamn genius!

I only play stupid on the internet......

 

[Maxduty]

This is why I refuse to order from SG Ammo. They are in my home state so I get to pay shipping and sales tax. By the time the deal is done, I could go to Academy or Bass Pro for the same or a lower total price.

 

[Almonz]

My state did this same thing. Pretty much makes online shopping almost as expensive as just going to a store.

 

[Rocketvapor]

I guess someone with a business can order, or purchase locally tax free.
Even if they pay state sales tax they can claim it as a business cost.
Then they can take the ammo they purchase for the business and use it for 'Demo' purposes.
Gaining another business write-off.
Even travel, eat, sleep, entertain to 'Demo' the ammo they bought.
All for a net profit with the right tax guy.

I bet that's how Trump buys his Golf Balls

Ever wonder why LGS are shutting down?

 

[Precision Underground]

I guess someone with a business can order, or purchase locally tax free.
Even if they pay state sales tax they can claim it as a business cost.
Then they can take the ammo they purchase for the business and use it for 'Demo' purposes.
Gaining another business right-off.
Even travel, eat, sleep, entertain to 'Demo' the ammo they bought.
All for a net profit with the right tax guy.

I bet that's how Trump buys his Golf Balls

Not exactly how it works, not with FL sales tax anyway. I can only purchase tax free if I am reselling it and adding tax to it.

I can write off gun stuff as a business expense for fed taxes because technically it is. Pretty much any time I shoot I am testing or doing something for the business. But the biggest perk is the wife write off. “Yes honey, I need this gun for some R&D.” It’s like magic.

 

[Redmanss]

Never thought I’d see so many people on the Hide bitching about not being able to send more money to Silicon Valley, California instead of keeping it in their home state.

 

[Maxduty]

Never thought I’d see so many people on the Hide bitching about not being able to send more money to Silicon Valley, California instead of keeping it in their home state.

It cost less to send it out of state. Free shipping from some companies will always get my attention first.

 

[Ravenworks]

Guess my taxpayer ID may come in handy.....

Or, if you are registered as agricultural you can skip all the taxes.
BTW, don't blame the Republicans

 

[Herb Stoner]

The sales tax paid to an out of state business is ultimately remitted to your home state where you took delivery of the item. States have a headcount problem (too many employees) and need every dime of sales and use taxes to pay for them. Because of this they can go after out of state companies aggressively.

So if you live in Washington, for example, and buy something from Acme Co. in Colorado, Acme Co will charge you sales tax for your state (Washington). Acme is then required to complete a tax return for all of its sales to Washington (usually quarterly) and send in all sales tax collected on those sales. States continue to grapple with the boom in internet sales and many have had a slow, bureaucratic approach to the challenges presented by identifying the out-of-state companies selling directly to consumers in their home state. Amazon didn't "do" anything other than get so big that the sales taxes on stuff delivered into a given state simply got too big to ignore as a source of revenue for the state government. The rules vary by state and can get complicated - some small businesses with limited shipments to some states may be exempt. In larger companies there is usually one of more people whose job is to do nothing but track and manage state sales and use tax to make sure the correct amounts are collected, tax returns are filed in the necessary states and, taxes paid.

To the original question - I don't know what states are in play here but most states require residents to declare and pay taxes (usually on their personal state tax return) on any purchases on which they did not pay sales taxes. So, if a California resident bought taxable items in Oregon (or picked up items shipped to Oregon, a no sales tax state) and brought them back to California, under the law the purchase should be declared on their annual personal state tax return and sales tax paid. If the state where you shipped the items for pick-up has state sales taxes, then the taxes paid would stay in the state where the item was picked up rather than the one where you live. Enforcement by states on this is a can of worms on individuals so compliance is rather low.

Most states with sales tax have a resale permit system in some form so manufacturers buying materials and supplies going into a product do not have to pay sales tax at that level. Same rules apply to wholesalers / distributors who resell the items they purchase from a manufacturer or another wholesaler. The sales taxes become due when a taxable item is sold in its final usable condition for use by the consumer. So if Acme Co buys first aid supplies to put into first aid kits that it sells, the purchase of those items is not taxable to Acme Co - its only taxable to the ultimate purchaser that will use the first aid kit rather than resell it. To add a layer of complexity - if Acme pulls some of those first aid items out of inventory to use in first aid kits in it warehouse or office (or give them out as samples), those items are taxable since Acme ultimately used those items in conducting its business operations.

Abuse of these systems never ends well but, again, enforcement typicaly targets companies rather than individuals. I'd rather deal with the IRS any day over state sales tax bureaus though.

 

[Threadcutter308]

Tellem' to eat a dick.
Fucking pricks think they are entitled to a slice of the pie from every angle.
With a little search foo many times a guy can find the item without the "tariff".

R

Yepper.....just look around a bit, they're out there. Their numbers will probably diminish over time, but (no tax) deals can still be had.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

It should be the tax based on the buyer billing address regardless of destination. Unless, the state has gross receipts tax in which case it will be based on the seller's location. But what we are starting to see it can be anyone of the three. It is very jacked up right now.

 

[101stinfantry]

Ok, take this with a grain of salt (a big one, I been drinking). My wife nixed Benders idea (love ya Bender, and you never offended me yet), but she said she ain't dealing with no audit over some stupid bullets. So I'm left with shipping them to the inlaws. I'm not fucked up over that deal, as long as I can get around it. IMO, this is where gov't over steps and costs business' alot of money trying to figure out their stupid money grabs.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

Isolated and occasional sales are not considered as being in business. No tax on sales that fall under that category. It will be the larger merchants that get audited first. I would not worry about it for a while unless you have or are required to have a sales tax business ID in your state. It will be years before they get this figured out.

 

[Strykervet]

As a Washington resident, when I order something from an out of state online retailer such as Brownells, the retailer collects the correct local sales tax for my shipping address. That amount is apparently paid to Washington state through some process. If I were to ship to family in some other state, they would collect the correct sales tax amount for their location and pay that to the other state.

This is correct.

Fucking WA did this a while back with firearms only, you know, because fuck us, then liked the money so much they expanded it to everyone for everything.

There are some places that will still silently tell 'em to fuck off though, but these are getting to be fewer and fewer.

In some places it's only applicable if the place you order from has a location in your state. So you could order from company A if they were in some other state only, but not from company B if they have stores in both states.

What'd you expect as a tax slave? It's why I always check the PX and ebay first. I guess I'll be using the actual PX on Ft. Lewis more often now too and I SHOULD be dragging my ass to the commissary anyway --unfortunately I can count the number of times I've been to it on one hand.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

@Strykervet trust me states don't have reciprocal agreements when receiving sales tax revenue meant for another state. That would be an error on the seller and the state receiving that revenue is going to keep it until the seller fixes the mistake. There is such a thing as the Multi-State Tax Commission but they don't have this in their compact. They mostly deal with large audits that include several member states.

The way the wind is blowing states are leaning toward destination but it is a long way off. There is no way to regulate it right now and it is a state auditor's dream come true as far as that goes. It is going to be a nightmare for smaller companies up to and including having to register and report to up to fifty states. The best thing to do is let smaller companies report based on their location only. But that is never going to happen. Each state is its own greedy little kingdom. At some point SCOTUS is going to revisit this narrowed down to revenue distribution. We have greedy Wayfair and the poor state of South Dakota to blame for this mess. I'm at a loss how South Dakota pulled this off. They must have had some help outside of their own payroll attorneys. I was fine with Internet sales only being taxable when the seller and buyer were in the same state. But every state, not just South Dakota, complained about that as well. Most Interstate sales have always been preempted by federal law based on nexus until South Dakota v Wayfair. Somehow SCOTUS found a way around the Constitution. States are now looking at preempted interstate transportation tax revenue. SCOTUS opened the door for that argument. As a state government revenuer I don't relish becoming a state sponsored stage coach robber. I do relish being able to retire any time I want now. It's been a long time coming and I'm glad I'm not invited to meetings anymore. They don't want to hear this shit.