The Last Tax-Free Christmas Online?

Iria · Nov 30, 2006, 10:21 PM

Source: Forbes
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - There can be a guilty little pleasure in buying that $350 iPod or $1,200 laptop online: avoiding the sales tax you'd have to pay at a local store.

Technically, online purchasers owe sales tax to their home states and sometimes their cities or towns at combined rates averaging nearly 7.5%. (Except if they're from Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire or Oregon, which don't impose sales taxes.) But the Supreme Court has ruled a state can't constitutionally require a merchant to collect the tax unless the merchant has some physical connection to that state--say, a warehouse or a store there.

BlueMak · Nov 30, 2006, 10:32 PM

In the US you don't pay sales tax which my guess is like the VAT here when you buy online? That is super nice.

Zelig · Nov 30, 2006, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueMak

In the US you don't pay sales tax which my guess is like the VAT here when you buy online? That is super nice.

Sales tax differs per State.

I pay sales tax online already anyway.

Iria · Nov 30, 2006, 11:18 PM

Depends on a lot of factors. For example, if I order from Buy.com, I pay sales tax cuz they have a prescence in CA. If I buy from Amazon I do not.

Zeph · Nov 30, 2006, 11:28 PM

TN mandates that all online purchases have to pay a sales tax if it's shipped to a TN address. I live right next to the borders of VA and NC. If I ship to a friend to lives maybe 20 minutes away, I can save by not paying the sales tax.

SFOSOK · Dec 1, 2006, 12:34 AM

Tiger direct because tax is too much here in Cali for Newegg.

I had to pay over 200$ taxes when I ordered all the parts to build my computer.

**temeteus82** · Dec 1, 2006, 07:25 AM

We have flat 22% VAT type of tax back here. In all computer stuff.

Nov 30, 2006, 10:21 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	The Last Tax-Free Christmas Online? Source: Forbes ________ WASHINGTON, D.C. - There can be a guilty little pleasure in buying that $350 iPod or $1,200 laptop online: avoiding the sales tax you'd have to pay at a local store. Technically, online purchasers owe sales tax to their home states and sometimes their cities or towns at combined rates averaging nearly 7.5%. (Except if they're from Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire or Oregon, which don't impose sales taxes.) But the Supreme Court has ruled a state can't constitutionally require a merchant to collect the tax unless the merchant has some physical connection to that state--say, a warehouse or a store there.

Nov 30, 2006, 10:32 PM	#2
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,478 Rep Power: 349 System Specs	In the US you don't pay sales tax which my guess is like the VAT here when you buy online? That is super nice. __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

Nov 30, 2006, 11:28 PM	#5
Zeph DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 190 Rep Power: 0	TN mandates that all online purchases have to pay a sales tax if it's shipped to a TN address. I live right next to the borders of VA and NC. If I ship to a friend to lives maybe 20 minutes away, I can save by not paying the sales tax. __________________

Dec 1, 2006, 12:34 AM	#6
SFOSOK 939 Goin Strong Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Ontario Posts: 7,033 Rep Power: 90 System Specs	Tiger direct because tax is too much here in Cali for Newegg. I had to pay over 200$ taxes when I ordered all the parts to build my computer. __________________ Warning - Explicit Content Preceeding METAL!!

Nov 30, 2006, 11:18 PM	Thread Starter #4
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Depends on a lot of factors. For example, if I order from Buy.com, I pay sales tax cuz they have a prescence in CA. If I buy from Amazon I do not.