AAA tickets -- should the tax be FL state tax?

[44disney]

I just got a price quote from AAA for the WDW Annual Pass. The rate they gave me included tax, but it was my state's tax (TN) and not Florida tax (I figured this out when I got home and ran the #s). Is this right? I thought that the tax charged should be the Florida rate.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The tax is supposed to be the Florida rate, specifically the 6.5% for Orange County. If yours is higher than that, argue with them. If yours is equal or lower, mention it to them but do not argue if they want to charge the TN rate.

 

[seashoreCM]

The total price you pay may not exceed the price you pay at Guest Relations outside the park, but AAA is free to offer its own discount resulting in a price lower than that.

 

[Hootch]

tax rate, like Florida's, can change by county. In my county it's 9.25%. I would argue.

 

[44disney]

tax rate, like Florida's, can change by county. In my county it's 9.25%. I would argue.

Mine too. For the 4 APs that I need I would pay almost $55 in extra taxes if I were charged my rate.

Thanks to all for the help!

 

[sbell111]

I just got a price quote from AAA for the WDW Annual Pass. The rate they gave me included tax, but it was my state's tax (TN) and not Florida tax (I figured this out when I got home and ran the #s). Is this right? I thought that the tax charged should be the Florida rate.

They are correctly charging Tennessee sales tax.

The rule for sales tax collected over the internet is that if an online retailer has a physical presence in a particular state, it must collect sales tax from customers in that state. If a business does not have a physical presence in a state, it is not required to collect sales tax for sales into that state.

Since AAA South has physical locations within Tennessee, they are required to charge TN sales tax on internet sales.

The tax is supposed to be the Florida rate, specifically the 6.5% for Orange County. If yours is higher than that, argue with them. If yours is equal or lower, mention it to them but do not argue if they want to charge the TN rate.

As explained above, this answer is not correct.

 

[nkereina]

I used to work for AAA in NY. AAA sells and activates the tickets in the office when you buy them, so it is a direct sale for them. They charge the tax of whatever state you are in, just like anything else you would buy from them (their travel store).

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Which is interesting. If you buy Disney World tickets at any The Disney Store anywhere in the country, you are charged the Florida Sales Tax.

From a technical (and legal) point most state Sales Taxes are a "Sales and Use Tax". Since it is impossible to use a WDW ticket in any state but Florida, only the Floridqa tax is supposed to be collected.

You might ask your AAA Office to check with their legal department; they will find out that they are wrong.

 

[Otter49]

From a technical (and legal) point most state Sales Taxes are a "Sales and Use Tax". Since it is impossible to use a WDW ticket in any state but Florida, only the Floridqa tax is supposed to be collected.

Not quite. Use tax has less to do with where an item is used than whether tax was collected at the time of the transaction.

From the statutes:

"If you buy a taxable item outside Florida and bring or have it delivered into this state and you didn't pay sales tax on the item, you owe use tax."

By law, if a consumer buys a $20 flash drive from Oregon and the dealer doesn't collect Oregon tax, he's supposed to fill out a return and send a check to Tallahassee for $1.20. If the Oregon seller collects tax, Florida gets nothing.

Disney tickets or any other item should have tax paid at the rate of whichever state the transaction occurs in. States have no way of determining where every last item will be used and charge an alternate rate.

 

[44disney]

Ok -- I guess that I will give my local AAA a call but not expect too much. The AP price from AAA is approx. $18 cheaper per ticket, but if I have to pay my local (9.25%) tax then most of my savings goes away. I still save a bit but not as much.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Suellen]

My guess would be the tax rate where you buy them.

If they bought them from Disney as a wholesaler ~ then they resell them ~ it would be in the state they are doing business in.

 

[DISHoppy]

The tax should be applied from where the sale occurred, or if in the case of etailers, if they have a presence in your state/county. For example, when I place an order from Dell, they request which county in which I reside and apply the appropriate state/county sales tax (despite the fact that they are located in Austin, TX). Dell does not have brick & mortar stores here any longer, but they do sell computers, etc. through other retailers like BBY. Trust me, we went through a project on ISP taxation a few years ago (before Congress killed the legislation), and the sales tax is local based. We almost had to change our billing code to charge 'sales' tax based on where the user was located (not the ISP).

-Kevin

 

[camlace]

I agree 100% with Cheshire Figment after years of working at the Disney Store and other retail locations. The ticket has NO value or ability to be used in a state other than Florida. Only the 6.5% Florida tax can and should legally be applied. I would most definitely raise a stink if I was being charged greater than the 6.5%...if they were charging me less, I may point it out, but wouldn't kick and scream to pay more

 

[jmkjr72]

I agree 100% with Cheshire Figment after years of working at the Disney Store and other retail locations. The ticket has NO value or ability to be used in a state other than Florida. Only the 6.5% Florida tax can and should legally be applied. I would most definitely raise a stink if I was being charged greater than the 6.5%...if they were charging me less, I may point it out, but wouldn't kick and scream to pay more

try telling the state of wi that only fl will get there cut and they will laugh at you
if fl gets a cut and you sell it with a physical location in wi wi wants there tax too

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

As others have said, sales tax is due to the state in which the sale is made, as long as the selling agent has a physical presence in that state. Since AAA is reselling the tickets, they should be collecting sales taxes in the state in which the tickets are sold. If Disney Stores are collecting Florida sales taxes in other states, and not collecting/remitting the sales taxes for those states, then I'd have to believe that there are either sales taxes being imputed on the back end or something is majorly messed up with their accounting system. I have no doubt that WDW has far smarter CPAs than I do, so they may be exploiting a loophole, but this is a pretty settled area of the tax code.

Also, FWIW, when you buy something over the Internet and have it shipped to you in your state without paying sales taxes (assuming your state has a sales tax), you're legally required to report that purchase to your state and pay the sales tax yourself. Online retailers are not required to collect it on your behalf, but that doesn't eliminate the duty to pay the sales tax to your state. Obviously the overwhelming majority of people do not remit these sales taxes for these purchases, and it's still difficult for states to track, but it is technically the law.

 

[seashoreCM]

Correction, the item may or may not be exempt fom sales tax at the location of sale.

Florida sales tax is built into the price of the ticket to the first purchaser (which may be an agency such as Undercover Tourist or TIcketmania or AAA) and Disney remits the proper amount to Florida.

Often, a state may exempt from sales tax those items to be used in another state and with that other state's sales tax built in. I think that most of the other 49 states exempt Disney tickets and similar items otherwise no one could order tickets in advance for home delivery without owing use tax to their home state, perhaps to be reported on their state income tax returns.

Of course the out of state ticket agency will not sell many tickets if the total price is more than what the ticket could be bought for elsewhere including at the park.