Anyone know anything about online sales tax and CA?

[Nanu57v]

I went to buy some infant bows from an online retailer based in CA. I noticed at check out I was charged 8.25% sales tax. I questioned this, and was told the state requires them to collect it from everyone. This makes no sense to me. I live in PA. Anyone know about this?

 

[SandrA9810]

It's true... and crazy. But they are correct.

 

[pixiewings71]

Actually, it's not true. The company I was working for (up until 2 weeks ago) had a website, NO ONE outside of CA was charged sales tax. Some sites do charge it and say they "have to" but that's not correct......

 

[bicker]

As I understand it, California law requires collection of sales tax on all online sales made by any company that has any operations or any business partners with operations in the state.

 

[Jingle]

Since I don't know your sales/use tax rates, were they charging you CA tax or PA tax? If they charged you CA tax they would be incorrect. If they charged you PA tax that would be correct. They could either be voluntarily registered to collect sales/use tax in PA or may have a requirement to register there depending on their activities in that state.

 

[barkley]

i'll just add that when we lived in california the law was such that different counties/cities in which buisnesses operated had different sales tax rates (areas within the "bay area" where BART-Bay Area Rapid Transit- was in service had a higher sales tax rate to fund it charged a higher rate than just adjacent areas that BART did not access). when those of us who had legal residence outside those areas purchased in those areas all we had to do was provide residence i.d. to get the appropriate sales tax charged.

we lived in the lower tax area, but often there were better sales on some items in the higher sales tax area (guessing it was to offset the taxes)-we traveled, purchased, showed our i.d. and got the appropriate sales tax.

i have not bought on-line from a ca buisness recently, but in the past, when i lived there, entering my zip code resulted in a lower sales tax rate.


maybe try calling the company's direct number to clarify/correct?

 

[bumbershoot]

As I understand it, California law requires collection of sales tax on all online sales made by any company that has any operations or any business partners with operations in the state.

From what I've been hearing from DH who works at amazon, which is right in the thick of all of this internet sales tax stuff, that's about right. And what state's tax you should pay is part of the mess that the state govt's are trying to work out....it's just a mess, IMO!

 

[bicker]

At least, so far, no one is suggesting that you pay tax in both states!

 

[Nanu57v]

Thanks guys! I missed the notification and was bummed no one reponded. I was being charged California tax...she's a single entity (no businesses elsewhere). I emailed her and she said it was a CA law. I just couldn't find it written anywhere on the internet. If she had a store in PA, yeah, sure charge me PA tax, but her only store is in CA.

 

[dis-happy]

Thanks guys! I missed the notification and was bummed no one reponded. I was being charged California tax...she's a single entity (no businesses elsewhere). I emailed her and she said it was a CA law. I just couldn't find it written anywhere on the internet. If she had a store in PA, yeah, sure charge me PA tax, but her only store is in CA.

I have to wonder if she's deferring tax on the product pieces (ie. buying the ribbon and not paying sales tax) and then has to fill out the CA state sales tax form and pay tax to the State Board of Equalization. I bet she's a small business owner that doesn't know what she's doing.

 

[Jingle]

You should not be charged CA tax on a purchase you made over the internet from a retailer located in CA but who mailed, shipped or delivered the product to you in another state.

Check out CA Regulation 1620(2)(B) at the following web page.

http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/reg1620.pdf

 

[pppiglet]

At least she only charged you 8.25%. Where we work in CA it's 10.75! Where I live it's 9.75 and 1 mile in the other direction is 8.75. What a mess we have here.

 

[bicker]

I was being charged California tax...she's a single entity (no businesses elsewhere).

How does she collect money? If she has a company like Yahoo or Amazon.com do her collections, then she's subject to the laws they're subject to, according to CA law. That's actually what the new law was all about - these affiliate arrangements - though the intention was to use them in reverse, it makes sense that it works both ways.

 

[dawson5]

I've been buying stuff from Newegg (located in CA) since '05. I went back and read my whole ordering history. April '05 until Feb '10, I was never charged tax. I bought my sons a bat from Justbats, they are located in MO, no tax charged.

I know if I order from Kohl's/Best Buy/Penney's/etc., I will be charged tax because of the b&m stores being located within my state.

I don't think I've bought anything online since Feb. Have tax laws changed? I know there was an uproar because of the lost revenue to online out of state sales.

 

[Nanu57v]

How does she collect money? If she has a company like Yahoo or Amazon.com do her collections, then she's subject to the laws they're subject to, according to CA law. That's actually what the new law was all about - these affiliate arrangements - though the intention was to use them in reverse, it makes sense that it works both ways.

She uses a paypal shopping cart.

I wonder if maybe it is the tax deferred thing...or maybe she's just pocketing the extra money?

I'll send her the link with the rules and see what she says.

 

[IDoDis]

I ran into a similar problem when ordering some clothes online for DD from Abercrombie & Fitch. They charged me sales tax, but there are no brick & mortor A&F stores in my state (New Mexico). I called A&F's customer service which was horrible. I could not get an answer, just an order taker who kept reading from a script and she would not connect me to a supervisor (it's against A&F's policy!!).

I called back the next day hoping to get an answer from a different person but got the same story. All I wanted was an explanation as to why I was paying sales tax. So, I wrote online to my state senator. I haven't received a reply yet. I can only guess that I was charged a sales tax because we have Hollister stores here which is an affiliate company of A&F. That's all they had to tell me. If I don't get a straight answer from my senator, I'm going to dispute the sales tax charge on my credit card and let my credit card company investigate and figure it out.

 

[bicker]

If I don't get a straight answer from my senator, I'm going to dispute the sales tax charge on my credit card and let my credit card company investigate and figure it out.

Be careful: A few small businesses are beginning to keep track of who does charge-backs, and threaten to reject orders from anyone they consider "bad" customers.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38022188/ns/business-consumer_news/

While the "service" BadCustomer.com provides may or may not be to our liking, so far, it seems legal, and it could conceivably be a boon for small businesses that aren't looking for repeat business from consumers who regularly use charge-backs to get satisfaction that they cannot get through normal customer service offered.

 

[IDoDis]

Be careful: A few small businesses are beginning to keep track of who does charge-backs, and threaten to reject orders from anyone they consider "bad" customers.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38022188/ns/business-consumer_news/

While the "service" BadCustomer.com provides may or may not be to our liking, so far, it seems legal, and it could conceivably be a boon for small businesses that aren't looking for repeat business from consumers who regularly use charge-backs to get satisfaction that they cannot get through normal customer service offered.

I called the company twice and both times I got the CSR's name and employee number. I documented this in my letter to my state representative, so if they put me on the list, I can get my name removed (based on the info in the link) because I contacted them twice and they refused to give me any information.

I'm not going to be bullied by them. They could not give me a straight answer and if my senator can't either (or says I should contact my cc company), then I'm going after it.

Thanks for the info though!