Sales Tax on Grocery Delivery?

[MLK-RI]

I was checking out our first order through Garden Grocer and up popped sales tax in the order totals. Sales Tax of $8.53 on $131.17 of Groceries. This is not just sales tax on the delivery service fee but on the whole order. Really?

I didn't think there was sales tax on groceries in FL. I've sent email to GG asking about it but no response yet, so I thought I'd float it here as the Dis members always seem to have the answers when I need them. Thank you!

 

[JimMIA]

There is no Florida sales tax on groceries, and it appears they have charged you 6.5%, which is the applicable sales tax in Orange County. Your order is a transaction which will occur solely within Florida and therefore is not subject to tax on groceries.

If they tell you there is a tax on their service, that's not correct either. There is no sales tax on services. If they tell you they have to charge sales tax because you ordered online, that's not true either.

If you order any non-grocery items (alcohol, laundry detergent, etc) those items would be taxed at 6.5%.

 

[OlderMan]

The sales tax rules of "groceries" here in FL are complex.

If you order alcohol--wine, beer--you get taxed.

If you order prepared foods--candy, crackers, hamburger helper, cooked chicken/meat, soda--you get taxed.

If you order non-prepared foods--pasta, beef, chicken, milk, etc.--you shouldn't get taxed.

Good luck in your fight!

 

[MLK-RI]

Thanks for your replies. I've contacted them and I've sent reference material from the Florida Dept. of Revenue showing what seems to be no tax on groceris that I am describing (non prepared foods)
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/forms/2001/DR-46NTInet.pdf

From the Dept of Revenue web site
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/forms/download/!sales.html

And they (GG) maintain there is 7% tax on most groceries. I will call them tomorrow for clarification as I still don't fully understand. I've shopped in several grocery stores in FL as recently as last Christmas and I don't recall paying sales tax on the usual items - similar to here in RI.

Has anyone else run across this with Garden Grocer? What about We Go Shop? Does Disney charge sales tax on the Villas grocery shopping list service?

Thanks for all replies.

 

[MLK-RI]

Just to note this in case others have this question....
After the email I received saying I was misinformed and there was sales tax on most groceries, I phoned Garden Grocer this morning. I spoke directly with Brian. He apologized for that sort of email and also said that yes there is some sales tax snafu with their computer and it has happened on a couple other orders. They are trying to get it sorted out right now.

He said they are in Lake County which has 7% sales tax on many grocery items (prepared foods, soda, etc. etc. - items we didn't order) but that he would be going through recent orders including mine to check the sales tax and refund the difference.

I felt much better after speaking with him and placed the order. While doing it, the sales tax was dropping so I am guessing that when he said they were working on it, he meant right now!

The order still had more sales tax on it than I think there should be but less than the original. I am still hoping that once he gets my full order today I will see a further reduction.

 

[conandrob240]

Glad you got that resolved! Is Garden Grocer the only option for delivery to DVC resorts?

 

[MLK-RI]

No there is also WeGoShop.com and we used them a few years ago. We were NOT happy. Since then they have changed ownership and I've heard good reports but I wanted to try Garden Grocer his time and had already done the entire shopping list on their site - you don't see the sales tax until you go to check out.

It became the principle of the thing at this point.

Also Disney has their own service but the items are rather limited in comparison.

 

[OlderMan]

Just remember that, if you have a car, you can shop off-site at the nearby Winn-Dixie or (in the other direction) Publix.

Both are much less expensive than Goodings and, probaby, the delivery services, too.

FWIW.....

 

[CarolAnnC]

In years past when we had a towncar service from the airport, we enjoyed a complimentary grocery stop a couple of times. We chose a store in one case, and the other service brought us to a Publix. We had about a half hour to shop and then the driver loaded the vehicle for us. Nice and easy...

 

[JimMIA]

I spoke directly with Brian...

He said they are in Lake County which has 7% sales tax on many grocery items (prepared foods, soda, etc. etc. - items we didn't order) but that he would be going through recent orders including mine to check the sales tax and refund the difference.

From some of the emails I have seen from Brian, and some of the poster comments, I suspect that Brian has great difficulty locating major parts of his anatomy using both hands.

Just so we all understand, there are really two issues here -- the main one of whether or not an item is taxable in the first place, and the second issue of what the tax rate would be on those items which are taxable.

First of all, what is taxable and what is not is determined by the Florida Legislature and does not vary from county to county. I think Old Man's comments above probably give you the best explanation of what is or is not taxable. A good general rule would be that "groceries" are not taxable, but some things sold in grocery stores (alcohol, prepared foods, etc) are taxable.

The basic sales tax in Florida is 6%. Some counties (most metropolitan counties) have obtained the authority to add 1/2% or 1.0% to that, yielding a tax rate of 6 1/2% - 7%. So the rate will vary a little from county to county.

An interesting question would be which tax rate applies. Brian is saying the higher 7% tax rate applies because they are located in Lake County (west of WDW), as opposed to the 6.5% tax rate in Orange County. There is no tax on services, so I would say the tax rate depends on where the food is purchased, not where the business is located. Keep in mind that sales tax is paid at the point of sale. So, if their office is in Lake County, but they shop in Orange...6.5%.

Based on what I've seen to date of this business, my bet is they are shopping in Orange, paying 6.5%, charging you 7%, and pocketing the pennies they make in the deal. Seems like something the Florida Department of Revenue should look into.

 

[MLK-RI]

Just to add the final report for anyone who may look this up in the future...

The grocery delivery from Garden Grocer was fine, we received everything we ordered and they left it with Bell Services as we had arranged.

The sales tax issue was an ongoing item that I took care of upon our return home. It took a couple more calls, speaking to Brian who did get it cleared up and refund almost the full charge. I didn't receive any notification of what the actual sales tax was but what ended up being charged was under a dollar and that certainly could have been correct.

It was a longer more involved process than I'd hoped but he did get it taken care of and was apologetic about the problem.

I did also alert him that I was doing a "dummy" order to see what the new programming was doing on the site and there was still sales tax coming up on things like milk, cheese and yogurt. He thanked me and said they were still working out the bugs in the new programming for the sales tax.

So the groceries were fine, the delivery was fine, their choice of produce etc. was exactly what we'd hoped for. Due to that I can recommend using them but I would be very wary of the sales tax issue going in.