State Tax Charged Where Gifts Are Sent?
#2
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quote:<HR>Originally posted by vernie:
I don't ever pay tax at Amazon, but my gifts being shipped to WA get charged for WA tax. Is this standard procedure?
Thanks in advance.<HR>
Yes, the shipping address is the address that gets taxed.
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#3
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Washington requires them to charge sales tax. WA is the only state that does that.
from Amazon.com website:
"Sales tax is charged only on orders sent within the state of Washington. Washington State laws require that we charge a sales tax on the full amount of the order. Because charges for gift-wrap and shipping and handling are considered part of the product, by law these charges must be included when sales tax is calculated.
No sales tax is charged when buying gift certificates; purchases paid for with gift certificates, however, will be charged sales tax if shipped to addresses within the state of Washington."
Depending on how large the order is, it may be cheaper to have Amazon ship to you, then reship to WA.
[This message has been edited by Matt Parks (edited December 13, 2000).]
from Amazon.com website:
"Sales tax is charged only on orders sent within the state of Washington. Washington State laws require that we charge a sales tax on the full amount of the order. Because charges for gift-wrap and shipping and handling are considered part of the product, by law these charges must be included when sales tax is calculated.
No sales tax is charged when buying gift certificates; purchases paid for with gift certificates, however, will be charged sales tax if shipped to addresses within the state of Washington."
Depending on how large the order is, it may be cheaper to have Amazon ship to you, then reship to WA.
[This message has been edited by Matt Parks (edited December 13, 2000).]
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Matt, your statement sounded to me, at first, like you were saying Washington is the only state that requires sales tax be collected on online orders sent to that particular state. However, I later realized you probably mean WA state is the only one that requires Amazon in particular to collect sales tax on orders shipped within the state.
But, I wanted to clarify something (for the sake of vernie and anyone else who has wondered about this) based on what I learned while working in the customer satisfaction center of a major worldwide clothing retailer.
If a company operates an office, warehouse, store, etc., in any particular state, any orders shipped to that state must have sales tax added, just as if the merchandise was purchased in that state. The exception is, of course, any state without sales tax (like Oregon).
Amazon charges sales tax on any orders sent to WA addresses since the company is based here. Other online retailers are also required to charge sales tax on orders sent to states where they have some sort of physical presence (I think this was discussed a few months ago about either buy.com or 800.com), so it's not something that ONLY Washington state requires.
In the case of Eddie Bauer, they are required to collect sales tax on catalog & online orders shipped throughout the entire U.S. (with the exception of tax-free states) because at least one retail store is in operation in each state. If you think this may be due to its headquarters in WA, think again. Its parent company, Spiegel, isn't based here, but it has to collect sales tax on catalog orders shipped to the few states where they operate a Spiegel Outlet store.
So the moral is this: If you don't want to pay sales tax on an online order, don't have it shipped to a state where the company operates any type of physical presence. Or better yet, move to a tax-free state so you never have to pay sales tax
But, I wanted to clarify something (for the sake of vernie and anyone else who has wondered about this) based on what I learned while working in the customer satisfaction center of a major worldwide clothing retailer.
If a company operates an office, warehouse, store, etc., in any particular state, any orders shipped to that state must have sales tax added, just as if the merchandise was purchased in that state. The exception is, of course, any state without sales tax (like Oregon).
Amazon charges sales tax on any orders sent to WA addresses since the company is based here. Other online retailers are also required to charge sales tax on orders sent to states where they have some sort of physical presence (I think this was discussed a few months ago about either buy.com or 800.com), so it's not something that ONLY Washington state requires.
In the case of Eddie Bauer, they are required to collect sales tax on catalog & online orders shipped throughout the entire U.S. (with the exception of tax-free states) because at least one retail store is in operation in each state. If you think this may be due to its headquarters in WA, think again. Its parent company, Spiegel, isn't based here, but it has to collect sales tax on catalog orders shipped to the few states where they operate a Spiegel Outlet store.
So the moral is this: If you don't want to pay sales tax on an online order, don't have it shipped to a state where the company operates any type of physical presence. Or better yet, move to a tax-free state so you never have to pay sales tax
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quote:<HR>Originally posted by CoryB:
Matt, your statement sounded to me, at first, like you were saying Washington is the only state that requires sales tax be collected on online orders sent to that particular state. However, I later realized you probably mean WA state is the only one that requires Amazon in particular to collect sales tax on orders shipped within the state.
But, I wanted to clarify something (for the sake of vernie and anyone else who has wondered about this) based on what I learned while working in the customer satisfaction center of a major worldwide clothing retailer.
If a company operates an office, warehouse, store, etc., in any particular state, any orders shipped to that state must have sales tax added, just as if the merchandise was purchased in that state. The exception is, of course, any state without sales tax (like Oregon).
Amazon charges sales tax on any orders sent to WA addresses since the company is based here. Other online retailers are also required to charge sales tax on orders sent to states where they have some sort of physical presence (I think this was discussed a few months ago about either buy.com or 800.com), so it's not something that ONLY Washington state requires.
In the case of Eddie Bauer, they are required to collect sales tax on catalog & online orders shipped throughout the entire U.S. (with the exception of tax-free states) because at least one retail store is in operation in each state. If you think this may be due to its headquarters in WA, think again. Its parent company, Spiegel, isn't based here, but it has to collect sales tax on catalog orders shipped to the few states where they operate a Spiegel Outlet store.
So the moral is this: If you don't want to pay sales tax on an online order, don't have it shipped to a state where the company operates any type of physical presence. Or better yet, move to a tax-free state so you never have to pay sales tax <HR>
Right, what I posted is refers to Amazon specifically. I was pointing out that Amazon addresses this specifically on their site.
Also, even if you don't have to pay sales tax on on-line purchases, many states require you to pay use tax, which is like sales tax in reverse--the customer is responsible for paying rather than the retailer. Anyone buying on-line should be aware of this if it applies to their state. It's ot widely enforced, but if you get audited they're going to want that money also.
[This message has been edited by Matt Parks (edited December 14, 2000).]
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In the case of Eddie Bauer, they are required to collect sales tax on catalog & online orders shipped throughout the entire U.S. (with the exception of tax-free states) because at least one retail store is in operation in each state. If you think this may be due to its headquarters in WA, think again. Its parent company, Spiegel, isn't based here, but it
has to collect sales tax on catalog orders shipped to the few states where they operate a Spiegel Outlet store.
I live in NYC and I placed an order online at Eddie Bauer. Although I was not charged tax on my clothing, I was charged tax on the shipping (they had to collect tax some way.) My advice, go to the store and just buy the clothing.
has to collect sales tax on catalog orders shipped to the few states where they operate a Spiegel Outlet store.
I live in NYC and I placed an order online at Eddie Bauer. Although I was not charged tax on my clothing, I was charged tax on the shipping (they had to collect tax some way.) My advice, go to the store and just buy the clothing.