Amazon sales tax issue.

Gaidin43

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I have used amazon through the years to order all sorts of parts, games, software, and many other things with free shipping, a great return policy, and of course zero sales tax. These new laws effecting sales tax is getting ridiculous. I order online versus buying in stores to save those hundreds and hundreds of dollars on that tax.

So my question is, how do I avoid, get around, or figure out a way to NOT have to pay this new sales tax being applied to my normal orders? There has to be a method to avoid this completely asinine issue.

This applies to NJ but also many other states across the country.
 

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I never heard of that before - but I don't live in the U.S.

Bummer if you now have to pay sales tax when you didn't before - is it 10% ?

We have always had to pay here in the UK - it is 20%.
 

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Never heard of not paying any sales tax. I live in Canada and I usually pay taxes on my orders through Amazon.
 

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Amazon.com has always charged me sales tax.

For internet purchases, the general rule is (or was) that if the company you purchase from has a corporate presence in the state you reside in, then you pay sales tax. So buying things online from, say, Wal-Mart, would essentially guarantee you'd pay sales tax. But buying from dude_selling_from_his_house_in_alaska.com and you live in NY, then you wouldn't. I'm not sure how the amazon.com tax works, haven't looked into it.
 

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When amazon has a presence in the state that you live in, they can charge sales tax on your order. I live in Michigan and Amazon is not in Michigan and thus they do not charge me sales tax. HOWEVER, we are required to report on our Michigan State Tax return the total amount of non taxed internet orders so that the state can gather the tax. Failure to do this, could get you audited. Each person will have to determine whether that savings in tax is really worth the hassle and process of a financial tax audit.

In the state of Michigan, sales tax is 6%.
 

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When amazon has a presence in the state that you live in, they can charge sales tax on your order. I live in Michigan and Amazon is not in Michigan and thus they do not charge me sales tax. HOWEVER, we are required to report on our Michigan State Tax return the total amount of non taxed internet orders so that the state can gather the tax. Failure to do this, could get you audited. Each person will have to determine whether that savings in tax is really worth the hassle and process of a financial tax audit.

In the state of Michigan, sales tax is 6%.
Ugh. What a pain to keep track of all that.

NYS is 4% but the counties tack on a lot. So it's 8% total sales tax in my county. Others are about that, give or take. Ouch.
 

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I'm not looking for an illegal options here but a legal one that uses 3rd party's for a legal loophole avoiding this issue. Because when you buy parts for use by your business you are tax exempt and amazon it was never an issue, now it is and why pay out more when you don't have to and there is a legal method of doing so?
 

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Have you tried contacting Amazon Customer Service with your concerns?
 

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I'm not looking for an illegal options here but a legal one that uses 3rd party's for a legal loophole avoiding this issue. Because when you buy parts for use by your business you are tax exempt and amazon it was never an issue, now it is and why pay out more when you don't have to and there is a legal method of doing so?

So are you a business? If so, then there's usually a special sales tax number or something you have that you communicate with Amazon so that they don't charge the tax. If you are buying as an individual, then you pay the tax based upon what state you live in. If you didn't used to pay tax and now you do, maybe Amazon established a business presence in your state?
 

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    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6"
I'm not looking for an illegal options here but a legal one that uses 3rd party's for a legal loophole avoiding this issue. Because when you buy parts for use by your business you are tax exempt and amazon it was never an issue, now it is and why pay out more when you don't have to and there is a legal method of doing so?

Actually, no. Buying things for use in your business still incurs sales tax. Buying things that you will RESELL through your business does not.

Having said that, if you have a sales and use permit, and tax exempt status, then contact Amazon's corporate sales department.

Amazon start charging sales tax in all states because a number of states have started requiring it. They have simply decided it's easier to charge everyone sales tax than deal with just these individual states.
 

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It's not so easy...

Have you tried contacting Amazon Customer Service with your concerns?

Trust me, Amazon doesn't want to do this to their customers but are being forced to do so by the government. In fact the US Government is looking at all of e-commerce with regards to taxes since e-commerce is becoming big business. Also, state and local merchants are starting to complain that places like Amazon have an "un-fair" advantage because they aren't charging taxes, which helps keep their pricing low, and thus take business away for the locals.

To fight back, more and more places like Best Buy are price matching places like Amazon. I now find that I can go into my local Best Buy and purchase items at Amazon's price, plus taxes of course. They get the sale, I get my item right there and then, and the taxes usually balance out say 1 day shipping.

Win-Win for me and the locals, provided they have the item(s) I'm looking for.
 

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