woods@hao.UUCP (05/21/84)
It is my understanding (I admit I am not a Constitutional lawyer) that the
US Constitution will not allow states to tax any transaction that does not
solely occur within the boundaries of that state, meaning that if the seller
and buyer are not in the same state, neither state is entitled to collect
sales tax on that transaction. At least in Colorado, this is also true of
city taxes. Two examples: I bought my terminal and modem while visiting
my brother (cepu!scw) in LA, because the shipping charge was less than the
sales tax would have been if I had bought it in Colorado (where I live).
When I bought a washer and dryer in Boulder, because the delivery address
was Lafayette, not Boulder, they did not charge Boulder City tax. BTW, this
was true even though I still lived in Boulder at the time I made the purchase
(I moved to Lafayette prior to the actual delivery, of course).
GREG
--
{ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!stcvax | harpo!seismo | ihnp4!stcvax}
!hao!woods
"Will we leave this place an empty stone?"jbf@ccieng5.UUCP (05/22/84)
At least in NY, sales tax must be paid more than once on an item if that item is a car. I purchased a used car, and needed to pay > $100 sales tax. Azhrarn -- "Some people are eccentric, but I am just plain odd" Reachable as ....allegra![rayssd,rlgvax]!ccieng5!jbf
hull@hao.UUCP (05/22/84)
Wrongo. Colorado does have a use tax law. If you go to California to buy
a terminal, Colorado state law requires you to pay state sales tax. To do
otherwise is to violate the law. (So I'm sure you're going to rush right
down and pay it, right? :-))
However, what I can't figure out is why some out-of-state distributors feel
compelled to collect the tax. What's the deal? Do they think that the State
Troopers are going to roll out the tanks and blow away their file cabinets?
What *is* going on here, anyway? When the McGraw Hill book club bills me
for Colorado State Tax, how am I supposed to be sure that they're really giving
it to *my* state like they say they are, anyway?
{ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!stcvax | harpo!seismo | ihnp4!stcvax}
!hao!hullburton@inuxg.UUCP (Thomas Burton) (05/23/84)
xx <- two-footed bug stomp! I didn't see the original, just most of the followups, so forgive me if this has already been mentioned. The Indiana State Tax form has a line for entering sales tax on all purchases made out-of-state. Thus, I gather I'm supposed to keep track of all my mail order purchases and compute sales tax on this amount to add onto my State Tax. Suuuurrrre. Similarly, even if I buy a car out of state (which I did, from my father in Va), I must pay sales tax on that car when I first register it unless I have a signed statement from the seller stating that he is an authorized car dealer and has collected sales tax on the purchase already. Of course, you can always lie about the amount you paid...(not that I would EVER recommend that!) Doug Burton ATT-CP Indianapolis inuxg!burton
essachs@ihuxl.UUCP (Ed Sachs) (05/23/84)
===================== Sellers are required to collect sales tax if they do business (i.e., have an office or store) in the state where the purchaser is (i.e., where the item is delivered). This is the reason that many mail order companies give a list of states where sales tax must be added (if you're lucky enough to live in a state where the mail order company does not have an office, they don't have to collect sales tax from you). As for local (city, county, etc.) taxes, treatment varies. As near as I can tell, if the local sales tax is collected by the state along with the state sales tax, then it is collected whenever state sales tax is collected for a delivery within the taxing area. If the local sales tax is collected locally, the situation may be different (and probably varies from state to state). -- Ed Sachs AT&T Bell Laboratories Naperville, IL ihuxl!essachs