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iPhone5 Upgrade: How is Sales Tax Calculated?!

S

Scottyee

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 12, 2012
122
1
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
I just pre-ordered online, a $399.99 64GB iPhone5 (Black) from Verizon Wireless because they (Verizon) offered me a $30 phone upgrade discount credit bringing the price down to $369.99.

The sales tax in my area (San Francisco Bay Area) is 8.75%.

The sales tax for my iPhone5 came to $74.37, so must have been
based on the full retail ($849.99) price of the iphone5, and not
my $399.99 2 year contract renewal price.

If ordered from Apple, would Apple calculate the sales tax differently?

In addition, Verizon charges a $30 upgrade activation fee. Would this fee be charged if my Verizon iPhone5 were ordered from Apple instead?

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
H

HowardSmith

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2012
863
0
I think they do charge tax on the higher non-upgrade price, it has been discussed before and there is a upgrade fee.
 
dave006

dave006

macrumors 68040
Jul 3, 2008
3,566
889
Just West of East
Yes, Apple would have to charge you tax based on the full retail price just like Verizon did. Blame the state you live in. California and Rhode Island both do this.

Yes, you have to pay the $30 fee to Verizon since even though you purchased the device from Apple your contract is with Verizon.

Dave
 
I

iphone495

macrumors member
Sep 13, 2012
86
0
Scottyee said:
I just pre-ordered online, a $399 64GB iPhone5 (Black) from Verizon Wireless because they (Verizon) offered me a $30 phone upgrade discount credit.

The sales tax in my area (San Francisco Bay Area) is 8.75%.

The sales tax for my iPhone5 came to $74.37, so must have been
based on the full retail ($849.99) price of the iphone5, and not
the $399.99 2 year contract renewal price.

If ordered from Apple, would Apple calculate the sales tax differently?

In addition, Verizon charges a $30 upgrade activation fee. Would this fee be charged if my Verizon iPhone5 were purchased from Apple as well?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes, you would be charged the activation fee if you order from Apple too. I don't know why your sales tax is that high tough, mine was like 11 bucks. When I did my upgrade from Apple, it based my sales tax on what I paid, not what I would've paid without contract.
 
T

thenobody

macrumors member
Mar 16, 2011
86
30
We got charged two different sales taxes with two phones going to the same area. $9 difference. Crazy but whatever
 
dieburnbot

dieburnbot

macrumors 6502a
Aug 18, 2008
928
2
CA
Haha yah California sucks for cell phones. That's why I have mine shipped to my brother in Arizona and then he ships it to me with priority mail. Save about 40 bucks in taxes. Only drawback is I have to wait a day or two.
 
D

dudemanla

macrumors newbie
Jul 5, 2009
9
1
Call your Phone company and ask them to waive the upgrade fee. If you have been a valued customer for a long time then they will probably waive it as a courtesy. They may note it on your account to waive it and when your next bill comes in give Verizon or ATT a call and request to waive the upgrade fee. :) I did that with ATT and because I am a long time customer and I pay my bill ontime every month ATT told me they would waive it and they told me to call them when I get my bill.

Scottyee said:
I just pre-ordered online, a $399.99 64GB iPhone5 (Black) from Verizon Wireless because they (Verizon) offered me a $30 phone upgrade discount credit bringing the price down to $369.99.

The sales tax in my area (San Francisco Bay Area) is 8.75%.

The sales tax for my iPhone5 came to $74.37, so must have been
based on the full retail ($849.99) price of the iphone5, and not
my $399.99 2 year contract renewal price.

If ordered from Apple, would Apple calculate the sales tax differently?

In addition, Verizon charges a $30 upgrade activation fee. Would this fee be charged if my Verizon iPhone5 were ordered from Apple instead?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
E

ericver

macrumors newbie
Nov 5, 2012
1
0
dieburnbot said:
Haha yah California sucks for cell phones. That's why I have mine shipped to my brother in Arizona and then he ships it to me with priority mail. Save about 40 bucks in taxes. Only drawback is I have to wait a day or two.
Click to expand...

How did you do it? Did you purchased it on-line and have it shipped to your brother or your brother ordered the phone in AZ for you. Thanks.
 
dieburnbot

dieburnbot

macrumors 6502a
Aug 18, 2008
928
2
CA
ericver said:
How did you do it? Did you purchased it on-line and have it shipped to your brother or your brother ordered the phone in AZ for you. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I have AT&T. So what I do is login into the wireless account and change the account billing address to the address I want it shipped to.

Then I change the billing address of my credit card to match the shipping address as well (Amex lets you do it online very quickly). Then I order it online.

If you want you can also have the receiving person purchase it in store for you. They have to be listed on your account as an authorized user though. AT&T lets you add those on the website as well. Only drawback to this method is that you'll have to setup a way to pay the buyer.
 
A

albertxp06

macrumors regular
Oct 11, 2011
157
0
California
That's odd. I pre-ordered a 16GB iPhone 5 from AT&T and I didn't get charged tax at all. Credit card statement has a charge of $199.99 and my monthly bills stayed the same. Huh.

I live in CA and I got charged tax when I bought my iPhone 4 in-store.
 
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