Does Apple EDU Store charge tax?

[crazycamel01]

General question but are orders placed on Apple EDU site charged sales tax (I am in VA or NC if it makes a difference)?

Thanks.

 

[wordmunger]

General question but are orders placed on Apple EDU site charged sales tax (I am in VA or NC if it makes a difference)?

Thanks.

They definitely do in NC. They even ask what county you are from.

 

[jxyama]

if your state has sales tax, then you will be charged the tax.

both va and nc have sales tax, so like WM said, you will be charged the tax.

 

[Kwyjibo]

there is no way around getting the discount and paying the tax to answer your next question.

no other resellers are allowed to offer this discount.

 

[jeremy.king]

there is no way around getting the discount and paying the tax to answer your next question.

no other resellers are allowed to offer this discount.

But some may match just to get your business and hopefully scam you with some wanna be AppleCare. CompUSA did this for me a while back. I didn't buy the warranty and once I told them I wasn't interested, they got all sour and tried to make me feel bad about them going "out of their way" for me.

 

[PlaceofDis]

But some may match just to get your business and hopefully scam you with some wanna be AppleCare. CompUSA did this for me a while back. I didn't buy the warranty and once I told them I wasn't interested, they got all sour and tried to make me feel bad about them going "out of their way" for me.

haha im suuuuure they went "out of thier way" for you, i mean they actually helped you right? but anyways yeah i can see some resellers offering something similar to get the business

 

[FasterSoonerNow]

They sure do.

I got charged $215 worth of sales tax last night ordering my PB.


OUCH.

 

[FasterSoonerNow]

But some may match just to get your business and hopefully scam you with some wanna be AppleCare. CompUSA did this for me a while back. I didn't buy the warranty and once I told them I wasn't interested, they got all sour and tried to make me feel bad about them going "out of their way" for me.

I work at CompUSA, and the only warranty we are permitted to sell on Apple products is AppleCare. Not our regular Technology Assurance Program we sell for PC's.

 

[michaelrjohnson]

Like most remote sellers, Apple will only charge you Sales tax in a state where an Apple Store resides. If there is no Apple Store, they have no "physical presence" in that state, and thus do not have to pay taxes for that state. That is why most of the purchases one makes over the internet do not involve sales tax.

 

[wdlove]

That is definitely the key, if Apple has a physical presence in you state and it charges sale tax then they will charge the customer. MacConnection also started charging sales tax in Massachusetts.

 

[crazycamel01]

ok so to clarify

Thanks a lot for your replies guys, so just to clarify:

So I get it shipped to business address in washington DC, since there is no physical apple store (from what I can tell from their store locator online, I may be wrong) then no tax will be charged for online order?

The reason I'm asking is kind of trivial, but my school saves me another $150 on top of apple EDU discount by discounting apple care, but if I save 7% NC taxes they charge then it will cancel out this savings and I can customize online as well (school offers only stock PB).

So tax-free Washington DC shipping?

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Like most remote sellers, Apple will only charge you Sales tax in a state where an Apple Store resides. If there is no Apple Store, they have no "physical presence" in that state, and thus do not have to pay taxes for that state. That is why most of the purchases one makes over the internet do not involve sales tax.

From what I understand that a physical store is not needed. There is something called "legal nexis". Something to do with employees operating within a state.

 

[Kwyjibo]

ok, some bigger comapnies (perhaps apple) volunteer to have customers pay tax in every state to lessen confusion ... every state that has sales tax will probably pay tax for apple, if you have concerns call up apple and ask them because by the time tax shows up you will have already entered your info

 

[michaelrjohnson]

From what I understand that a physical store is not needed. There is something called "legal nexis". Something to do with employees operating within a state.

Interesting. I had always operated under the assumption mentioned in my previous post. Could you post more information about this "legal nexis"?

 

[crazycamel01]

answer found

I called apple (which i should have done in the first place)...

they charge sales tax in every state and DC because they "are established" in these places. I'm passing on the info in case anybody finds it useful.

 

[TDM21]

ok, some bigger comapnies (perhaps apple) volunteer to have customers pay tax in every state to lessen confusion ... every state that has sales tax will probably pay tax for apple, if you have concerns call up apple and ask them because by the time tax shows up you will have already entered your info

I agree with this statement. I live in Kentucky where there is no Apple Store (at least that's what the website said) and I bought a 12" PB with AppleCare on the education discount. I was charged $90.72 sales tax.

 

[Foxer]

Interesting. I had always operated under the assumption mentioned in my previous post. Could you post more information about this "legal nexis"?

Legally, a "nexis" is created when a business holds itself out to do business in the state in question. This can take the shape of a physical presence (store, salesmen, offices) or other attempts to solicit business in that state, most notably through advertising.

This is the definition used (more or less) to determine if a company can be sued in the state courts of a state in which their headquarters is located. In short, if a company expects to sell something to a citizen of sate X, then it can expect to be sued in state X.

All that being said, I have no idea if it is the same standard used to determine the existance of a "nexis" for sales tax purposes.

 

[jxyama]

Legally, a "nexis" is created when a business holds itself out to do business in the state in question. This can take the shape of a physical presence (store, salesmen, offices) or other attempts to solicit business in that state, most notably through advertising.

This is the definition used (more or less) to determine if a company can be sued in the state courts of a state in which their headquarters is located. In short, if a company expects to sell something to a citizen of sate X, then it can expect to be sued in state X.

All that being said, I have no idea if it is the same standard used to determine the existance of a "nexis" for sales tax purposes.

sounds as good as any explanations... thanks for the info. apple is a national brand so it makes sense that it would be "in business" in all states, regardless of the physical presence (or the lack thereof) of the apple store.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Interesting. I had always operated under the assumption mentioned in my previous post. Could you post more information about this "legal nexis"?

I did try to find information on it before I posted. But came up empty other than for this reference:

Governor McGreevey proposed a 50 cent cigarette tax increase and levying businesses taxes against companies without a legal nexis in New Jersey

From: http://www.atr.org/taxalert/2002/032902ta.html

crazycamel01 probably put better, that a company can have an "established" presence in a state without a physical presence. I came across this when I worked with Micro Center when they started their Business Services unit. Our travels into DC and Maryland (the store is in Virginia) were restricted. Because too many trips in to those states "establishes" a presence in that state.

An example would be for a company to setup shop in Delaware (no sales tax) and have a sales staff that lives in DE, and never stays overnight in another state. They travel to neighboring states each day making sales and delivering product. They have no physical presence in the neighboring states. The neighboring states and their businesses suffer from loss of sales and use taxes, and the businesses due to "unfair" competition.

 

[michaelrjohnson]

crazycamel01 probably put better, that a company can have an "established" presence in a state without a physical presence. I came across this when I worked with Micro Center when they started their Business Services unit. Our travels into DC and Maryland (the store is in Virginia) were restricted. Because too many trips in to those states "establishes" a presence in that state.

An example would be for a company to setup shop in Delaware (no sales tax) and have a sales staff that lives in DE, and never stays overnight in another state. They travel to neighboring states each day making sales and delivering product. They have no physical presence in the neighboring states. The neighboring states and their businesses suffer from loss of sales and use taxes, and the businesses due to "unfair" competition.

I understand the difference... tricky. This is perhaps why I'm not studying to be a Lawyer. All of these legal webs get tangled in my brain.

 

[iJon]

Like most remote sellers, Apple will only charge you Sales tax in a state where an Apple Store resides. If there is no Apple Store, they have no "physical presence" in that state, and thus do not have to pay taxes for that state. That is why most of the purchases one makes over the internet do not involve sales tax.

wrong, apple even has edu reps in states, every state has an apple presence and doesn't require an offical apple store.

iJon