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Avoiding State Tax on New MBP

M

m3kilpat

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 6, 2009
119
0
I'm trying to get around the issue of paying an extra 200-300 bucks in tax on a new mac pro. My best option is that my father lives on the border of NH (not in NH, in MA) so he could easily go to the Apple store for me. However I am in NY. I've called the store before and asked if I could make a purchase over the phone but they said no and must do it online, but that would cost me tax as it goes by where it is shipped. I also asked if I could have it "shipped" to the store so I could pick it up and avoid tax. No go. My 3rd idea is just have my dad go in and buy it but use my credit card number, or have them call me while he is there to verify everything and still essentially pay over the phone.

Do you think this idea will work or have any other suggestions in avoiding this massive tax? I can easily have it shipped to MA, RI or NY as I technically live in all 3 locations but that doesn't help.
 
This has been mentioned numerous times, by law you are still supposed to report it even if the retailer does not charge the tax. The only way you get around it is by living in a state with no tax or tax free weekends.

Scroll down on this thread to see the answers you will have coming to you.
 
Imagine if you grew up and could ban all taxes.

What would you shell out for personally first, paved roads or fire trucks?

Be a mensch and pay the tax...
 
by law you are still supposed to report it even if the retailer does not charge the tax
Click to expand...

Do you mean if a place forgets or just decides not to charge tax? Like a street vendor? There is no retail tax in NH at all. Are you saying I should tell my own state I bought this in another and ask them to please tax me?

I'd rather not pay $300 extra when I'm already paying a lot for a mac. If it were $20 I wouldn't care, but $300 is a good chunk of change.
 
You might be in debt, but chances are your state is too...
Click to expand...

Oh for sure it is. Highest unemployment rate and ridiculous debt. Maybe I'd help them out if they had a better way to fix the problem than a government spending of 12% more than last year to magically have less debt.

I can't help those who refuse to help themselves.
 
m3kilpat said:
Oh for sure it is. Highest unemployment rate and ridiculous debt. Maybe I'd help them out if they had a better way to fix the problem than a government spending of 12% more than last year to magically have less debt.

I can't help those who refuse to help themselves.
Click to expand...

That's for a different forum. If you clicked on the link I provided there are some suggestions of the not-so legal way to do it. If your state requires sales tax, by law you are supposed to submit it, whether or not people do is a whole other story.
 
Like the other poster said, try Amazon, and if that doesn't work, why not go visit your father for a day and take a roadtrip? Bring a friend and make a journey out of it. If you can afford a Mac Pro you certainly have the money :p

I bought my iMac in Delaware (I live in MD, so it was only an hour drive :)), and I saved about $75 bucks over buying it in MD. Frankly, I don't care what you have to say about the purported "ethics" of the situation; If I can save money by not paying taxes, I'm going to. That's why I buy online, that's why I buy in Delaware. MD can get my money on the 60% of purchases I make in person when I need daily essentials and food.
 
Yea it did get off topic. Either way I will call the Apple store today and see if it will work.

I've been waiting a long time to get one (money and need made me wait) and I'm pretty excited. Will be my first.
 
LizKat said:
Right.. probably my fault we got headed in that direction, sorry... :eek:
Click to expand...
No, I sorta was the one that really pushed it there.

m3kilpat said:
Yea it did get off topic. Either way I will call the Apple store today and see if it will work.

I've been waiting a long time to get one (money and need made me wait) and I'm pretty excited. Will be my first.
Click to expand...
Road trip... Apple is not going to tell you how to evade taxes either.
 
buddyguyman said:
I bought my iMac in Delaware (I live in MD, so it was only an hour drive
Click to expand...

I've been known to drive from Baltimore to the Christiana Mall store to avoid the tax. The worst they can do it put my in a call with Bernard Madoff.:eek:
 
Filmmaker?

If you are a filmmaker in NY you are tax exempt from purchases used in the production of a motion picture for sale. However, tax fraud is tax fraud. I'm assuming at least you're getting the educational discount and bonuses?
 
thegoldenmackid said:
You still have to pay taxes on that though.
Click to expand...

The only state PowerMax operates in is Oregon, which has no state sales tax. Since the US has no federal sales tax, PowerMax is not obligated to collect any sales tax on anything, ever. When they say "never any sales tax", they mean "never any sales tax".
 
m3kilpat said:
I'm trying to get around the issue of paying an extra 200-300 bucks in tax on a new mac pro. My best option is that my father lives on the border of NH (not in NH, in MA) so he could easily go to the Apple store for me. However I am in NY. I've called the store before and asked if I could make a purchase over the phone but they said no and must do it online, but that would cost me tax as it goes by where it is shipped. I also asked if I could have it "shipped" to the store so I could pick it up and avoid tax. No go. My 3rd idea is just have my dad go in and buy it but use my credit card number, or have them call me while he is there to verify everything and still essentially pay over the phone.

Do you think this idea will work or have any other suggestions in avoiding this massive tax? I can easily have it shipped to MA, RI or NY as I technically live in all 3 locations but that doesn't help.
Click to expand...

Where in NY do you live? If you can make it down to the Apple Store in Newark, DE, just across the Delaware Bridge at the end of the NJ Turnpike then you can save on tax.

I just saved close to $200 on tax by driving up from MD.
 
m3kilpat said:
Do you mean if a place forgets or just decides not to charge tax? Like a street vendor? There is no retail tax in NH at all. Are you saying I should tell my own state I bought this in another and ask them to please tax me?

I'd rather not pay $300 extra when I'm already paying a lot for a mac. If it were $20 I wouldn't care, but $300 is a good chunk of change.
Click to expand...

Yes. If NY is anything like NJ (which it is in many ways), then the state division of taxation has a line on the return specifically for out-of-state purchases.

However, few people actually comply since it's very difficult to enforce.
 
gdprof27 said:
Where in NY do you live? If you can make it down to the Apple Store in Newark, DE, just across the Delaware Bridge at the end of the NJ Turnpike then you can save on tax.

I just saved close to $200 on tax by driving up from MD.
Click to expand...

It would probably be easier for his father in MA to take a trip to NH than for him to drive all the way to DE.

I live in South Jersey, and it doesn't seem that the ride is worth the savings.
 
J the Ninja said:
The only state PowerMax operates in is Oregon, which has no state sales tax. Since the US has no federal sales tax, PowerMax is not obligated to collect any sales tax on anything, ever. When they say "never any sales tax", they mean "never any sales tax".
Click to expand...

I'm still pretty sure you have to pay sales tax, they just don't collect. Here is an example.
 
Where in NY do you live? If you can make it down to the Apple Store in Newark, DE, just across the Delaware Bridge at the end of the NJ Turnpike then you can save on tax.
Click to expand...

Currently I'm living 10 minutes from Lake Ontario. I'm interning at a place in Syracuse for the summer. I go to school 10 min from Albany. Going to DE would be more of a hike that NH.

I'm assuming at least you're getting the educational discount and bonuses?
Click to expand...
Sure am.

For anyone interested, I called the store last night and asked if someone else could use my card to make a purchase and they said no. I wanted to get a MBP asap because my current 3 year old laptop is about to STB. I will be in MA in another month anyways so I may just wait.
 
J the Ninja said:
The only state PowerMax operates in is Oregon, which has no state sales tax. Since the US has no federal sales tax, PowerMax is not obligated to collect any sales tax on anything, ever. When they say "never any sales tax", they mean "never any sales tax".
Click to expand...

PowerMax's statement is correct, as to them. It means that you , the purchaser do not have to pay them sales tax on your purchase. For example, if you live in California and you purchase a computer from PowerMax in Oregon, you do not owe sales tax, but you do owe California use tax (which strangely enough, is exactly the same as the State sales tax rate). The following is a quote right off the State Board of Equalization website:

"You generally owe California use tax when you use, consume, give away or store tangible personal property (i.e., products you can see, weigh, feel or touch, such as clothing, books, computers, DVDs or CDs) in California that you purchased from an out-of-state vendor. If the out-of-state vendor does not collect the California tax on your purchase, you must pay the tax."

The exception is for purchasers holding a seller's permit, who still have to pay sales tax when they resell the items.

In California, the matter is quite clear, if the internet seller does not collect the sales tax (a hotly contested issue), the consumer is required to report the purchases on their tax return and pay the tax at that time.
 
If the out-of-state vendor does not collect the California tax on your purchase, you must pay the tax."
Click to expand...

This sounds like even if another state does tax you, which would be that state's tax and not Cali's, then you must then pay a second tax for CA. Obviously a state is not going to tax based on another state. Only its own. Because that means you'd have to pay tax on all 50 states if they were to do that.
 
m3kilpat said:
This sounds like even if another state does tax you, which would be that state's tax and not Cali's, then you must then pay a second tax for CA. Obviously a state is not going to tax based on another state. Only its own. Because that means you'd have to pay tax on all 50 states if they were to do that.
Click to expand...

Sales tax is applicable / collected where the product will be shipped / used.
 
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