ATT charged me 8.25% tax (in California) for my 8GB iPhone, and the tax was computed on the pre-subsidized amount which is $399. So my final cost after tax turned out to be $199 + $32.92 (8.25% of $399) = $231.92. Did others who bought the phone from AT&T get taxed on the higher amount as well? What about those who bought it at the Apple store? Shouldn't AT&T charge sales tax on the lower amount?
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ATT computing tax based on 'no-contract' price
- Thread starter dealjunkie
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In California, you always pay tax on the non-subsidized price of the phone.
For example, if you sign up for two years to get a free (non-apple) phone, you pay tax on the "real" price of the phone, not zero.
makes sense. if you cancel your contract the state misses out on the extra tax revenue that would have been gained from paying full price. (i.e., you don't pay tax on the cancelation fee so cali charges the tax upfront)
legal... but very sneaky.
Yep, just got my bank statement for Jul '08, and it was confusing when they said that my 2 3G iPhones that I purchased were actually taxed at 8.75% which would have made the total purchase $650.35, but my statement reflected $685.32 or a difference of $34.97. Yes, the state of California took out their chunk of change for the "unsubsidized" iPhone price tag, but the Apple Store's receipt shows the tax@8.75, which I felt was really deceptive. I filed a dispute with my bank, but quickly terminated it, when I spoke with the Store Manager at the Apple Store. They need to change that practice and just tell us at upfront, instead of sticker shock at the beginning of next month's bank statement.