I am going to New York from the Uk on holiday next year. If I purchase a MacBook Pro/IPad Pro/iPhone from an online store and have it shipped to my hotel in New York do any online retailers ship sales tax free ?
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Do USA online stores ship tax free to New York ?
- Thread starter whitedragon101
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Thanks
Are there any big and trustworthy out of state online retailers that don’t have stores in New York ?
This is likely the case, I can’t think of any myself. However you could cross the river into NJ and visit an Apple store or other retailer and save a bit on the tax. Either way it has to be better than the VAT, no?
I'm guessing you're visiting New York City, so if you are, the following advice won't really apply. However, if you're visiting upstate New York, it's not too far of a drive to go to New Hampshire, where there is no state sales tax.
Alternatively, if you find yourself in NYC with time to kill, you could (in theory) drive down to Delaware to the Christiana Mall Apple Store. Delaware, also, does not have state sales tax.
Quick question then. Let's say that the UK has an import duty of 15%. Can the UK resident claim that 8.5% was paid to NY, then only pay the UK the other 7.5%?
Also, would the import duty be paid against the US price, or the UK price (which is higher)?
You're getting a few things confused. When you bring it over the border you have to pay import duties + VAT over the declared amount (in this case the receipt price, unless it's obviously wrong). Import duties are different from VAT so can't be settled with paid US sales tax, maybe you could settle UK VAT with it but that would depend on the tax agreement between the US-UK (probably not though).
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He would spend more on toll fees than he would just paying NY tax. Lol
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Many online retailers have lost in legal actions for not collecting sales taxes. For quite a few years now, I have not seen any reputable retailer of any kind of product in the US that has not charge tax at the rate in the state the item is shipped to. I do not think you are going to save any money here with this strategy except for going to another state.
That's why I said "in theory". He could make a whole day out of it. Visit the beautiful sites in and around the Delaware Valley. Or if a trip to DC is in the cards, he could stop by the Christiana Mall to pick up a few necessities.
Adorama and B&H Photo are authorized Apple resellers and don't collect tax outside NY.
Depends which computer he is getting. I tagged along with my brother who did this last year for his MBP, he ordered it online for in-store pickup in DE... on a 2700 laptop, sales tax in NYC would have been $239, we paid $17 total in tolls round trip... and I guess if you want to get really nitpicky he filled up his tank with $48 and only used about 3/4
That's awesome. Totally forgot about that. And yeah, there's not that much in Delaware, some nice beaches and tax free shopping. That's about all.Is it everything Wayne’s world promised ?
If you're not a US citizen and taking the purchase out of the country, you should be able to get any sales tax reimbursed by filing lots of paperwork in the airport. Of course, once you land back in the UK, you're supposed to declare the purchase and pay UK taxes.
Also, you may have a more difficulty getting warranty coverage this route, as the warranty is often tied to the country where the product was purchased.
Also, you may have a more difficulty getting warranty coverage this route, as the warranty is often tied to the country where the product was purchased.
I live in one of the highest taxed areas of the country. If I can duck a sales tax or two when I travel, I’m not opposed to it.
US (sales) taxation is crazy, lol!
Sales taxes set per state, with extra county, and city rates. Some have a ~10% rate, others have absolutely nothing. And then you have online sales, where some retailers collect tax in some states (eg. they have an office/branch in the state), whilst others don't for whatever (often unclear) reason. Then most people are supposed to declare purchases and pay the difference on their tax return; which is so unenforceable that virtually no one does.
Sure this is supposed to be because one area is poorer and needs the spending investment there, whilst richer areas don't. But the confusion only makes tax accountants and tax software makers richer (plenty of lobbying in Congress, one suspects), and basically leads to people having massive headaches when working out what they can/cannot afford to buy.
It works especially well when companies advertise the price of the product, as they can basically say it's a nice lower price, than the actual one most Americans will actually pay: "Only $599" actually can mean more like $650.
And yes, I know I know, the arguments in comparison to Europe; e.g. US pay private health insurance, most Europeans don't, hence pay a generally fixed per country VAT rate, so we can have free (at the point of use) healthcare/higher welfare.
Still confusing.
Sales taxes set per state, with extra county, and city rates. Some have a ~10% rate, others have absolutely nothing. And then you have online sales, where some retailers collect tax in some states (eg. they have an office/branch in the state), whilst others don't for whatever (often unclear) reason. Then most people are supposed to declare purchases and pay the difference on their tax return; which is so unenforceable that virtually no one does.
Sure this is supposed to be because one area is poorer and needs the spending investment there, whilst richer areas don't. But the confusion only makes tax accountants and tax software makers richer (plenty of lobbying in Congress, one suspects), and basically leads to people having massive headaches when working out what they can/cannot afford to buy.
It works especially well when companies advertise the price of the product, as they can basically say it's a nice lower price, than the actual one most Americans will actually pay: "Only $599" actually can mean more like $650.
And yes, I know I know, the arguments in comparison to Europe; e.g. US pay private health insurance, most Europeans don't, hence pay a generally fixed per country VAT rate, so we can have free (at the point of use) healthcare/higher welfare.
Still confusing.
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The funny thing is that we Americans think the UK/EU way of showing the VAT added price to be weird. It's just what you're used to.
The closest savings would be to make a trip to microcenter in Paterson NJ. They are a good retailer for apple products, and I have gone there to make purchases. The area is a special tax zone in New Jersey at 3.5%.
The closest savings would be to make a trip to microcenter in Paterson NJ. They are a good retailer for apple products, and I have gone there to make purchases. The area is a special tax zone in New Jersey at 3.5%. Plus they are always running about 100$ off Macbook pros, and about 50$ off iPads,
The closest savings would be to make a trip to microcenter in Paterson NJ. They are a good retailer for apple products, and I have gone there to make purchases. The area is a special tax zone in New Jersey at 3.5%. Plus they are always running about 100$ off Macbook pros, and about 50$ off iPads,
Awesome great tip thanks.
Any link to info on this 3.5% area? I wonder if there is an apple store there too.
Any recommendations on how to get there if we are staying in Manhattan? Google comes up a blank when I ask for directions using public transport.