iPhone sales tax, MobileMe discount questions

D

dustinl4m3

macrumors regular
Purchased two 16GB iPhone 3Gs on Friday, a couple of questions:

1) I was charged sales tax on the $499.00 price for each phone, rather than the $299.00 I actually paid. This is not mentioned on the receipt or any of the terms of service pages I read. I tried calling Apple and keep getting disconnected or in an endless "your call is being transferred" loop. Is this legal? I'm sure the govt wants their cut of the "real" price of the phone, but none of this is explained nor detailed anywhere. Should I have these charges charged back via AMEX?

2) I was told that if I purchased MobileMe along with the phones, I would receive a $30 discount. I was told this wouldn't show on my receipt, but once the phone was activated my credit card would be charged a different amount. I never received any sort of discount, and my credit card shows the full charge. Anyone else have any experience with this mobileme "discount"?

Thanks.
 
I've read a lot of reports of people getting charged sales tax on the full $499, but I got charged sales tax only on $299 (8.25% tax) by AT&T... I dunno why that is?
 
extraextra said:
I've read a lot of reports of people getting charged sales tax on the full $499, but I got charged sales tax only on $299 (8.25% tax) by AT&T... I dunno why that is?
Click to expand...

They're saying they get taxed on the $499 at the Apple store. Anybody buying at AT&T stores is taxed on the actual phone price.
 
Maybe that is a "state specific" sales tax regulation, but here in NJ I've sold (for 2 years for Verizon in the early 1990's) and have been buying "subsidized" phones for probably 20 years and never, including today when I picked up an iPhone, paid sales tax on the "list" (unsubsidized) price. Besides, what actually IS the UNSUBSIDIZED iPhone 3G price? That should be the "no contract" price which hasn't even been decided yet.

Wailord said:
Sales tax is derived from the unsubsidized price. That applies to any phone, as far as I know.
Click to expand...
 
I purchased at an apple store, the sales tax was on the subsidized price of the phone, and i was instantly given the discount on Mobile Me.
 
MisterEdF said:
Maybe that is a "state specific" sales tax regulation, but here in NJ I've sold (for 2 years for Verizon in the early 1990's) and have been buying "subsidized" phones for probably 20 years and never, including today when I picked up an iPhone, paid sales tax on the "list" (unsubsidized) price. Besides, what actually IS the UNSUBSIDIZED iPhone 3G price? That should be the "no contract" price which hasn't even been decided yet.
Click to expand...
To be honest, the only place I know that you're charged on the unsubsidized price is in Cali (I live in Vegas, though). The unsubsidized price is what I have to pay, along with every other in-contract-non-eligible AT&T customer has to pay: $399/$499.
 
I purchased two 16Gs from AT&T and was charged 7.5% on the 299.00 price of each.
Also, the price for the MobileMe at the AT&T store was 69.99, marked on the box.
 
got it from Apple Store in Texas...
tax was charged on

299.00 iPhone
99.00 - $30 discount
-
sub:368
tax:30.36
total:398.36
 
I finally got through to my local Apple store,

and they said that everyone (at their store) was charged sales tax on the full price of the phone ($499).

I guess the MobileMe thing was a mixup, they are going to correct it.

Sorta sucks that it wasn't explained to me that I will be paying tax on 400 phantom dollars. It's not in any policy or on any receipt, it just gets magically added to your total :(
 
dustinl4m3 said:
I finally got through to my local Apple store,

and they said that everyone (at their store) was charged sales tax on the full price of the phone ($499).

I guess the MobileMe thing was a mixup, they are going to correct it.

Sorta sucks that it wasn't explained to me that I will be paying tax on 400 phantom dollars. It's not in any policy or on any receipt, it just gets magically added to your total :(
Click to expand...

Since you're in California, it's the law: http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/pub120.pdf
 
I'm really unsatisfied with the service at my local AT&T store, in Rockford IL, I waited in line for 12 hours and they wouldnt give me a few minutes to choose wheter i wanted black or white, she just held both boxes up and said "Black, White, Times a wastin'" I wanted to tell her to shut the hell up, I just waited 12 hours, gimme 5 minutes to look it over for a minute. They never had displays up for anyone to see until the day of, and they were only Black.

So, now, I didn't even realize they has the mobileMe there, and if they dont gimme a discount on it, I'll be a bit pissed.
 
California law requires cell phone stores to charge tax on the full retail, unsubsidized price of the phone. Totally sucks, I paid almost $40 in sales tax for my $299 iPhone. ;)

I didn't buy the MobileME thing because I was at the AT&T store. Will they still let me go to an Apple store and buy it for the $69 price?
 
I got charged tax on the $299 ($26.16@8.75%) in California. It was a Direct Fulfillment, if that makes a difference.
 
Iphone Sales TAX

Who's zoomin who! I just got 1 refurbished 16gb 3Gs from ATT online store for $149 with sales tax 197. yep that is $48. This sales tax was based on a new phone price of $549.... give me a break, why am I paying full tax on a used object.
 
iphone purchase, renew AT&T contract

Hi, all,
if my billing address is in CA, can I renew my contract outside CA to get iphone with lower tax rate?

I read few discussion and it seems there is no standard answer. Some are charged with tax based on unsubsidized phone, some are not.

Thanks for responses.
 
cakelover said:
Hi, all,
if my billing address is in CA, can I renew my contract outside CA to get iphone with lower tax rate?

I read few discussion and it seems there is no standard answer. Some are charged with tax based on unsubsidized phone, some are not.

Thanks for responses.
Click to expand...

Sales tax is determined by the states. If you have your phone shipped to outside of CA or go to a store outside of CA, you pay that state's sales tax.

CA requires sales tax be collected on the unsubsidized price of cell phones.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top