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Trying to avoid sales tax

A

aooga12

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 15, 2012
35
0
Is amazon the only place where sales tax isn't included? I'd rather pay $10-20 for shipping and handling than a 6% sales tax on a $1049 item.

I'm shopping for the new 13" MBA 128GB

Oh yeah, after OSX is installed on it, how many gigs do I have left? Beause I wanted to try out boot camp w/ 7, and I know 128 isn't a lot to be splitting it between the two OSs.
 
aooga12 said:
Is amazon the only place where sales tax isn't included? I'd rather pay $10-20 for shipping and handling than a 6% sales tax on a $1049 item.

I'm shopping for the new 13" MBA 128GB

Oh yeah, after OSX is installed on it, how many gigs do I have left? Beause I wanted to try out boot camp w/ 7, and I know 128 isn't a lot to be splitting it between the two OSs.
Click to expand...

I've never had Macmall charge me sales tax but I've heard other say they charged them. Must be the state you're in. BTW, 2013 is probably the last no sales tax year. Looks like Congress may actually pass a law requiring all online vendors to collect sales tax.

Let's hope not but it's not looking good.

Cheers,
 
Looks like MacMall has stores in California and Illinois. According to their site, Amazon charges sales tax in Arizona, California, Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. I know they are building more distribution centers too - one is coming to New Jersey soon.

Aside from that, almost every state expects you to "voluntarily" pay tax on anything you buy out of state. This is called "use tax" - check you state's tax website for more info. Naturally, everyone always obeys these laws. :D
 
You have it easy with 6%. Here in Phoenix it's 9.3%. BS.

I don't think I've been charged tax on my Amazon purchases though.

I'll be getting my new MBA from Sweetwater, Macmall, or B&H.
 
aooga12 said:
Is amazon the only place where sales tax isn't included? I'd rather pay $10-20 for shipping and handling than a 6% sales tax on a $1049 item.

I'm shopping for the new 13" MBA 128GB

Oh yeah, after OSX is installed on it, how many gigs do I have left? Beause I wanted to try out boot camp w/ 7, and I know 128 isn't a lot to be splitting it between the two OSs.
Click to expand...

If you use amazon a lot, then prime is a great thing. Free 2 day shipping, that usually comes in 1 day and no sales tax :)

Also, if you are a student or order online b.c they do not verify the information you save $50 on the 13" air so it becomes a wash (through apple).
 
Cicatrix said:
I don't think I've been charged tax on my Amazon purchases though.
Click to expand...

They keep building new distribution centers and things are changing. According to their site, you will be charged tax in Arizona: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_left_sib?ie=UTF8&nodeId=468512

About Sales Tax on Items Sold by Amazon.com
Items shipped to certain states are subject to tax.

Items sold by Amazon.com LLC, or its subsidiaries, and shipped to destinations in the following states are subject to tax:

Arizona
California
Kansas
Kentucky
New York
North Dakota
Pennsylvania
Texas
Washington
Click to expand...
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
If you happen to be near Tigard, OR, Portland, OR or Dover, DE, or are planning to make a trip near there, you can always buy online via Apple and have your purchase shipped to one of those stores, then pick up when ready. You won't get charged sales tax.

----------
aooga12 said:
Oh yeah, after OSX is installed on it, how many gigs do I have left? Beause I wanted to try out boot camp w/ 7, and I know 128 isn't a lot to be splitting it between the two OSs.
Click to expand...

According to current specs, 8GB of available storage is required. Though I would budget double that so that there is plenty of room for updates and some apps.

Windows 7 requires 16GB of space if you're running 32-bit, and 20GB if you're running 64-bit. Again, I'd budget at least double for updates and apps.
 
I was looking for the same thing, but if you're in NY you're straight up out of luck.

Got one anyway, because time waits for no man.
 
aooga12 said:
Is amazon the only place where sales tax isn't included? I'd rather pay $10-20 for shipping and handling than a 6% sales tax on a $1049 item.

I'm shopping for the new 13" MBA 128GB

Oh yeah, after OSX is installed on it, how many gigs do I have left? Beause I wanted to try out boot camp w/ 7, and I know 128 isn't a lot to be splitting it between the two OSs.
Click to expand...

If you're absolutely serious about avoiding sales tax you can set up a holding company in the state of Nevada and make the company your billing address but not your shipping address. That way all of your purchases are billed through your LLC in Nevada in which there is no sales tax in that state.

This is useful especially since the new Internet Sales Tax law is about to be put into use.
 
Amazon does charge sales tax in many places as others have said, including Arizona. I just added an Air to my cart and checked, and sure enough, $54 in sales tax was applied.
 
c1phr said:
Amazon does charge sales tax in many places as others have said, including Arizona. I just added an Air to my cart and checked, and sure enough, $54 in sales tax was applied.
Click to expand...

woah, i guess that answers that, and that sucks. oh well. i like the Nevada idea.
 
oatman13 said:
If you're absolutely serious about avoiding sales tax you can set up a holding company in the state of Nevada and make the company your billing address but not your shipping address. That way all of your purchases are billed through your LLC in Nevada in which there is no sales tax in that state.
Click to expand...

Thank god for internet lawyers. For only a couple hundred dollars a year for the corporate renewal plus a few hundred more (at best) for setting up and registering the LLC plus a hundred or so for each year for a registered agent address as well as 8 or ten hours of your time to set up the corp you can completely avoid the $100 or so sales tax on a new macbook air. Brilliant !



(One more thing: Amazon is scheduled to start charging sales tax in NV in 2014 as they have a distrobution warehouse here in Fernly.
 
techn0lady said:
Thank god for internet lawyers. For only a couple hundred dollars a year for the corporate renewal plus a few hundred more (at best) for setting up and registering the LLC plus a hundred or so for each year for a registered agent address as well as 8 or ten hours of your time to set up the corp you can completely avoid the $100 or so sales tax on a new macbook air. Brilliant !



(One more thing: Amazon is scheduled to start charging sales tax in NV in 2014 as they have a distrobution warehouse here in Fernly.
Click to expand...

:D Hilarious! Although, I suppose it would make sense if you were using this scheme for large volumes of purchases.
 
techn0lady said:
Thank god for internet lawyers. For only a couple hundred dollars a year for the corporate renewal plus a few hundred more (at best) for setting up and registering the LLC plus a hundred or so for each year for a registered agent address as well as 8 or ten hours of your time to set up the corp you can completely avoid the $100 or so sales tax on a new macbook air. Brilliant !



(One more thing: Amazon is scheduled to start charging sales tax in NV in 2014 as they have a distrobution warehouse here in Fernly.
Click to expand...

Okay if you don't like renewal fees incorporate in Texas; however this won't work for Apple because Apple has offices in Texas and all 50 states. In order to bypass Apple taxes you'd need to incorporate in Delaware which is expensive.
 
Ha, 20% sales tax in UK and completely unavoidable regardless of where you buy :(
 
aooga12 said:
Is amazon the only place where sales tax isn't included? I'd rather pay $10-20 for shipping and handling than a 6% sales tax on a $1049 item.

I'm shopping for the new 13" MBA 128GB

Oh yeah, after OSX is installed on it, how many gigs do I have left? Beause I wanted to try out boot camp w/ 7, and I know 128 isn't a lot to be splitting it between the two OSs.
Click to expand...

B&H is where I tend to buy my Macs from. As long as you don't live in NY I would highly recommend them.
 
oatman13 said:
Okay if you don't like renewal fees incorporate in Texas; however this won't work for Apple because Apple has offices in Texas and all 50 states. In order to bypass Apple taxes you'd need to incorporate in Delaware which is expensive.
Click to expand...

Dunning-Kruger effect
 
if you don't need it now i would wait for apple's back to school promo.
i bought my 2012 128 gb 13" air with 8gb of ram (i think it's a $90 upgrade for students instead of 100) at the student store for $1344. the free $100 itunes gift card i auction it off ebay, after all fees i netted $84 bringing down my total to $1260 w/tax.
 
i live in california and bought from B&H. 2012 MBA 13" i5 8 GB RAM 128 GB SSD for 1269 flat, no tax. I dunno what they are charging now but they generally charge less than everyone else, I remember they were selling the base 13 inch Air for 1019 at one point.
 
Cicatrix said:
You have it easy with 6%. Here in Phoenix it's 9.3%. BS.

I don't think I've been charged tax on my Amazon purchases though.

I'll be getting my new MBA from Sweetwater, Macmall, or B&H.
Click to expand...

You have it easy in Phoenix, here it's 9.75 the highest in the United States IIRC.
 
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