Why do i have to pay NY Tax when there Shipping it from CA

[forcesteeler]

Im soon going to be a new Mac Owner. I bought a Mac Pro 2.66GHZ Intel Xeon from Apple.com Store This will be my first mac. I live in NY

I got the tracking# today and i realize that its shipping from CA.

My question is why do i have to pay for NY State tax when Im ordering online and there shipping it from CA?. Just a question because i ordered from Amazon.com and Dell.com and they never charged me for Tax.

Don't mean to complain and sound cheap but i can use the extra $300 bucks.

 

[Eidorian]

Apple has stores in New York.

 

[siurpeeman]

regardless of where it ships, apple does tax, because apple stores are present in every state, where it's subjected to state sales tax.

 

[sblasl]

I wish that was the case, there is no Apple store in Arkansas. Apple's policy is to collect sales tax in every state where it is applicable.

...because apple stores are present in every state...

 

[siurpeeman]

I wish that was the case, there is no Apple store in Arkansas. Apple's policy is to collect sales tax in every state where it is applicable.

no stores in arkansas? i didn't know that. well, this is apple's policy on sales tax, it seems.

 

[forcesteeler]

I highly doubt that. Because i bought something from officedepot.com and they never charged me for Tax.

And they have stores on almost every block in the U.S

 

[IJ Reilly]

If the company has a "presence" in a state, then they are supposed to collect the sales taxes for that state. Incidentally, in most states you are technically personally liable for the sales taxes if they are not collected by the retailer.

 

[xp2mac07]

Some companies still separate their "brick and mortar" stores and their Internet stores as two separate entities. If that's the case, the Internet store only has nexus (a physical presence) where it's offices and warehouses are located. This used to be more common a few years ago, but most major retailers have combined their Internet and storefront retail operations. When the operations are combined, customers usually have the ability to buy and pickup at a store or can return or exchange items bought online to a store.

There's a tradeoff. If a company wants to offer service at its retail storefronts, it will have to charge sales tax in any state in which it has a location. If the company wants to separate operations, the Internet store is completely separate, but it does not have to charge sales tax.

All that said, just because the company is not required to collect sales tax does not mean that you are off the hook from having to pay it. Every state that has a sales tax also has a use tax. The use tax requires the consumer to remit the tax on an item for which the consumer did not pay sales tax. It works differently in each state, but the bottom line is that you're still supposed to pay. Of course, very few people actually do.

 

[spinne1]

Having just sat through a legal seminar with the head of Tennessee's version of the IRS, I can tell you that the day is coming when almost ALL internet purchases will be taxed. Enjoy while you can.

 

[Hmac]

I wish that was the case, there is no Apple store in Arkansas. Apple's policy is to collect sales tax in every state where it is applicable.

Apple's educational division sells a lot of stuff at the bookstores of various colleges in Arkansas. That's all it takes for a "retail presence" that state law requires to mandate the collection of sales tax for online purchases.

 

[Hmac]

Having just sat through a legal seminar with the head of Tennessee's version of the IRS, I can tell you that the day is coming when almost ALL internet purchases will be taxed. Enjoy while you can.

Yeah, yeah, I've been hearing that since the day B&H Photo invented mail order.

 

[floam]

Having just sat through a legal seminar with the head of Tennessee's version of the IRS, I can tell you that the day is coming when almost ALL internet purchases will be taxed. Enjoy while you can.

You only mean for people who live in places with sales tax, right? I can't imagine them making us oregonians pay taxes on purchases just because they're on the internet. That would really suck.

I really cherish paying with a one dollar bill when something at a store costs $1.00.

 

[Tiger the Frog]

Of course you only have to pay tax if it's due from your state

My understanding is that everyone is "supposed" to pay State sales tax on what they buy, no matter whether they buy it on the internet or in a store in their home state.

It's just that if you buy Mac stuff from Apple, or a website like Macconnection, they take it out the correct sales tax for the state they send it to. But there are lots of websites that are authorized Mac dealers that don't deduct taxes. It's easy to find out the policies on tax deductions on any of the sites that sell Macs and Mac supplies.

I don't know the facts, but I bet spinne1 is right. Eventually all sites will charge state taxes. I can't imagine why Macconnection and others wouldn't want to be competitive with pricing if they didn't see a crackdown ahead.

 

[Hmac]

My understanding is that everyone is "supposed" to pay State sales tax on what they buy, no matter whether they buy it on the internet or in a store in their home state.

It's just that if you buy Mac stuff from Apple, or a website like Macconnection, they take it out the correct sales tax for the state they send it to. But there are lots of websites that are authorized Mac dealers that don't deduct taxes. It's easy to find out the policies on tax deductions on any of the sites that sell Macs and Mac supplies.

I don't know the facts, but I bet spinne1 is right. Eventually all sites will charge state taxes. I can't imagine why Macconnection and others wouldn't want to be competitive with pricing if they didn't see a crackdown ahead.

Most (but not all) states have a sales tax, and in those states we are all "supposed" to pay sales tax on everything we buy (some states exclude some items). However there is just no practical way of collecting that, so most states don't bother.

Mail order or online resellers have to collect sales tax for the state IF they have a brick-and-mortar or "retail" presence in that same state.

MacConnection only collects sales tax from a few states...most online resellers only collect sales tax from the state where they're located. I think MacConnection has distribution centers in those states.

We collect sales and use taxes for sales shipped to the State(s) of Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas. Additional states may be added without notice. We shall not be liable for handling or customs charges for shipments outside the United States.