WTF Rockauto?

[69hurstolds]

Allegheny County does the same thing with a 1% sales tax on top of the Pa 6%.

Now one thing that burns me with all these online venders taxing all sales is not only the goods get taxed the shipping cost get taxed. When was the last time the USPS charged you local sales tax on your stamps? Packing material used & being added by it's value maybe but I'm on the fence for something they could find a loop hole & use those cost for a tax write off.

Some states like Florida, Missouri and Mississippi and a few other don't charge taxes on shipping if it's listed as a separate line item, although Missouri recently changed something on that, not sure what it was though. But you generally get charged based on where you ship to, so you have to ship to those states to not get charged tax on shipping. If I buy from an online vendor in Florida, I pay taxes on shipping regardless. Guy in Florida buys the same thing online from the same place, it's actually cheaper by whatever taxes saved on the shipping of that item. We have a 6% state sales tax in SC, but also a 1% County Capital Project tax. Oh, and on top of that, a 1% Education Capital Improvement Tax for a total of 8%. WTF But at least they don't tax unprepared foods "that can be lawfully purchased with USDA food coupons."

This is why it can get confusing for e-businesses that don't have or can't afford all the whamo-dyne software tax programs and hire someone or a team of people to stay on top of all that crap. It's not insurmountable, but it's just another PITA thing you have to deal with doing e-commerce in today's tax world. States want all the tax money they can get. So they keep bending you different ways over the barrel. It's a multi-state gang-bang. 🙂

 

[pontiacgp]

Rock charges me the 13% tax we pay on everything here in Ontario....

 

[malibudave]

If you are a seller on eBay or Amazon, they automatically calculate the state taxes on the items you sell on their site. The seller doesn't collect the tax money, eBay and Amazon collect it. I am not sure when eBay or Amazon have to pay the taxes on the money they collect, but they are sitting on a lot of cash that they collect in taxes, plus the other fees that they charge. For the taxes they collect, eBay and Amazon are most likely earning some interest, so they are making money off collecting the tax. I am sure they have to pay people to manage this, but if they are collecting 8% to 10% of sales in taxes, that is a lot of money that is collecting interest. This is a win for the online selling platforms. They have no reason to push back on this kind of thievery as they are participating in it and making money off of it.

 

[69hurstolds]

Many states make businesses pay up monthly on sales tax. But you can request quarterly or semi-annual payments as well, although states don't usually go for that very often. So it's just not ebay or Amazon collecting and sitting on tax money. It's any business that collects sales tax. And if you make money off the tax account interest, then you should be counting that as interest income. States don't care as long as if you sold however much in sales for their state, and you pay the proper percentage of that sales tax down to the penny. You sell $100 this month, and the state expects 8% sales tax, by the end of the month, you best be coughing up $8.00 to that state. Otherwise, they will come and rape you over 8 bucks. Not a tie you to the bed rape. No. It'll be that prison rape kind of rape. 😵

 

[Ribbedroof]

Just ordered a couple things from Rockauto for an OT car, checked, the tax was correct for ship-to address, and was not calculated on shipping , just the parts.

 

[Supercharged111]

Alright note to self: never go into business selling crap online legitimately.

 

[malibudave]

Many states make businesses pay up monthly on sales tax. But you can request quarterly or semi-annual payments as well, although states don't usually go for that very often. So it's just not ebay or Amazon collecting and sitting on tax money. It's any business that collects sales tax. And if you make money off the tax account interest, then you should be counting that as interest income. States don't care as long as if you sold however much in sales for their state, and you pay the proper percentage of that sales tax down to the penny. You sell $100 this month, and the state expects 8% sales tax, by the end of the month, you best be coughing up $8.00 to that state. Otherwise, they will come and rape you over 8 bucks. Not a tie you to the bed rape. No. It'll be that prison rape kind of rape. 😵

If I am an online seller, selling through my own website in Nevada, to a customer in Pennsylvania, how does the Pennsylvania government know I sold something to a resident of Pennsylvania?

 

[69hurstolds]

If I am an online seller, selling through my own website in Nevada, to a customer in Pennsylvania, how does the Pennsylvania government know I sold something to a resident of Pennsylvania?

Is your business legitimate? It's on you to comply and notify PA that you sold some stuff in their state. First, you need to meet the nexus for sales tax, and in PA, one of the requirements is you have to have sold $100K worth of stuff IN PENNSYLVANIA in the previous 12 months. Which then you would have applied for a license/tax number, registered your business with the state, agreeing to submit sales reports in a timely manner to meet PA state laws, blah blah administrative crap. Consider if you're doing a ton of business in one state to meet the nexus threshold of $100K in a year, you don't want to risk fugging that up do you? You can opt not to charge sales taxes if you don't meet any of the nexus requirements, and let the buyer worry about their "use" tax, which usually happens to be the same percentage of sales tax they would have paid except get them on their income tax return. States are going to want SOMEONE to pay that tax money somehow. You put the onus on the customer at that point. Which is legal. Again, you always need to be aware of the tax laws IN EACH STATE you ship to. That's why I said it could be a headache. If you sell only $50K per year, or don't meet any other nexus requirement for PA sales tax, you are not required to collect the taxes. That's the route I would go.

There's no spyware or PA department of revenue agent making sure you charge the tax or notify PA when you sell something. You certainly can be a low-life tax cheat should you choose. But any tax you collect on behalf of PA, you would have to turn over to PA. Or you could keep it, risk getting caught at some point, and then the hammer comes down. And likely you had probably skimmed from other states as well, PA would notify others, crossing state lines delves into federal charges perhaps due to interstate commerce laws, and then you'd likely be facing some heavy fines/penalties. I'm not a lawyer, but you try ripping off one or more states of their vital sales taxes...it would definitely curtail your business if you get caught, I would imagine. You're not paying the taxes, the customer is, so the only thing you have to do is deal with the administrative crap of being the middle man for the state. Meanwhile, hopefully you're making 100 + large every year in PA in sales. It might be worth it.

 

[malibudave]

Is your business legitimate? It's on you to comply and notify PA that you sold some stuff in their state. First, you need to meet the nexus for sales tax, and in PA, one of the requirements is you have to have sold $100K worth of stuff IN PENNSYLVANIA in the previous 12 months. Which then you would have applied for a license/tax number, registered your business with the state, agreeing to submit sales reports in a timely manner to meet PA state laws, blah blah administrative crap. Consider if you're doing a ton of business in one state to meet the nexus threshold of $100K in a year, you don't want to risk fugging that up do you? You can opt not to charge sales taxes if you don't meet any of the nexus requirements, and let the buyer worry about their "use" tax, which usually happens to be the same percentage of sales tax they would have paid except get them on their income tax return. States are going to want SOMEONE to pay that tax money somehow. You put the onus on the customer at that point. Which is legal. Again, you always need to be aware of the tax laws IN EACH STATE you ship to. That's why I said it could be a headache. If you sell only $50K per year, or don't meet any other nexus requirement for PA sales tax, you are not required to collect the taxes. That's the route I would go.

There's no spyware or PA department of revenue agent making sure you charge the tax or notify PA when you sell something. You certainly can be a low-life tax cheat should you choose. But any tax you collect on behalf of PA, you would have to turn over to PA. Or you could keep it, risk getting caught at some point, and then the hammer comes down. And likely you had probably skimmed from other states as well, PA would notify others, crossing state lines delves into federal charges perhaps due to interstate commerce laws, and then you'd likely be facing some heavy fines/penalties. I'm not a lawyer, but you try ripping off one or more states of their vital sales taxes...it would definitely curtail your business if you get caught, I would imagine. You're not paying the taxes, the customer is, so the only thing you have to do is deal with the administrative crap of being the middle man for the state. Meanwhile, hopefully you're making 100 + large every year in PA in sales. It might be worth it.

First, This hypothetical business is not collecting PA taxes; and second, taxation is theft.

 

[69hurstolds]

First, This hypothetical business is not collecting PA taxes; and second, taxation is theft.

That's certainly your opinion. I'm no longer going to take your bait on the subject. You'll figure it out.