Here in New Mexico (yes, we are a state in the U.S.) we have something worse than a sales tax, it's called a gross receipts tax. Each city, county, and the state add to the percentage charged and it is charged on everything except food (they're trying to change that). Here's the list of items taxed: Selling property in New Mexico; Leasing or licensing property employed in New Mexico; Granting a right to use a franchise employed in New Mexico; Performing services in New Mexico, and Selling research and development services performed outside New Mexico, the product of which is initially used in New Mexico. When I was a Realtor I had to pay the tax on my commission! Double taxed, because it was also taxed on the State Income Tax.(see 4th item) Having listed the above, I have never seen a Coin Shop, We Buy Gold and Silver, Pawn Shop, or Coin Show charge the tax on a purchase. If you know the dealer they will take a check and still not charge the tax, I've never been in a Coin Shop that takes a credit card, but I have been to a coin show where they do and no, no tax. As far as I know my coin club is the only coin club that has a bi-annual Coin Show- no tax collected.
Several States levy Gross Receipts Tax as opposed to Sales Tax. Some states impose their tax on the seller while others impose their tax on the purchaser with the seller burdened to act as tax collecting agent for the State. Generally speaking Sales Tax is levied on the actual good or service while Gross Receipts Tax is levied on the proceeds generated from the exchange of a good or service. Again generally speaking (absent of statute to the contrary) in matters concerning tax the 1st exception is the levy. Meaning in disputes of tax the State is first burdened with establishing the levy. Exemption from a tax are exceptions to the levy. Meaning in disputes of tax the taxpayer is burdened with establishing an exemption. Confused? One State may levy tax on the retail sale of tangible personal property while another State may levy the tax on the sale of all tangible personal property and then provide an exemption to taxpayers for items sold for resale. Both of the above levies basically tax the same transaction but there is a shift of burden as to what has to be established by who.
I am not familiar with New Mexico Gross Receipts Tax Statutes but more than likely the tax levy is imposed on the seller and state law does not require providing a receipt to the purchaser indicating tax collected as a separate line item. Could get a little messy for you in a Use Tax situation due to your receipt not having the tax on it. Use Tax Codes generally provide an exemption for transactions subject to a State's Sales Tax. Usually providing a receipt showing the tax is sufficient in meeting your burden in establishing that exemption. Absent of such a receipt you would be further burdened with establishing the coin purchase transaction was subject to your State's Gross Receipts Tax levy. If the Coin Shop is brick and mortar conducting business within your state - meeting that additional burden wouldn't be very difficult.
Pennsylvania levies a 6% sales tax (7 in Pittsburgh, 8 in Philly) PLUS each municipality statewide has the RIGHT to levy a gross receipts tax and most of any size do. It's a LOW GRT rate, but it's there. Municipalities under "Act 47" financial distress get to levy even a higher GRT. In PA, passing on the GRT overtly to a customer is ILLEGAL. It's designed to be a business-paid, NOT a customer-paid, tax.
The whole concept of a business-paid tax is just political legerdemain. All business taxes are passed on as part of the prices charged by businesses for goods and services. Few businesses can sustain long-term operating losses and remain viable, so all expenses, including taxes, have to be charged to customers. Voters howl less though when paying taxes indirectly as part of the price of goods and services than when paying directly. Cal
The Pennsylvania locality Gross Receipts Tax is tied to another levy - the Business Privilege License tax. You pay merely for the "privilege" of running a business, even if you have no sales at all! Now, how are you putting THAT tax into your prices? The tax is the same if your sales are $1 billion or $0.00 it's a fixed amount. The GRT is then assessed on the sales, at three different rates, typically. One rate for retail, one for wholesale, and a third rate for services. Have computer, will segregate.
If you have no sales over the long term, then you don't or won't have a business (in most cases; there are exceptions). If you're paying for a business license, but don't have a business, then you're just making a charitable donation to the government. Cal
Having had the experience of ENDING one of these licenses, it AIN'T easy. They treat you like you're hiding something.
Yeah. I had a similar experience when I tried to get a passenger license instead of a commercial license for a pickup. The DMV clerks didn't like that at all even though it was legal. Cal
The Gross Receipts tax in NM is paid by the buyer, not the Seller. It is added onto and computed on the total sale, so it is a separate line item at the end of the bill you receive. The main problem is pyramiding, the producer of an item pays the tax to the supplier of the items needed to make the item, when he sells the completed product to the person who will sell it, Gross receipts tax is added. The person who will then sell the item to the public then charges the Gross receipts tax to the Buyer of the item.
Of course if you pass it on by raising prices then your gross receipts rises as well and your tax increases. Yes I have and yes it was quite a headache.
Sounds like what is called a Value Added Tax. At each step the price rises (value is added) and the tax is added on to that increase.
The only value added is the GRT that follows an item from construction to wholesaling to retailing, the tax is paid at each step. I'm sure there is an added cost at each step to help offset the tax. I'm really curious to see if the Internet sales tax is passed. If a company has a physical presence in the state where the item is sold, then a tax is justified., but if the company does not have a physical presence I don't believe it is. I believe Amazon has already caved and is charging the tax no mater where you live. Government is always looking for a new revenue stream and the Internet is the latest victume.
Amazon HAD TO "cave" because they have a physical "nexus" in nearly every state. As of a few months ago, Amazon and Whole Foods are the same company. On the other hand, a few weeks ago, I bought a used MiniDisc deck at a local auction. Yes, sales tax. But the remote control was missing. I found one at an online seller of miscellaneous remotes, who has no Pennsylvania nexus whatsoever. He did not charge any sales tax. I owe that when I file my PA-40 form.
Thankfully no sales tax on coins here in Colorado, not that I have bought too many coins in-state(the dealers here don't really carry what I collect).
Interestingly, if you buy from a third-party seller through the Amazon marketplace, you still may not be charged sales tax as part of the transaction. This caught me by surprise when I was doing this year's Christmas shopping. I thought all Amazon transactions were being taxed, but I guess third-party transactions still depend on the third party's location, just like eBay sales (where everything is a third-party transaction). Hmm -- if eBay has a nexus in my state, I wonder if they should be charging me sales tax on their fees? <shudder>
Preeeeeecisely. Frankly this "don't tax the poor Internet" stuff is wearing just a bit thin, for my tastes. The Internet has been a giant tax evasion enabling machine for far too long. 'Bout time states "grew a pair", and collected what they're due.
How is a state that someone isn’t a resident of due anything again? This whole push to tax the entire internet no matter what is going to backfire but if they like being voted out of office in the next election then by all means they should continue down that path.
The fact that tax is a separate line item at the end of the bill is not the determining factor as to whom the tax is imposed. States that impose a Gross Receipts Tax on a seller allow the tax to be listed separately for the purpose of excluding the amount of the tax from gross receipts.
The GRT is determined by the amount of a bill, that's why it's the last item on the receipt. You add up the items purchased then calculate the amount of GRT that is due as a percentage of the items bought. The GRT is not uniform though out NM, as I stated earlier, each city, county and the state adds to the total GRT. I was waiting for Kurt to join in, as a Government employee I just knew he would be in favor of taxing everything bought on the Internet. Yes, Amazon bought Whole Foods, the question is if a corporation has to charge the tax if a subsidiary of it has a physical presence in the state. I would assume it does. Taxes are a touchy item here in NM, nearly half the state is on Medicaid. In other words half the state pays for the other half's food, medical, eyeglass, etc. I wish Medicare had the benefits that Medicaid had, my standard of living would go up and i could eliminate quite a few bills.
