Question on U.S. State sales tax

Not really...a bank is issuing money at face value, a purchased coin is not. I could see the face value of the coin being not taxable...but any cost for the item over face makes it a commodity.

 

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In our area coin shows are mostly on the weekend as are flea markets. Generally speaking coin dealers at these venues do not collect sales tax, even though we are required to in the antique mall. Gives them an unfair advantage but they are never checked by the tax authorities because someone would have to work on weekends. The local state office for testing ground water is open five days a week but they do not test on Fridays. This proves what we have always suspected, namely that "State workers don't do **** on Fridays."

 

I live in CA and I typically won't buy coins from online sellers in the state because of the sales tax. 9.50% percent is for the state and local if the seller lives in LA County. I was going to purchase a coin on eBay; I won the bid but forgot to check if the seller was in CA. The tax added almost $30 dollars to the purchase. That made it come in at a higher price than others I see. I asked the seller to wave the sales tax. He/she refused and I asked to cancel the sale.

 

State Sales tax is a "state" thing and you have to check with the state regulations on if they collect sales tax on out of state purchases.

Several years ago Michigan started collecting out of state sales tax in 2015 by requiring internet vendors to charge for it, such as Amazon.
==> http://www.crainsdetroit.com/articl...sales-tax-collections-in-michigan-start-today

So if I live in Michigan and buy from Amazon I get charged sales tax. Amazon has since set up a distribution center in SE Michigan. And Amazon, once a stout anti-sales tax company dropped their efforts as their strategy changed.

Matter of fact, when you do your taxes you should identify items bought that you didn't pay sales tax on and thus fill up the state coffers some more.

But Michigan does not collect sales tax on coins, paper money, bullion.

And that varies from state to state. Such as Nevada which does not collect tax on pure bullion bars/rounds but supposedly does from collectable coins over 50% of their face value ... but check with someone that knows for sure in each state.

if you do pay sales tax for your state when you shouldn't have I believe you can ask for a refund from the state or list it in your taxes to reduce your net income.

 

I think Treashunt is right here. I had a seller in Nevada (Reno) also that wanted to charge me sales tax because he has a presence in CA.

 

FWIW, I called the coin shop just now and they were like, "Oh, no... you don't have to pay sales tax."

It was no big thing at all. Thanks for the input anyway, though.

 

The seller is required to pay state and local sales tax on the sale whether the buyer pays it or not (In Ca.).

 

Thanks for the input. Can you provide any information online to back that up? I'm not being a jerk, it's just that I have heard that as well but can't find anything official that says it.

 

Of course I am right, or I wouldn't have posted it.

 

I don't think it matters what your state's laws are; if the retailer or whatever has no physical presence in your state, don't pay taxes. There is such tax in my state and I most certainly wouldn't.

In fact, and as a non-coin example: the larger photography shops are located in-state, and for this reason alone I've gone out of my way to patronize those with no physical presence here. Of course the state may have other ideas/expectations, but you know what they say about life....

 

But only if the buyer is in CA, right?

 

It's also worth observing (again) that when you buy something from out of state, you're still responsible for paying your state tax on it (in the form of "use tax"), at least in every state I'm familiar with. If the seller doesn't collect and remit sales tax for your state, you can probably get away with not paying the use tax, but you ARE breaking the law by doing so.

It's not the case that "you don't owe sales tax on out-of-state purchases". Keep that in mind when you're discussing your purchase habits in a venue that's public, searchable, and persistent.

 

@-jeffB not in Pennsylvania. Coins are exempt.

 

For many years I had cattle and baled hay. I sold a lot of the hay that I didn't need. The state called me once and asked if I had charged a client sales tax. No I didn't. They claimed that I had to pay it. The law reads that there is no sales tax on animal feed. Seems the guy used it as erosion control, which made it consumable goods and should be taxed. I never advertised it as such and my response was that I have no control over it's use after it leaves my hands. I refused to pay it and they left it alone. I don't understand sales taxes collected on collectibles where nothing is consumed.

 

Here, too, as of this past summer.

For the last several years I've used NC's flat-rate use-tax table, which effectively assumes you spend about 1% of your income on out-of-state taxable stuff. When coins and bullion were taxable, that was a very conservative estimate. Now, with coins untaxable and Amazon charging sales tax, it's probably way high.

 

So "animal feed" is not a "consumable good", but erosion control is?

 

Amazon is it's own beast. Many states have enacted "Amazon" laws for sellers of that magnitude making those purchased taxable given how much business they were doing in every state. It won't be long until every state with sales tax is charging it on things like Amazon

 

Indeed, Jeff, but this doesn't mean a little forethought cannot go along way if you catch my drift...

 

As long as you are not taking delivery in California, and the business does not have a physical business location in PA, or in whatever state you are accepting you are accepting delivery, then no you do not have to pay the CA sales tax.

 

As I understand it...a sales tax is basically a type of income tax. Thus, states who have them have much lower income taxes than states that don't. In Oregon, where I live, we have far higher state income taxes than most states because we have no sales tax. So, when I purchase something (no matter what it is)...I have already paid the tax on that money...even for collectibles. It's the same idea...just a different way of the state collecting taxes.