Sales tax on guns bought online?

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Rmart30

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I have never used gubroker or any of the other online sites. I see some of the FFL dealers that will do the paperwork charge $15-30 for that, some also state + sales tax. For you who have purchased this way before, were you charged sales tax @ time of pickup?
 
Depends on the dealer. Some FFL dealers collect state sales tax on 'net sales and some don't. I don't do business with those who do.
 
I've bought a couple of guns from out-of-state sellers who shipped them to my FFL. I've never been charged sales tax by my in-state FFL, just the transfer and the NICS check when I picked the gun up.
 
You pay state sales tax on only what you buy in your home state. If you live in state A, directly pay a seller in state B, and have the firearm transfered through your local FFL in your state (A), you should pay no sales tax on the firearm. You may have to pay sales tax on the dealer's fee and NICS fee for the act of transfering the gun, but not on the gun itself. OTOH, if your dealer pays for the gun for you (and then charges you the full price for both the firearm and the transfer) you pay sales tax on the value of the gun as well as any fee for the transfer. Check with the dealer though - some will try to get you for the tax on the value of the firearm even though you paid for the gun directly to the seller (so do yourself a favor and find another dealer).
 
I have bought 2 guns that came thru a local FFL, I would have to go look at the receipts, but I believe I was charged state tax, however, this was Davidson's, where the local FFL collected the larger portion of the price.
When I bought from Buds, I lived close enough to pick it up at their retail outlet, and I was charged local state tax, (I live in the same state as their operation).

It apparently will depend on how the transaction is done, all payment online and just handling by the FFL, or where you pay part of the price to the local FFL.
 
Better check your state laws. Some states require sales tax to be paid no matter if the merchandise comes from out of state.
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I do not know of a state that have sales tax that does not have use tax that prevents you from side stepping paying tax by using mail order. If the seller does not charge you sales tax you should pay the use tax.
 
If you have a FFL who is charging you tax when you paid the seller directly turn him in to the Department of Taxation. Most gross receipts/sales tax legislation/regulations have unjust enrichment clauses that require any sales tax collected to be remitted to the state. If he has kept the tax he will have to pay the tax plus penalty and interest if the State cares enough to go after it. They may decide to audit him and who knows what they may find.
 
Some states require sales tax to be paid no matter if the merchandise comes from out of state.
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You're talking about a use tax, not a sales tax. If it wasn't sold within the jurisdiction of the state, the state has no basis to levy a sales tax. The state may require the purchaser to file and pay a use tax, based upon their use of the product within the state, but thats not usualy collected through an agent (the dealer/FFL).
 
Sale Price: $300.29
Addit'l Fees: $19.95
Tax: $18.02
Sub Total: $338.26
DEPOSIT: ($100.75)
BALANCE DUE: $237.51
This came right off the Davidson's web page, so they do charge tax! It was based on my Home States sales Tax rate.
 
Davidson's = AZ. I go back almost 9 months with them, and every one has had tax added to the purchase. They may be one that has done it for a long time, (collecting tax for the state delivered too), but I believe it is because they have the FFL list that is prefered, who collects major part of price, so Tax collection would be appropriate.
 
Robby -

If you (in KY) bought something from Davidson's (in AZ), Davidson's can legitimately charge you sales tax since thats where the sale is consumated. If you bought a firearm from them and had that firearm shipped from Davidson's to your dealer in KY, your dealer would have no basis to charge you sales tax (since the sale wan't consumated in KY and since you were already rightly charged sales tax by Davidson's). For sales tax, look to where the sale was made.
 
You're talking about a use tax, not a sales tax. If it wasn't sold within the jurisdiction of the state, the state has no basis to levy a sales tax. The state may require the purchaser to file and pay a use tax, based upon their use of the product within the state, but thats not usualy collected through an agent (the dealer/FFL).
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Call it sales tax or use tax for all practical purposes it does not matter. They are the same rate.

As far as the FFL getting audited businesses are audited all the time. In VA a business has a S&U tax audit every 3 years.
 
They are the same rate.
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Of course they're the same rate, but the question raised is which party has a taxable basis in the transaction and therefore a duty to collect. A retailer has no basis upon which to charge sales tax in a transaction where they didn't sell something.
 
I've ordered guns from out of state dealers and from the internet and had them shipped to three different local FFLs. The only tax I paid was on the $10.00 transfer at one FFL for two rifles, never on the price of the guns. Although I did have to pay tax on a rifle I had a dealer order for me, personally I got screwed over on that, he charged me $2000 for a $1650 DSA ParaCongo FAL.
 
I pay my FFL guys $20 for a transfer. No tax on it either. They eat it. $20 even for me. Most FFL's do it that way.
 
Walkalong said:
I pay my FFL guys $20 for a transfer. No tax on it either. They eat it. $20 even for me. Most FFL's do it that way.
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As I've said before on THR, you are paying the tax. The nice FFL has just figured that the transfer fee is $18.48 ( Houston, Texas location for example ) and after tax it's a straight up $20.
 
If the business you made the purchase from is in your state, or has storefronts within your state, you will be charged sales tax. As far as I know, if you buy from out of state, you are not charged sales tax from eithr state.

This has been my experience with every one of my online purchases of both firearms and other merchandise.

Look at gunbroker auctions. Right by the shipping costs disclosure line, there is a sales tax disclosure. It will say something along the lines of "Seller must collect sales tax, Tax rate is 7.00%, Tax must be collected from residents of: XX".

If the purchase is $300, and your FFL charges a $20 fee but your tax rate is 7%, you save a buck going thru a FFL but have to pay shipping costs. But you may be saving more than the shipping costs buying from Bud's or a similiar retailer than buying whatever from a local seller. Now, if you're buying a $1200 gun, a 7% tax is $84. Hard not to save money buying online in such a case.

(Plus, after about a half a dozen gun transfers or so, your FFL dealer may give you a break on the FFL transfer fee. Mine went from $20 per to $15 per and now I'm down to $10 per transfer.)
 
Some states have agreements to charge another states state sales tax on items purchased via mail order.
They will charge the agreeing states base tax, no additional local taxes are leveed against the sale.
The fancy term for this is a 'reciprocal tax levee agreement.'

As a general rule, if you the buyer pays the amount of the initial out of state sale yourself, then the dealer is simply doing a transfer of an out of state purchase and is only required to charge state sales tax on any fees he may levee to complete the sale, i.e. he will charge $20.00 + 6.75 state sales tax on the twenty bucks.

If the dealer pays for the item, and this is a general rule,it does vary from state to state, so know your own state of residence rules,,,,, If the dealer pays for the item and the shipping and so forth and then you pick up the item and pay the dealer back at point of pick-up, then the dealer is required to charge the state sales tax on the full amount of the sale price.

This is why you want to use your money to pay for an out of state sale and not the dealers money.
 
Onmilo, TY very much. I believe that is why Davidson's does the tax thing, and shows it on the web site as part of the sale.
 
Doesn't Davidsons just connect you with a local dealer? Gallery of Guns, right?

Never used them before but I've done searches there before and all it does is show me what local dealers have the gun in stock.
 
Better check your state laws. Some states require sales tax to be paid no matter if the merchandise comes from out of state.
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+1 I know for a fact you pay sales tax on anything bought out of state in Florida if they find out about it. I ordered a $2000 treadmill from a place in NJ and I got a nice letter from the tax collector that I owned. They only way I could figure out how they found out was from the bill of lading and, perhaps, a stop at a weigh station or something in FL.
 
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