Sales tax?

[ozarkhillbilly]

Missouri has a use tax and it is roughly the same as the MO part of your sales tax without all the local taxes added in. I would be very suspicious of any ffl dealer who charged sales tax on an out of state transfer. It seems like a way to make some extra money to me and an FFL is not the sellers’ agent.

Also I cannot speak for all states but sales tax/use tax is required on all taxable items whether sold in a store, mail order, over the net or face to face.

 

[Mt Shooter]

Again I ask what is this tax you speak of.......and yes our state buget is in the black.

 

[dogtown tom]

wishin: This site covers all the states:....

Showoff.

Mt Shooter Again I ask what is this tax you speak of.......and yes our state buget is in the black.

Pick any one of those states and you'll get a general idea of what the difference is between a sales tax and a use tax.

While your home state of Montana has no sales or use tax, you do have a state income tax. Us lucky Texans don't have a state income tax. Instead our state gov sucks our wallets by having sales tax.

They're gonna get it somehow.

 

[Sir Aardvark]

In California, YOU are responsible for reporting to the state on your year-end State Income Tax form any sales tax that you owe.

It is NOT the responsibility of the receiving FFL to collect this sales tax.

 

[wishin]

........YOU are responsible for reporting to the state..........................

I've used an FFL in middle GA twice in the past 6 months for internet out-of-state gun buys and was not charged sales tax even though GA has a user tax. It's more a question of enforcement. I suspect that if it could easily be policed, we'd all be paying.

 

[jaysouth]

A transferring dealer cannot charge you sales tax on an out of state sale. If he attempts, find an honest dealer.

A dealer in central Virginia got away with this for years before the revenue people started snooping. He was not authorized to collect sales tax and did not remit any of the taxes he collected to the state. He was convicted of a felony.

Every state is desperate for money and will try to collect use taxes on out of state purchases. I now live in TN. They have a compact with all adjacent states to report sales over a certain threshold to each other. A lot of folks here drive to NC to buy households full of furniture. The dealer in NC will not charge sales tax IF the merchandise is delivered to a common carrier. However he is obligated to report sales of out of state shipments to his tax authorities who share this with other compact states.

If you live in such a state, you can expect to get a reminder of sales taxes due if you make such a purchase. The threshold is several thousand dollars.

I could tell tales for hours about being audited by sales tax auditors in serveral states. I fear them more than state income tax or fed auditors.

Again, the dealer is a crook. Report him to your sales tax authorities. I guarantee that he did not remit it to the state, but pocketed it. As someone explained above, there is no mechanism for him to collect a tax unless he reports a sale, which he cannot because the sale occurred out of state.

As an aside, I was once tasked with determining how to assess and collect sales taxes for an internet company the did business in almost every county in the country. It's not possible, you can't go below the state level with any degree of accuracy and could not possibly know of the additional sales taxes imposed by transit authorities, townships, cities, villages, and counties. The company involved with this gave up on the idea, which was a dumb one to start with.

As another interesting aside, jewelers and furriers in NYC, for years, would make a sale over the counter to a customer in their showroom. Clearly this transaction was subject to lots of taxes imposed by the city and state of New York. To get around this, the dealer would hand the item to the customer but mail the empty box to the customer's home address if out of state. This created the illusion that the transaction was a routine sale to an out of state customer. The "item" was delivered to a common carrier and delivered out of NY, thus exempt from NY sales taxes. After a number of well publicized stings, dealers are reluctant to do this now.

I live in TN which has a sales tax of 9.25%. Evading sales tax has been raised to an art form by residents. Internet sales are very popular of the most mundane items like light bulbs.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Right. The only thing the FFL can charge you tax on with a transfer is the transfer fee itself as that is the only sale (of a service) he/she is actually making.

 

[dogtown tom]

Double Naught Spy Right. The only thing the FFL can charge you tax on with a transfer is the transfer fee itself as that is the only sale (of a service) he/she is actually making.

Since you live in Texas:


http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxpnw/tpn2009/tpn902.html#issue8

SALES TAX

Firearms Sold by Out-of-State Dealers: Transfer Fees Charged by Texas Dealers
When a gun is purchased from out of state by an individual in Texas, federal law provides that the out-of-state seller must ship the gun to a Texas dealer for transfer to the individual.

Frequently, the Texas dealer will charge the purchaser a transfer fee to cover the costs of paperwork and handling. Because the gun was not purchased from the Texas dealer, the transfer fee does not represent a sale. Therefore, the transfer fee is not taxable.

For example, assume an individual paid $1,500 to an out-of-state seller for a gun. The out-of-state seller shipped the gun to a Texas gun dealer. The customer picked up the gun at the Texas dealer's place of business and was charged a $25 transfer fee by the dealer. The $25 transfer fee is not considered a sale for Texas sales and use tax purposes and therefore is not subject to sales tax.

 

[longdayjake]

The use tax is a total disregard for the interstate commerce clause in the constitution. The mere fact that it exists in most states is an insult to the American people.

 

[jaysouth]

Longday,

I agree, but the state tax authorities have guns and have convinced judges that it is fair to levy a tax on any purchase by a resident of their state, whether consummated within or without that state.

What is even more of an affront is 'personal property taxes', taxes levied on the value of your cars, boats, jewelry, etc, etc, that you get to pay every year for the privilidge of ownership. Back in Virginia, back in the day, personal property taxes could amount to a couple of thousand dollars a year for an automobile. Evading that tax got to be a fine art practiced by many. The state has relented in recent years and lowered that rates so as to not arouse the peasantry. Still sucks and one of the reasons I no longer live in VA.

I don't spend much time debating the constutionality of an issue, I spend my energy and have more fun devising a way around it. Unless you have a boatload of cash to lavish on lawyers, the constutionalty of a particular issue is whatever the feds or state say it is.

 

[rogertc1]

In my state as long as I buy out of state, send the MO with his FFL or call in my CC# directly to the seller..say , GB, BudsGuns or CFS and have it delivered to my FFL there is no state tax charged. Just my dealers $10 fee. If I buy something he is stocking in his shop I pay state taxes.
That is our laws.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Since you live in Texas:

Right. Very good. And I should have used "may be able to" instead of "can."

I have heard of it being done elsewhere, but have not experienced it in Texas.

 

[Cosmoline]

State taxes? Never heard of them

 

[danprkr]

Texan native, and can't say I agree with it, but it's right. If you're in TX. Having said that what you say you paid is all anyone has to go on unless they're going to audit out of state companies.

 

[jaysouth]

Individuals can usually skate on use tax unless someone reports a large out of state sale to the taxpayers state tax authorities.

Once upon a time, in my junior accountant days, sales tax auditors would drop in a business and ask to see paid invoices. In those days, a company in Boston called New England business Services (NEBS) made and sold about 90 per cent of computer forms in the country. This was back in the old days before laser printers. Everyone printed business forms on dot matrix printers using tractor feed manifold forms, which were usually printed by NEBS, of course.

If you had one computer in your office, they would go straight to the paid N files and look for NEBS paid invoices. If you had invoices from NEBS or anyother out of state supplier, the auditors would then ask you for your past years' use tax returns. "Use Tax" returns, what's that you would say and hold your palms up to the ceiling (Marine salute). They would sit down and write out a bill for use taxes due plus penalties and interest. I eventually learned how to beat these folks at this ploy, but that's a story for another time.

 

[Salty1]

All state laws are different, you need to check locally to see what applies. Here in Texas I am required to charge sales tax on FFL transfer services, of course unless you want to pay cash : ).... If I had to become an agent of the state and collect sales tax on FFL Transfers I would end that practice except for our best customers, for a $20.00 transfer fee it would not be worth the hassle....

 

[dg12]

This here si specific to gun sales as Dogtown has been trying to get everyone to understand. No taxes means, no taxes. read it slowly.


Firearms Sold by Out-of-State Dealers: Transfer Fees Charged by Texas Dealers
When a gun is purchased from out of state by an individual in Texas, federal law provides that the out-of-state seller must ship the gun to a Texas dealer for transfer to the individual.

Frequently, the Texas dealer will charge the purchaser a transfer fee to cover the costs of paperwork and handling. Because the gun was not purchased from the Texas dealer, the transfer fee does not represent a sale. Therefore, the transfer fee is not taxable.
For example, assume an individual paid $1,500 to an out-of-state seller for a gun. The out-of-state seller shipped the gun to a Texas gun dealer. The customer picked up the gun at the Texas dealer's place of business and was charged a $25 transfer fee by the dealer. The $25 transfer fee is not considered a sale for Texas sales and use tax purposes and therefore is not subject to sales tax.

 

[Dave B]

In Texas, there is a "sales tax" and a "Use tax. If you buy in state, the seller should collect the state sales tax. But if you mail order, or buy out of state, you owe the "use tax". The problem is from the states point of view, is they have no way of knowing about the deal. But if they somehow find out they can, and will, send you a bill. If a business has a presence in the state, any mail order outlet wherever it is, must charge Tex sales tax on the order. Like Sears,etc.

 

[Dave B]

I forgot, the states are really trying hard to get a fed law to close this loophole.