Spyderco Forums

So I bought a Sprig last night from BladeHQ. When I went to go check out I noticed a $10.50 tax fee. :eek: This is definitely something new to me. It was 7% so I’m guessing it has to do with a new law within my state. I’ve heard other people talk about this recently but up until last night it did not affect me. Are all states in the US that have taxes moving this direction? I also buy a lot of knives for people overseas so this will ultimately affect their price as well. Unfortunately I am very ignorant when it comes to taxing so that’s why I came to you folks to see how this works.

Rich

You got it. Online retailers can collect tax now.

More like online dealers are required to charge and pay tax.

sal

swigert wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 24, 2018 7:14 am

You got it. Online retailers can collect tax now.

It's a requirement.

Basically, state governments (mostly California, actually) pushed it through so they could collect tax from companies like eBay and Amazon, because they felt that they were losing out on a lot of sales tax revenues that they felt entitled to.

Supreme Court

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspecu ... -decision/

James

California and other states aren't the only ones.

The Australian Govt is making on line sellers worldwide collect 10% GST (VAT) for it. So it's not a US only thing.

What's 7%? VAT in Germany is 19%, and to my knowledge there are a few European countries that charge even more. And it's always collected by all shops, stationary and online, no exclusion.

Because Govts are losing out it will be worldwide for every major country soon.
The heyday of lower cost purchasing on line and avoiding taxes is over.

TomAiello wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 24, 2018 8:11 am

swigert wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 24, 2018 7:14 am

You got it. Online retailers can collect tax now.

It's a requirement.

Basically, state governments (mostly California, actually) pushed it through so they could collect tax from companies like eBay and Amazon, because they felt that they were losing out on a lot of sales tax revenues that they felt entitled to.

Actually the one that designed and introduced the internet tax bill was senator Mike Enzi here in Wyoming. He's had it in the works for about 3 years now. Not that it did any good, but for the first time in my life I voted for whoever Dem was running against him.

You were always supposed to report online purchases and file the sales tax. No one did this, of course. I mean if you don’t mind paying sales tax (in principle) when you buy locally I’m not sure why you’d mind online. Sales tax is probably the most avoidable tax there is. Obviously it would be nice not to be taxed at all but that’s not too realistic if you want to participate in society.

I've always been amazed how long the no online tax in the US already lasted. Besides the point if you like taxes or not it is just plain unfair versus the normal retail shops. And there is so much money going around in online sales now that the government is really missing out big time.

Over here (Dutch) we pay 21% VAT on luxury goods, online or not. And if i shop at an EU member state store i will also have to pay tax. If i import something from outside the EU it has to go through customs and taxes will be collected too. No way to escape it. Been like this for ages.
Sometimes i wish taxes were lower or avoided, but i also know it pays for a lot of good stuff in society.

Good responses. Thanks everyone.

Rich

I think it's great because it levels the playing field a bit. Heck, it might make buying from an internet dealer in your own state, who always had to charge you tax, competitive with dealers in other states. And, as tvenuto pointed out, you've either been reporting non-taxed internet purchases or breaking the law. I can honestly say I've paid more in "use tax" than income tax every year I've lived in SC. So, for me at least, it will eliminate the need to keep track of which online purchases were not taxed next year.

Agree re levelling the playing field.

I’d have less frustration about taxes if government were capable of being responsible with the money. Mostly the .gov works against citizens towards more control. They couldn’t waste it faster if they indiscriminately burned it. So if cashing in on all this wonderful lost theft I mean revenue means they step back, balance the budget, and reduce taxes in other areas, great! But I expect them to keep reaching into our pockets for more, always more.

Norway has 25% vat, we win
We have free healthcare though.
I have probably financed a kidneytransplant or two with my hobby.

Jeepers!

Didn't the government already collect tax on the materials used to make the knife?
I don't think we should be taxed on any goods from a retailer for stuff that tax was already collected on.

tvenuto wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 24, 2018 11:42 am

You were always supposed to report online purchases and file the sales tax. No one did this, of course. I mean if you don’t mind paying sales tax (in principle) when you buy locally I’m not sure why you’d mind online. Sales tax is probably the most avoidable tax there is. Obviously it would be nice not to be taxed at all but that’s not too realistic if you want to participate in society.

These 5 states have no sales tax-

Alaska
Delaware
Montana
New Hampshire
Oregon

Slash wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 08, 2018 10:07 am

Didn't the government already collect tax on the materials used to make the knife?
I don't think we should be taxed on any goods from a retailer for stuff that tax was already collected on.

??????

We're talking about sales tax here. With the exception of the states noted above, we pay it for everything that's purchased at the retail level.