In Which I Rant at New York State and Amazon

[julieandrews]

I was shopping on Amazon for some gifts for some relatives in New York. I was happy with what I had in my cart, and I'd gotten it up to the level for free super-saver shipping. Though I'd forgotten to go through MyPoints or Memolink. Whoops! But that's beside the point, because I was in the process of checking out when I saw something odd in my total.

Sales tax!

... My state doesn't charge sales tax. What's going on here?

Some investigating led me to learn that starting June 1st, Amazon was charging every order shipped to New York, a New York sales tax. (Though how they decided on the percentage they did, I don't know. It didn't seem quite based on the county it was being shipped to, but it was more than the state base rate.) Their website also noted they were already in the process of suing NYS about it. Which would lead me to be on Amazon's side.

Except... that after further reading, the state documentation seems to say (I'm not a lawyer) that the sales tax* is only for New York customers. And news articles have said things like 'people residing in New York'.

I am not a New York customer. I do not reside in New York. I do not work in New York. My credit card billing address is not in New York.

All I was trying to do was buy something and have it sent directly to relatives in New York.

It seems Amazon (and New York) would rather I have it shipped here, to the nice sales-tax-free state, and reship it myself to New York. It won't cost me significantly more! But it'll sure eat into our national gasoline consumption.

So from where I'm sitting, it looks like Amazon wants to charge me a 7% tax, payable to New York State, for the privilege of exporting some books.

I wrote an Email to Amazon pointing out to them that I'm not a New York customer. We'll see what they reply with. Meanwhile, I'm going to be checking about B&N and Overstock** to see if they have the books I want for a comparable price.

And I'm contemplating writing my state reps.

* The new sales tax wording targets Amazon in particular because it goes after companies that have ties to companies and people in New York state who advertise to people in New York state. In other words, Amazon Affiliates.

**Overstock cut ties with their New York state-based affiliates rather than pay this sales tax. Amazon didn't want to take that step. Both companies are suing NYS.

Comments

[julieandrews.livejournal.com]

I don't know of a really local independent bookstore. So I'd be helping Barnes & Noble or Borders instead of Amazon. And Amazon really does have the better selection.

[chiieddy.livejournal.com]

Sales tax is based on where you're shipping to, not where you are when you buy it. It has always been like this for catalogue or internet sales. If I ship to NJ and they have a location in NJ (say I'm buying a wedding gift from Macy's for my sister), then I pay 7%, not MA 5%.

Also, you can probably get the sales tax back on items purchased in other states if you care to file it since your state doesn't charge, just like I have to figure out all my internet purchases each year and pay my sales tax (or simply take the safe harbor amount).

While the NY law is stupid and a pain in the ass, for MOST people, it's not something they should be skipping on anyhow. You HAVE to pay your sales tax to your state no matter what. Obviously, a state with no sales tax, different story. However, NY has now shifted the responsibility from the tax payer to the company. This has a MUCH wider effect on small businesses who now have to track sales and use tax and file in states they have no other connection with.

[julieandrews.livejournal.com]

I have ordered before and had things shipped to NY. I even bought my computer that way. Most places use the billing address, not the shipping address. At least the online places I was shopping at. Dell did charge me sales tax for my warranty or something like that, because that plan varied depending on what state you were in. I was in NY for a month or so at that time, so I didn't argue about it.

It probably varied based on if the company had a presence in that state or not. And NJ is a place a lot of companies have offices or shipping departments, so that's probably why you got slapped with the NJ tax. Amazon and Overstock have no actual company presence in NY, which is why they didn't have to charge before. Now that even affiliates count, it's changed.

Fact remains -- not a New York customer, me!

[chiieddy.livejournal.com]

Actually, no. If you purchase an item and a company has a PHYSICAL presence in the state you're shipping TO, you WILL be charged sales tax. If I shipped to NH, I wouldn't be charged sales tax, but if I ordered from LL Bean and shipped to Maine, I would be.

[nojojojo.livejournal.com]

It's not just Amazon and Overstock. It's any online business. I just bought a computer online and had to pay sales tax, even though I bought it from a company based in California, with accessories being shipped from somewhere in the midwest. Since I do live in NY, I didn't bitch too much, though I thought angrily that if I could so easily do what you've hinted at, and simply have the thing shipped to my friend in NJ.

[julieandrews.livejournal.com]

It's certainly going to make me think twice about ever moving back to New York state!