Why does Nashbar charge me sales tax?
 

On all of my web orders, Nashbar charges me sales tax. I am a resident of Washington and there are certainly no Nashbar stores in my state. Does Ohio state law require sales tax to be collected on Internet sales of Ohio stores? Or is it because Nashbar is now owned by Performance, there are Performance stores in Washington, and the sales tax is actually collected for the Washington State Department of Revenue?

There must be people here who order from Nashbar and live in states without Performance stores. Does Nashbar charge you sales tax?

My guess was the Performance connection. The sales tax does make me want to see >10% discounts before buying from them starts to make sense. At least enough discount to cancel out the shipping, anyway.

Sales tax??? What's that? ;) ;)

probably is the performance connection. However you understand that if Nashbar didn't collect the sales tax, you would still owe a use tax to the State of Washington, and I'm sure you prepare, file and pay the appropriate return for these taxes anyway. So being the honest guy i'm sure you are there's ultimately no difference. Heck, Nashbar is just saving you some paperwork.

State income tax? What's that? :D

But sales tax is always figured afterthe shipping is added to the bill. No fair.

Let the USPS find out and they'll shake a few things up, as postage isn't taxable. As for other common carriers, I dunno.

there have been revisions in the interstate commerce act and its chapters, to significantly tighten up tax collection for items shipped between the states. I forget how the feds determine how and in which ways the burdens, compliance, and payments are managed, but it was an attempt by business and government interests in states with sales taxes to prevent 'border shopping' that removes $$$$ and tax revenues from states' economies.

also an attempt to recapture internet sales by brick and mortar businesses. i remember this all getting the shake down in the legislature over 5 years years ago now....its' been slow to take as the processes become implemented.

out here in the West there is reverse reciprocity by participating states and business (totally voluntary) where a state that has a state sales tax allows tax free purchases to be made by residents of Oregon or Alaska when they buy or ship items in for use in their home states. don't know how that affects internet purchases by im betting oregon or alaska residents don't pay sales tax on nashbar stuff.

It was my understanding that only a few states charged sales tax for internet shopping. They determin this by your shipping address. Maybe you're in one of the unlucky states?

I'm just glad sales-tax free Oregon is our northern neighbor...I buy out of state as often as I can...

You win your bet, Bek. In fact I haven't been charged sales tax for any internet or mail order commerce since I moved to OR. I learned how far the reciprocity goes in person when I went to a Nortstrom's in Bellevue to pick up a tube of lipstick for a wedding I was attending. My OR residency came out with small talk with the salesclerk, she looked at my OR driver's license, pushed a couple of buttons on the register, and voila! no WA sales tax to pay. Pretty cool.

The performance/nashbar connection would definately do it. Sales or use tax (use tax is a match to sales tax for purchases that sales tax is not collected on for some reason) is due on internet purchases if your state has a sales tax. Whether the seller charges the sales tax depends on "nexus" which is a physical presence in the state the goods are shipped to. Nexus is created by having a store, warehouse, plant, employee, delivery truck cross into the state, lease a po box, have a die at a vendor in the state, have a manufactures rep in the state, just about any reason the tax collectors can think of. Most states are being very agressive in having as many sellers as possible collect sales tax because for some reason most people don't pay the use tax on things they purchase over the internet ;)

Root

When I think of all the other Net purchases I make upon which I am not charged sales tax, the common thread is that they don't have a nexus in Washington. Nashbar, now being owned by Performance, which does have stores in Washington, does have a nexus.

Not true. AFAIK, if you live in a state where you pay sales tax, you legally owe that money to the state whenever you make a purchase.

Paying this is YOUR obligation.

The states have set it up so that the retailers collect it and then send it to the state. If you are buying from a place that has no businesses that are in the state, then that retailer has no obligation to collect the tax for the state. But you still have an obligation to pay it. In Michigan, you can either do this on your MI-1040 or by filing a separate voucher.

yeah, I know. Nobody actually does this. But that's the law.

I noticed that the 20% coupon from performance, yesterday, was applied only to the purchase price, but tax and shipping were based on full pre-coupon price. Grrr...

Not that this has much to do with cycling, but residents of Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon don't have to pay sales tax in Washington. However, it's up to the retailer whether they allow the tax free sale.
http://dor.wa.gov/content/home/qa/FAQ.aspx#States

It is the Performance stores. Friends of mone in states that don't have Performance, don't pay taxes.

Me too. That's okay if it's a "rebate" which is applied *after* the transaction. This was a coupon, applied to the total BEFORE the transaction was completed. Whoopsie. The shipping is a gray area, since it can be described as a "service", and therefore taxable. However, most honest businesses delegate that unnecessary paperwork to the company providing the service, for example, UPS or FedEx.
They went out of their way. This requires extra work, and is an unnecessary added expense for customers. There is only one reasonable reason any sane business would go out of their way to do this.
The Washington State Department of Revenue is going to be hearing from me. The more complaints they get, the more likely they will be to apply some undesirable attention. If a thorough audit reveals that Performance is not remitting the extra taxes, that's tax fraud.

I got nailed for over 11% on my very first, and last purchase with Performance. Wasn't such a good deal after all.