Speakeasy forum: Net Sales Tax - anyone falling for this?

taxable and what's not. You would also have to know the state's portion of the local sales tax. Seems like you should deduct shipping from the tax since, if you had purchased locally, you would not pay for shipping. Sounds pretty complicated, but I guess you could do it.

North Carolina calls the tax on goods purchased out-of-state a 'Use Tax' and allocates 'Use Tax' to both the county and the state.

The rules used to say that we had to keep track of all out-of-state purchases, how much sales tax was paid, and how much went to the other state vs the county in the other state. It was a nightmare to track and I never did have all of the relevant information. Even with Quicken doing the tracking I was never confident I got it right.

For the last several years NC state income tax form has allowed a simpler system. If the filer states that (s)he does not have complete records of all out-of-state purchases (I never did before, I certainly don't now) then there is an option to have the state estimate the 'Use Tax' based on your income. You still have to account for purchases valued $1000 or more but that is much simpler since most of us don't make too many purchases that large.

My suspicion is that their estimates are actually less than what I would pay under the old system so I'm quite content to let them estimate the tax. In any event it is MUCH simpler this way.

The estimate is based on average North Carolina consumer purchases. They basically claim a per cent of income. I probably order more online than the average person so their estimate is probably low in my case.

The problem with the alternate system is that it requires too much information and I just don't have the organizational skills to do a good job of organizing it. Too many companies do not specify which state's sales tax they are collecting, almost nobody specifies how much goes to the state and how much goes to the county ...

If the NC rules were simpler more people might follow them, but there is so much political fighting about the details and how the revenue gets split between state and county governments that almost nobody can follow the rules.

From my perspective the current system is a bit like a small increase in the state income tax. The down side is that the 'use tax' is not deductible on the federal form.

Are they nuts!?

Hi, Dick.

Of course, this may severely damage the Internet sales if it actually happens. Most people figure the absent sales tax is offset by the shipping charges, in terms of total monetary impact. Shipping charges PLUS sales tax and many might re-think...

-- Dave K, Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

and not sure if is still the same, the law about things I would buy while travelling were still taxable, but I was allowed to subtract what sales tax I paid in the other state.

So if the other state had higher taxes, I was done with it. But if NC had higher sale taxes, I would be expected to pay the difference.

It actually began many years ago, but for years few people even knew of it, and less paid it any attention.

RogerNC

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