Amazon state tax rates still not a threat for my Apple orders?

I live in Texas and usually order apple stuff through amazon or macmall to get the best prices, but I heard amazon was going to start charging sales tax in Texas and several other states, for their items.

While having a prime account for free 2 day shipping, and an amazon credit card for tripple points, which is like a free extra $60 or so off the expensive laptops is nice, the state tax is still the biggest up front savings out there, and makes amazon less of a good deal compared to stores like mac mall that do not charge you that tax up front.

My first reaction was, wow, amazon is going to start getting killed by the smaller shops like mac mall, but then I found out, it only applies for things they sale on their own...

So, if you order on amazon, and buy something from another seller, even if that seller just ships their stuff to amazon to sell it, you can avoid that cost.

So knowing that, you can go after items that are fulfilled by amazon, you still get it shipped from amazon via prime, with no risk of if that person is going to ship it or not, and they go by the sellers state instead of amazons..

To me, it looks like amazon has gotten around the tax problem again.

 

It isn't Amazon getting around tax issues though. I live in Kentucky and there are several Amazon distribution facilities in this state. In fact, I am about a 3 minute walk from one about 8 miles south of Cincinnati, OH. So people in KY have been charged state tax for a long time. Even then products that I order from a private seller aren't taxed even if they are fulfilled by Amazon.

That's it though, the products are just fulfilled by Amazon and they aren't actually sold by Amazon. In order for Amazon to get around tax laws, they would have to actually sell the product from their own inventory instead of just charging someone a fee for holding the product they are selling and fulfilling the sale.

Amazon will try to makeup for having sales tax by offering same day shipping. I can probably qualify for it since I live next to a big distribution facility but I have pretty much stopped shopping on Amazon. I still buy some things on there but, if Best Buy has it in stock, I will drive the 5 minutes to pick it up. Same price, same tax level. I would rather drive 5 minutes than wait the 7 business days it takes them to mail me stuff using their free shipping. I used to shop on Amazon all the time when I lived in New Mexico as I didn't have to pay for state tax and the nearest Best Buy was an hour away (and the store was small). After moving to KY, I pretty much stopped buying on Amazon.

 

...or you can be a good citizen and just pay your taxes.

You are supposed to be paying the tax wether the company charges them or not.

 

also, if you're a student, Apple's offering is somewhat better even if you only factor in tax for the Apple store (and not amazon).

 

I'm actually glad Amazon is being forced to collect state sales tax and leveling the playing field with brick and mortar stores.

If you don't buy from local retail, there will be no local retail.

Local retail lets you fondle the hardware.

 

It doesn't surprise me that resellers don't charge sales tax when selling through Amazon (whereas Amazon selling stuff will have taxes charged).

I'm sort of opposite of Thors.Hammer though. In terms of costs, these new laws might level the playing field financially, but since a lot of the bigger B+M stores (like BestBuy, Walmart, etc.) have both a limited, not-so-great stock and not-so-great customer support, I wouldn't mind them either stepping up their game or getting crushed by online retailers like Amazon. Tax savings are nice (Amazon doesn't charge tax in my state, and my state would just spend the money on trips to Argentina for extramarital affairs anyway ), and the absence of incompetent and/or pushy salespeople and better return policy is worth it even if Amazon eventually taxes orders from my state.

 

I waffle on this issue. I see the shrinking retail market around me and wonder what it will like when all retail computer stores, except Apple and Microsoft, are gone.

On one hand I am like everyone else, I want the best deal. On the other I want to see retail business succeed. The internet has killed off a lot of that.

 

There isn't an apple store within a 2 hour drive of me, so I don't feel bad at all ordering my mac online. (Even our best buy has an anti apple laptop policy.)

 

I think the biggest advantage of collecting sales tax in some of these states is that Amazon is now able to add more local distribution centers. I can justify the tax collected if Amazon is working on getting my order to me more quickly. I'd love to see a "same day shipping" option on items distributed locally!

 

The only bad aspect is that Amazon will likely charge a higher delivery fee for that same day option just as they already do for their next day delivery. It's an extra $2.99 for Amazon Prime members and even more for non-Prime members. I actually would support the move if Amazon makes one day shipping the default, "free" option for Amazon Prime members and charges $2.99 for same day delivery. Either that or just make it free for Amazon Prime members as I don't see a point in Amazon charging tax along with a higher deliver fee to get a product the same day when many people, including myself, can just drive for 5 minutes and pick up the product at either the same price or one that is identical.

 

so they are already going to lose money with the overhead it takes to take care of collecting taxes and paying them correctly... and now you want them to lose even more money by giving you more discounts over the fact that they are losing more money?

 

Yep. It isn't my best interest for a company to make money. Instead, it is my best interest for a company to take a hit on a sale in order for me to get the best deal. Otherwise the cost of buying a product on Amazon with same day delivery could be a lot more expensive than just making a trip to Walmart or Best Buy. A $20 Blu-ray movie goes up by ~$1.80 including taxes and then another ~$3 (just theorizing as they charge a $2.99 fee for one day delivery) to get it the same day. That $20 purchase is now almost $25 when I can just drive to the store and pick it up for $22 as is. If Amazon is going to start charging me tax (which they have already done but I can easily move across the river and not be charged taxes), they need to make it enticing for customers to use the same day deliver option.

 

I'm sure amazon would rather not have to collect taxes and have the competitive advantage over local retailers. It's really not up to them. They are governed by federal and state law just like you. The states want those taxes. And they want the warehouse, jobs and transactions for that reason.

 

Aren't you required by your state to voluntarily pay sales taxes on goods that you buy for use in your state? I suppose that most people don't observe that piece of the law.

 

Most state don't even enforce this law (yes, iirc all states have use tax laws). I don't see any reason to pay it in my particular case. Whether or not to pay use tax depends on your legal morals, your financial situation, and if the state will actually use the money in a decent way (I know mine won't).

 

In the grand scheme of things, states really aren't going to miss that much by not collecting sales taxes on online goods especially when the majority of their budgets don't come from sales taxes. There are a lot of federal tunnels in state budgets along with many other aspects. The sales taxes collected from online orders definitely aren't going to be enough to pull states out of any deficit they are in (especially seeing how much the state of KY collects from online Amazon sales taxes). Yes, there is a moral and quasi-legal obligation to report that information on a state income tax form but, given what states actually do with their budgets and that this is a non-enforced "law," I doubt anyone is losing sleep over the issue and that it is that big of a deal and I don't see an issue in not reporting anything to the state you live in.

 

Could this topic please be moved to a more appropriate area? It stopped having anything to do with Apple or OS X long ago.

 

The thread itself had very little, if anything, to do with Apple and Mac OS outside of telling people to buy Macs from 3rd party vendors through the Amazon Marketplace to avoid being charged state sales taxes. That hasn't stopped people, including yourself, from discussing the topic. The thread itself was pretty off-topic, it isn't like it started out being specific to Apple/OS X and then became off-topic.

 

Screw Amazon and their tax practice. I will go to the vendor that has the lowest price and instant availability. Frys advertises that they match all online prices and bestbuy will match frys here. Frys and Microcenter always run $200 off the low end macbook and other apple products. You can easily have bestbuy match the price and beat it to if you know how to negotiate. I paid $1029 with tax for the new md101ll/a macbook pro with ivy bridge processor and will be receiving an additional $25 back in gift cards along with 45 day return policy with no restocking fee. Also I was able to use my best buy card and get 18 months of no interest on the purchase making it $58 per month and it will be paid off with no interest. Amazon has it for $1153 and then tax on top of that and frys has it for $999 plus tax. So yeah AMAZON is FAIL now that they have started charging taxes and have no drop in price to help consumers. I would rather pick it up instantly for $200 less....FAIL AMAZON.

FRYS.com | Apple

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook...UTF8&qid=1342966472&sr=8-1&keywords=md101ll+a