Sales Tax Online?

I don't recall ever paying sales tax for anything I bought online. I think it is affected by state, and I live in PA. Will I have to pay a sales tax on a thinkpad? The estimated price in my shopping cart does not include tax.

 

Some online companies charge sales tax regardless of what state you live in. Apple is one of them I think. You should be able to get your total at checkout before paying for the laptop.

 

You will be still taxed online if the company you are ordering from is in your state. I have never had luck finding the locations of Lenovo for tax, but I know I was charged tax on my order for MN.

Like anything, if you order from a company out of state there is no tax, in state there is tax (even on the internet).

 

I don't think there are Dell stores in MN, but I'm still taxed. Do those Dell kiosks count too?

 

I think big companies like dell, hp, and lenovo charge sales tax regardless of where you live. Maybe because they're international....

 

Yeah, with Apple it has to do with whether or not your state has a physical Apple Store or not (something which many states have now).

You shouldn't normally be charged sales tax unless there is a physical retail presence in your state.

 

Good question; I wouldn't think so, because I don't think they actually handle sales at Dell kiosks (you can place an order through the Dell Store online at one of those kiosks, but otherwise their only purpose is to show them off).

 

I always get screwed living in California. I always wind up paying sales tax online.

 

We should all move to New Hampshire. There is no sales tax there

 

Or Oregon.

 

Or Delaware.

 

ahh Oregon, California's Canada

 

Well I can't get past the checkout without actually putting in my name and all that other stuff, but I still can add it to my cart, and the price comes out (subtotal and estimated total) the same, does that mean that PA has no sales tax?

 

I believe it is if the company has any presence in a state.

So if Dell has a Operations Center, Warranty Center, Offices, Store, etc. in the state it is taxed.

If I remember correctly dell has some sort of office or center somewhere in MN as I know a lot of people order from dell without tax but me being in MN get to be taxed

Places like Newegg charge tax in a few states because they have warehouses there (CA, TN, NJ) even though their main operations are centrally located (CA).

Here is even more proof of the idea that warranty centers count as a reason to have to charge tax:
Dell Outlet collects tax on orders delivered to Georgia, California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. For shipments to other states, tax relates to the third party service contract only. The purchaser is responsible for remitting any uncollected tax on their order directly to the local taxing authorities.

Lenovo may have to tax in many states because they have support centers around the country or something like that.

 

I think there can still be tax. There is a note saying Shipping & Tax is not calculated yet or something like that I believe.

I did not see tax till my very last step.

 

Did you already indicate that you live in PA? You can usually go further into the transaction until it asks for credit card number.

 

PA has 6% sales tax added.

 

No Sales tax here in Alaska period. And none from lenovo either when I ordered.

 

Where's Alaska?

 

Oh don't expect the correct answer on that question from fed-ex...
My robotics team ordered a Hydrogen Fuel Cell from Chicago...they shipped it to WA, back to chicago, to CA, back to chicago, then finally up here to AK... It was a PITA because my team needed it for several deadlines we had which we missed because of it.