Americans tell me about sales tax

State sales taxes are around 5%-10%.

Hi diddly ho!

It varies from state to state and sometimes even from county to county and city to city. When you're paying yer 7 percent or yer 8 and a half percent, that may be a combination of state tax, county tax and city tax. (There is no federal sales tax, I don't think so...)

Different states have different regulations about whether you have to pay tax on items you purchase in states other than the one in which you live. For instance, Oregon and New Hampshire have no sales tax, so if you go there to buy yer stuff, you get it at face value. But if you *mail order* (again, depending on your state) you have to pay your local taxes.

It's been pointed out that in NYC, you even have to pay tax on window shopping.

But specifically TN to NYC what are the implications.

Similarly I'm Delaware where there is no sales tax.
I may be wrong but I think these are the only two states without any sales tax. Many people from New Jersey, Maryland or Pennsyilvania come to Delaware to do their shopping.

How big of an item are we talkin', Ed? A car? A house? A ferret?

But yes, sometimes you can save a bunch on sales tax by having something you bought shipped out of state rather than just walking away with it cash & carry. The best is when you call up a store in Canada and have them ship to you in the US because U.S. Customs is supposed to track you down for the duty but I am still waiting for them to find me.

Tennessee might be at 10% now. And it applies to groceries, a really repellently regressive tax. Different states have tax exempt items-- like clothes, medicine, and food, and a few states like Oregon, Delaware, and New Hampshire have no sales tax.

if macmidimusic.com has any operational facilities (distrubion center/warehouse/retail showrooms/corporate offices/sattelite offices) in new york then you will pay sales tax. if not, then no sales tax.

(george iii is vindicated again: boston teaparty HAH!!)

$259US. And they're in Medford, Oregon too. Sales tax0r? PAH!

it's not WHERE the company is located, it's where the product is being delivered... if, say, musiciansfriend.com has a regional distribution center in new york, then sales tax is applicable.

This doesn't make sense - am I the only person aware of the no sales tax on purchases under $150 thing in NYC? At grocery stores or drug stores or restaurants there is tax, but like clothes and shit is tax free.

And our sales tax is 8.25% when it is applicable - which isn't that high, when I lived in Arizona it was not much different. I think NJ is higher though maybe that's their income tax that's much higher than NY's.

All order forms when you order from a catalog explain which states you have to pay taxes in, and how much you have to pay if applicable. Which involves math and other annoyances.

But what if they don't want to make friends?

(sf cali sales tax still lingering at 8.75 regardless of what you're wearing, how much is being purchased, &c. &c.)

(i would orally consume suzy quattro de mayo)

My home county in NYS has no state sales tax on clothes but it does have county sales taxes.

DB only likes me because there's no sales tax where I live. ::pout::

Also, one of the unforseen side benefits of living in a state with no state tax is that there is no money for the removal of roadkill. None. I mean it. I used to decide which way I'd drive to and from work based on what was decomposing on the side (or in the middle, in may cases) of the road. Basics: racoons, armadillos, possums, turtles and tortoises, cats, dogs, and wild pigs. Oh, and of course, a number of scavening birds, too, who stake-out their dinners in the middle of the road and refuse to move for the oncoming cars. Occasionally there are more exotics, such as the cow I saw the other day. I'm hoping that one is removed by tomorrow, else I'm going to resort to driving blindfolded and therefore will not be responsible for any accidents that I am involved in and/or cause.
I HATE THIS STATE! (Also: lack of education funds; absurdly low-pay for teachers; bad roads; lack of street-lights and traffic lights; bars and strip-clubs and pawn shops next to churches; the "Deanna's Bait, Tackle, and Tattoo" shop...well, okay, the latter two things are kind of funny.)

Where would I have to order an iPod from, for delivery to NYC, to not get hit with sales tax?

I once walked into a store in Memphis, bought a record, and had it shipped to my home in Arkansas. Even though I paid the transaction as I was standing in Tennessee, I didn't have to pay any sales tax.

(I could still get away with it, even with mookie's rule, since the nearest apple store to me is in Germantown fucknig, Tennessee.)

That being said, TECHNICALLY, you are still supposed to pay the sales tax even if you are ordering from a place without a "presence" (cf Amazon has no presence anywhere so they don't/shouldn't/I have no idea charge sales tax). No one does but you're supposed to declare it at year end--this is how NY state started suing smokers, remember? They subpoenaed internet retailers for their records on who purchased cigs online and then went after some people for "back taxes". I don't know how that turned out in the end though.

But here's my ideological reason for liking this system. Every time you buy something,
THERE IT IS - that sales tax is always there, staring you in the face, taunting you.
It's very sobering, especially when you watch it go up and up. We NEED to see that
tax - we need to be constantly reminded of the injustices that plague us.

On a related note: I wonder if there's a different cultural attitude at play
when we talk about taxes. Do Britons see taxes as inherently suspicious, dirty,
a thorn in their side? I think here in the US, even liberals gripe and complain
about local taxes, and see most new tax increases as evidence of graft/corruption
("What'd you do with the fucking money we ALREADY gave you?")

That said, I do like it when the sales tax is already included. It's nice to not have to deal with a lot of odd spare change.

I do know some poor folk that have basically put their lives on hold until their winnings come in. Basically, life will begin with the lottery win... they ain't wasting time on the whole bootstrap bullshit.