Midway now charging sales tax.

[USSR]

Was placing a recent order with Midway for reloading supplies, when I noticed they were applying sales tax to my order. Since I don't live in their state and they have no physical presence in my state, I stopped my order and emailed them about this. Their answer was they are now applying sales tax for all states that are requesting them to do so. Well, they just lost a good customer and I'm sure they will lose many others with this change in their business practice.

Don

[Mike38]

I thought it was now a law that on line stores had to charge sales tax if the state the buyer lives in demands it? Or was that just a proposal that never passed into law? If I am right, your beef is with New York state, not Midway. But I could be wrong.

Edit: Can anyone desipher this? I'm not a lawyer....

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...-tax-laws.html

[Pahoo]

Their answer was they are now applying sales tax for all states that are requesting them to do so.

Not quite, even though it is a growing trend. You have to read a vendor's website and most of the time you won't know it until you check out. Some of the vendors that are applying sales tax to one state, may not to another. ….

Be Safe !!!

[CLYA]

Get use to it, it will be the norm. Besides, it's a bit fairer when it comes to competition with the local mom & pop stores. I don't love the idea of the additional tax, but I do support local physical stores when possible. And I do buy from Midway too.

[Sevens]

Please consider, before cutting ties with Midway USA is the literally $millions they have put in to direct NRA donations and their unforgiving attempts to urge customers to donate and the pioneering efforts they've made for this cause with their ingenious NRA Round-Up program, which I first donated to via telephone order circa 1991.

I believe Brownell's is also collecting sales tax and many others are moving forward on this.

Besides, when you pay sales tax right there at the time of purchase with your internet order, you no longer need to worry about claiming it with your Use tax on your state tax return.

[an Old Shooter]

A court decision now mandates this, I believe. All sellers must do it.

[JohnKSa]

If you get right down to the nuts and bolts of it, sales taxes have been always been applicable to online sales in states that have sales taxes.

The issue up to now has been enforcement. It hasn't been enforced. Consumers were supposed to fill out their own tax forms and submit them along with payments, but you can guess how well that's been working out for the states.

Enforcement has increased because there's now so much money flowing that states can not ignore it. Online sales taxes, especially for large online retailers, will gradually become the norm across the board--not because of retailers' decisions but because states have decided that there's too much money "falling through the cracks" and have decided to push the issue.

Here's some information on the topic.

https://www.salestaxinstitute.com/sa...internet_sales

States now have right to require tax collection from online retailers and other remote sellers that do not have physical presence in their states.

https://www.salestaxinstitute.com/re...us-state-guide

These laws primarily apply to online retailers who make a lot of sales in a particular state. They only have to collect sales taxes for a state once their online sales to that state rise above some threshold.

For NY, the threshold is 100 sales and $300,000 in annual online sales in NY.

Their answer was they are now applying sales tax for all states that are requesting them to do so. Well, they just lost a good customer and I'm sure they will lose many others with this change in their business practice.

If you want to blame someone, blame your state. The retailers must comply with the court ruling.

[JERRYS.]

wow, shipping and sales tax take the "deal" out of the deal; now you can buy locally for cheaper. of course there are some things not found locally so you're stuck with the add-ons.

[44 AMP]

If you get right down to the nuts and bolts of it, sales taxes have been always been applicable to online sales in states that have sales taxes.

Different states use different language but this is essentially true. My state, chose to accept that since the online sale isn't physically in the state, state sales tax doesn't apply.

SO what they did was to charge a "use tax" on the item (equal to the sales tax) you were supposed to pay to the state, when you received your goods.

From what I understand currently, almost nobody pays it, and enforcement is rare. But that could easily change.

If a state requests an out of state retailer to collect sales tax on sales to their state, the retailer can voluntarily comply, or not. If a court orders the tax collected, the retailer has no choice. Don't blame Midway for complying with the law, or setting up to comply with what will soon be law, if it isn't, already.


Unlike "hazmat charges" they aren't intentionally ripping us off, this time.

[JohnKSa]

If a state requests an out of state retailer to collect sales tax on sales to their state, the retailer can voluntarily comply, or not.

The Supreme Court ruling has made compliance less voluntary.

https://www.avalara.com/us/en/learn/...a-wayfair.html

On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of the state in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. The decision allows states to tax remote sales.

[NoSecondBest]

Dick's problems had nothing to do with sales tax. Nothing. They simply turned their backs on selling guns to the people who got them started successfully around sixty years ago when they catered to hunters and shooters. They decided that they could make it selling over priced shoes and clothing..along with some gold and exercise equipment. Around here where they have a large presence they seem to be getting away with it. All in all though their sales are down and so are their stock prices. Time will tell if they stay in business.

[FITASC]

Different states use different language but this is essentially true. My state, chose to accept that since the online sale isn't physically in the state, state sales tax doesn't apply.

SO what they did was to charge a "use tax" on the item (equal to the sales tax) you were supposed to pay to the state, when you received your goods.

From what I understand currently, almost nobody pays it, and enforcement is rare. But that could easily change.

Individuals might not have been remitting the "use tax", but companies do. The utility I worked for out West paid use tax on everything we purchased, regardless of where it came from. You can sure bet that had we not, any rate requests would have been turned down.

[WyMark]

Well, they just lost a good customer

Good one, show them what happens to companies who don't try to subvert state laws! That'll teach 'em.

[FrankenMauser]

Was placing a recent order with Midway for reloading supplies, when I noticed they were applying sales tax to my order. Since I don't live in their state and they have no physical presence in my state, I stopped my order and emailed them about this. Their answer was they are now applying sales tax for all states that are requesting them to do so. Well, they just lost a good customer and I'm sure they will lose many others with this change in their business practice.

It probably isn't Midway's choice. Some 30+ states now require online vendors to charge sales tax.
If you think they're going to lose business because of their "business practice" you're likely mistaken.
I've been paying sales tax to multiple online vendors for almost three years. I am not alone.

Having to pay sales tax to Midway won't make a difference. When Midway has a price that I like, I pay it. When they don't have a good price, I go elsewhere. It's that simple.

[FITASC]

Was placing a recent order with Midway for reloading supplies, when I noticed they were applying sales tax to my order. Since I don't live in their state and they have no physical presence in my state, I stopped my order and emailed them about this. Their answer was they are now applying sales tax for all states that are requesting them to do so. Well, they just lost a good customer and I'm sure they will lose many others with this change in their business practice.

Guess you don't get how business works? Or, how they must follow the laws of these state governments? Believe me, it will cost us more than just the sales tax; Midway et al will now need to add some staff to handle these costs and remittances which will drive up retail costs. There are thousands and thousands of different sales taxes from every municipality, county and state government.

[kmw1954]

Everything changes, remember when TV used to be Free or when Cabela's used to stock primers?

[BarryLee]

Amazon charges sales tax and their business seems to be doing fine. If you oppose more taxation don't blame your fellow citizens blame your elected officials.

[jar]

Originally Posted by USSR

Was placing a recent order with Midway for reloading supplies, when I noticed they were applying sales tax to my order. Since I don't live in their state and they have no physical presence in my state, I stopped my order and emailed them about this. Their answer was they are now applying sales tax for all states that are requesting them to do so. Well, they just lost a good customer and I'm sure they will lose many others with this change in their business practice.

Don

Great. I'm fully in favor of online sales being charged sales tax at the local rate. It was totally unreasonable and self destructive to give out of state sales an automatic price advantage equal to the local sales tax amount.

It's in everyboy's best interest to keep local businesses open, employing local people and paying local taxes.

[pete2]

Sales tax plus shipping, it may be more economical to buy locally or from another supplier.
I hate to think I'll have to quit doing business with Midway or other online/mail order businesses. Local business don't stock much of this type stuff so I suspect we'll have to grin and bear it. We should have never allowed taxation without representation, it grows like a weed. I wish we had a real Tea Party. End of rant.

[Elkins45]

Originally Posted by pete2

We should have never allowed taxation without representation, it grows like a weed.

You had representation. They voted for it.

I hope the OP comes back and reads all the responses so he can realize Midway is blameless in all this.

[riffraff]

If an online retailer charges you state taxes, its its your state thats the problem. As stated Midway is just following the law. I have no sales tax here, I pay no additional taxes at checkout...

I agree - its unfair to local brick and mortar businesses if online sales escape taxes... but regardless when it comes to most gun things online retailers like Midway absolutely are waaay below them on price and Midway makes huge donations to the NRA and is a great company to buy from generally.

[BBarn]

Businesses collecting sales tax simplifies things for me at tax time. Had to tally all the out of state purchases anyway and figure the applicable tax be tax compliant. Most people never bothered (and were "cheating" on their taxes unawares) since the code wasn't enforced.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by reddotlight

In any case, i will categorize this as extortion, A lot of these companies tax their Customers and use that Money to pay tax they are suppose to pay. i know a lot of people that don't check their purchase receipts. they don't even know.

Could you clarify what you're trying to say? Are you saying that you think the vendors are supposed to absorb the sales tax out of their advertised prices? That's what I think you're saying and, if so, I think you are incorrect.

If I go into Walmart down the road from me and I pick up an item that's marked $10, when I take that to the register I pay $10.60. The extra 60 cents is the state sales tax -- Walmart doesn't absorb it, I pay it. That's how sales tax works.

Once in awhile the owner of my friendly local range and gun shop will round off and just charge me a round number, such as $25, for something that should cost me a total of $25.xx or $26.xx. In such instances, he is absorbing the tax, and somewhere down the road he has to go back and recalculate the "selling price" so that it works out to the correct total with tax. That's an accommodation on his part. He doesn't have to do it, he doesn't do it every time, and I don't expect him to do it.

I certainly wouldn't expect Midway or Brownells to do it.

[rickyrick]

Should have always been the case but online shopping has slipped through the cracks.
You should be paying sales tax for your state if applicable.
Just like driving across state lines to avoid sales tax is a no-no if you are taking the item to a sales tax state... just not really enforced.
You should eventually see all Internet sales taxed as required soon.

[TailGator]

I have a friend who bought a fairly expensive item - a high-end camera, if I recall correctly - and had the state contact him about paying the sales tax. They did some kind of audit that turned him up, and he had to pay the tax and a penalty for not having volunteered it.

Not collecting and paying sales tax gives an unfair advantage to an online seller over a local brick and mortar shop. As internet sales continue to increase, I expect to see state revenue agencies become more aggressive about enforcement; if they don't they are going to have to increase taxes somewhere else or become, horrors!, more efficient in their expenditures.