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Old 02-06-2013, 05:55 PM
 
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Do residents of WA pay sales tax on purchases from Amazon? If so, how much?

Thanks!
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Old 02-06-2013, 06:02 PM
 
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If they are fulfilled through Amazon or another company in WA, yes. 9.5%
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Old 02-06-2013, 08:44 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mkarch View Post
If they are fulfilled through Amazon or another company in WA, yes. 9.5%
Just to expand on this, I believe the sales tax is determined by the destination of the delivery. mkarch can maybe confirm this for me. So, yes, in Seattle it would be 9.5%. However, if the shipping point is to, say, Enumclaw, it would be 8.6% or if to Eatonville in Pierce County, it would be 7.9%, etc.

Again, I may be wrong so somebody can correct this if so.

I mention this because the question was do residents of WA pay sales tax on Amazon purchases and not specifically Seattle. Those cities and towns in King County not in the RTA are paying 8.6% sales tax.
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Old 02-06-2013, 11:41 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poopskooper View Post
Just to expand on this, I believe the sales tax is determined by the destination of the delivery. mkarch can maybe confirm this for me. So, yes, in Seattle it would be 9.5%. However, if the shipping point is to, say, Enumclaw, it would be 8.6% or if to Eatonville in Pierce County, it would be 7.9%, etc.

Again, I may be wrong so somebody can correct this if so.

I mention this because the question was do residents of WA pay sales tax on Amazon purchases and not specifically Seattle. Those cities and towns in King County not in the RTA are paying 8.6% sales tax.
Now that I think about it, you're probably right as long as its taxed on delivery in state. All of my WA Amazon purchases were made in Seattle.
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Old 02-07-2013, 06:57 AM
 
Location: Madison, WI
50 posts, read 115,021 times
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I was really thrilled when I moved out of state and no longer had to pay sales tax on my amazon.com purchases
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Old 02-07-2013, 07:07 PM
 
1,070 posts, read 2,029,049 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marionberry View Post
I was really thrilled when I moved out of state and no longer had to pay sales tax on my amazon.com purchases
Theoretically, however, you really do owe the tax. Even though Amazon doesn't collect the tax for things shipped to Wisconsin, technically, you are required to pay what Wisconsin and most states call a "use tax" which is usually equal to the sales tax rate in your jurisdiction (click here for Wisconsin's explanation ...but most states will have similar wording, including Washington state).

How many people pay their "use tax" on online purchases? I'm willing to guess that hardly anybody voluntarily remits to their state the required use tax after making an online purchase.

More and more states are trying to get online retailers to collect sales tax on purchases even though the vendor does not have a physical presence in that state. My hunch is that someday, we will all have to pay sales taxes on online purchases. I hope not but eventually, I'm kind of thinking so.
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Old 02-07-2013, 08:12 PM
 
5,075 posts, read 11,072,535 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marionberry View Post
I was really thrilled when I moved out of state and no longer had to pay sales tax on my amazon.com purchases
Looking at my last few Amazon marketplace purchases, I qualified for prime free shipping but wasn't charged sales tax due to out of state vendors.

That is often an option even for those of us in WA.
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Old 02-08-2013, 11:14 AM
 
Location: Minnesota
5,147 posts, read 7,475,967 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poopskooper View Post
Theoretically, however, you really do owe the tax. Even though Amazon doesn't collect the tax for things shipped to Wisconsin, technically, you are required to pay what Wisconsin and most states call a "use tax" which is usually equal to the sales tax rate in your jurisdiction (click here for Wisconsin's explanation ...but most states will have similar wording, including Washington state).

How many people pay their "use tax" on online purchases? I'm willing to guess that hardly anybody voluntarily remits to their state the required use tax after making an online purchase.

More and more states are trying to get online retailers to collect sales tax on purchases even though the vendor does not have a physical presence in that state. My hunch is that someday, we will all have to pay sales taxes on online purchases. I hope not but eventually, I'm kind of thinking so.
I was going to make a good faith effort on this in MN. But then I saw the form you had to fill out. It was a disaster. I just decided if they were going to make it THIS hard, they could forget it. I'd love to just pay that standard statewide tax, but nooooooooooooooo. Honestly, I'd love to meet the clown who designed t hat thing. I think it is bureaucrat sabotage.
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Old 02-08-2013, 11:55 AM
 
1,070 posts, read 2,029,049 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever View Post
I was going to make a good faith effort on this in MN. But then I saw the form you had to fill out. It was a disaster. I just decided if they were going to make it THIS hard, they could forget it. I'd love to just pay that standard statewide tax, but nooooooooooooooo. Honestly, I'd love to meet the clown who designed t hat thing. I think it is bureaucrat sabotage.
Yup, I know some states make it difficult even if the person is honest and wants to voluntarily remit the use tax on something bought over the internet.

Most think that when they buy something online from an out of state vendor that they "don't have to pay sales tax" and shout "Yay!!!" when in actuality, under most circumstances, they actually do "have" to pay it. But as mentioned before, how many actually do voluntarily send in the required tax to the state? I'm guilty. I know many churchgoing seemingly moral and ethical people that admit that they don't send in the use tax. And, as said, most don't even know they owe it.

Here's the Washington state form to fill out to send in your tax for things such as items purchased online from another state where you were not charged sales tax but are going to be used in Washington ...again, you are required to pay this tax in most cases but how many actually do?: click here PDF

You can also conduct the transaction online.
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Old 02-08-2013, 03:17 PM
 
Location: God's Country
611 posts, read 1,204,808 times
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I've sold some stuff on Amazon and there is a place for sellers to list their tax rate if they choose. So I guess my answer would be that you could either pay Washington rate if buying from Amazon direct, the seller's tax rate if they chose to charge you that or no sales tax at all. I have never charged my buyers sales tax but maybe some day this will come back to haunt me.
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