[Sporin]

We bought our house in Windsor VT 8 years ago because it was 1/4 the price of a house in Norwich VT, Hanover, NH, Lebanon NH. Our house's value ahs skyrocketed, and the property taxes with it, but it's still far cheaper then a comparable home on the NH side of the Upper Valley. I work in Norwich, my wife works in Hanover so she has to pay out VT state income tax anyway.

We've never been hit with a latent sales tax bill but there is a spot on the VT state income tax form where you pay a $30 "fee" to compensate the state for any taxable items you may have bought in NH throughout the year. My tax preparer says it's basically what you pay so VT won't come after you at a later date but who knows if that's how it will work.

We buy most everything in NH, not to purposely avoid sales tax, but because West Lebanon, NH is on our way home and has all the stores.

I'm far, FAR from a rich guy, but honestly, the only time I really think about sales tax is when I'm car shopping.

[joe moving]

Originally Posted by ab8mi

Most all of the states in the union that have sales tax are now starting to go after internet and cross border shoppers, by law you are supposed to report and pay tax on internet and out of state purchases so this is nothing new for most states.

Also it has always been such that you pay your state income tax to the state in which you reside, regardless of where you work. Some states even make you pay both.

I think these laws have been around for a long time but never enforced until recently when the Internet started stealing states' tax dollars. Suddenly here in NJ, you will see something on your tax forms asking how much you owe in sales tax from items purchased out of state.

I recently purchased a rather expensive item where I could have "saved" $50 by purchasing online. The savings was 100% tax, so if I were a law obiding tax payer, at the end of the year, the savings on that item would end up being $0. I opted to buy in-state, support the local business and "do the right thing." I think many will find that when you add tax back into the equation, you aren't really saving so much.

Someone mentioned that if you pay in cash, the purchase can't be tracked. I agree there. Theoretically (?) they shouldn't really be able to track it either way unless Amex is reporting to the government how much I've spent and on what