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Is this true? I received this Email from BGD.

Dancing Fire

Dancing Fire

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
33,852
I wanted to inform you that due to the Supreme Court ruling, California will be implementing internet sales tax for online purchases starting April 1, 2019.
 
Probably true. Louisiana just did the same thing.
 
Dancing Fire said:
I wanted to inform you that due to the Supreme Court ruling, California will be implementing internet sales tax for online purchases starting April 1, 2019.
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Yup, that's true from what I've heard.
 
It’s true! That’s why I was in such a hurry to finalize my order! Whiteflash and HPD told me the same thing!
 
I’m in MI & just paid sales tax on a WF invoice Tuesday...:cry2:
 
I wonder if you upgrade, say via WF, are you charged sales tax on only the upgraded value (difference between what was paid vs new diamond), or the entire diamond value including the upgrade & previous diamond cost. :confused:

:wavey: @Texas Leaguer Can you please weigh in on the above from WF’s perspective, assuming an out-of-Texas-state purchase?
 
Canada has been doing this for quite some time now. We pay federal and provincial sales tax on all online purchases inside of Canada, and we pay them in the form of duty (plus duty) for anything imported from outside. It's been a little sad...
 
Accurate, its been in the works for 5 years.
 
the_mother_thing said:
I wonder if you upgrade, say via WF, are you charged sales tax on only the upgraded value (difference between what was paid vs new diamond), or the entire diamond value including the upgrade & previous diamond cost. :confused:

:wavey: @Texas Leaguer Can you please weigh in on the above from WF’s perspective, assuming an out-of-Texas-state purchase?
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I am in Texas and I only pay sales tax on the difference in trade in, thank goodness! I would think paying on the full value of the new stone would be double taxing. But that wouldn't be the first time for it.
 
Per WF’s FAQs: https://www.whiteflash.com/about-diamonds/faq/
B1929A7A-ECF3-4017-8A55-256C8BA5EDFA.jpeg

But I am still curious about the upgrade value vs full value tax. Or if WF did not collect it at original purchase, are they required to collect it on the upgrade purchase unless purchaser provides proof of direct payment to the state of residence? :think:
 
ceg said:
I am in Texas and I only pay sales tax on the difference in trade in, thank goodness! I would think paying on the full value of the new stone would be double taxing. But that wouldn't be the first time for it.
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Agreed and makes sense, but what if they didn’t collect it on the first purchase ... e.g., original purchase pre-dates the effective date for collecting/reporting the purchase to other states.
 
the_mother_thing said:
Agreed and makes sense, but what if they didn’t collect it on the first purchase ... e.g., original purchase pre-dates the effective date for collecting/reporting the purchase to other states.
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Grandfather comes to mind but who knows?

Sorry, I am always in a crappy mood right before April, lol.
 
ceg said:
Grandfather comes to mind but who knows?

Sorry, I am always in a crappy mood right before April, lol.
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I feel your pain ... doing tax prep this weekend so readying myself with tissues. :(2
 
Does this tax apply to overseas purchases? I'm guessing (hoping!) it doesn't but I'm tired and not on top form right now... lol
 
Depending on the scale of future purchases, consumers might be better off booking a Disney stay and having jewellery shipped tax free to the front desk at the resort! Maybe you’d only break even, but you’d have a good story at least.
 
OoohShiny said:
Does this tax apply to overseas purchases? I'm guessing (hoping!) it doesn't but I'm tired and not on top form right now... lol
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No you would still pay whatever tax/duty your country charges to import and no additional tax.
 
Really nothing as changed in how much tax is owed as in almost all states you owed the tax anyway.
It's called a use tax.
Many people did not pay it however, so now thanks to the court ruling they can force the sellers to collect it and pay them just like a local store would.
 
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InsecureSweetGirl said:
Depending on the scale of future purchases, consumers might be better off booking a Disney stay and having jewellery shipped tax free to the front desk at the resort! Maybe you’d only break even, but you’d have a good story at least.
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That could be a felony depending on amount in some states.
 
the_mother_thing said:
Per WF’s FAQs: https://www.whiteflash.com/about-diamonds/faq/
B1929A7A-ECF3-4017-8A55-256C8BA5EDFA.jpeg

But I am still curious about the upgrade value vs full value tax. Or if WF did not collect it at original purchase, are they required to collect it on the upgrade purchase unless purchaser provides proof of direct payment to the state of residence? :think:
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AFAIK you'll paid the difference in the upgrade price. i.e... if you paid $5K for your upgrade then you'll pay $5K whatever % in sale taxes to your state.
 
Well, this is going to hurt both consumers and vendors IMO. This is not a small amount of money when we are purchasing beautiful bling.sad :((
 
More and more states are passing laws regarding internet sales and collection of taxes. My state just passed the new law.
 
I wish I knew this sooner, I never got the email at all. This is certainly going to hurt at the retail level. I see a lot more traffic for preloved items.
 
What sort of level in per cent terms are the sales taxes?
 
Karl_K said:
Really nothing as changed in how much tax is owed as in almost all states you owed the tax anyway.
It's called a use tax.
Many people did not pay it however, so now thanks to the court ruling they can force the sellers to collect it and pay them just like a local store would.
Click to expand...

I'm glad I'm not the only thinking this. Nothing has changed here people. Sales taxes on out of state purchases have been in place for quite some time now. It's just that now states are actually cracking down on the vendors and making them charge consumers the tax up front, rather than relying on consumers to declare these purchases on their year-end tax returns (which many people didn't do).

I do feel sorry for small vendors though. I know that, at first, most states were only considering forcing businesses to collect the tax if they had more than 50 or so employees. But I think many of the new laws are trying to force all online businesses to collect out of state sales taxes regardless of size. That could definitely hurt small companies that do not have dedicated staff accountants. :(
 
Snowdrop13 said:
What sort of level in per cent terms are the sales taxes?
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Depends on the city and county you live in. Generally speaking 7.25 to 10.25%. More details here:

https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/sales-use-tax-rates.htm

Most states work pretty simple. You have a base state tax that is unavoidable. Then normally a county tax that is variable and unavoidable. I've seen some counties at 0% in certain states. Then you have a city tax that is inclusive of the special bills, etc passed specific to them. So kind of a 3 legged system.

While most consumers dont choose their home address by the tax rate, many businesses do. Simple ways would be to locate your business outside city limits and/or in a county with a 0% county tax rate.

Nothing is illegal about the operation but yields a small competitive advantage to the customer as you have a lower overall cost. This may seem trivial until you start pushing $100 million + of dollars of material sales and then it has bite.

Some trade offs might be a different buying demographic and/or higher (or lower) ship rates depending on distance from the manufacturer.

Where things would get particularly interesting for CA is if the border hugging residents can establish a shipping address within a different state (technically) that doesn't collect internet tax or at the least does so at a lower rate. I'm not advocating as it's illegal but reality is a consumer spending $20k and saving $1,500 to $2,000 may be enough incentive for some buyers to become creative.

As far as the question about getting taxed on the whole amount vs trade difference it will depend on the state laws.

I faced a similar issue a few years back. Bought a new vehicle stickered at approx $50k. Dealer reduced the sales price. Then I used a partial trade to reduce the balance due even lower. I paid the remaining with cash.

The net result per the state was I had to pay tax based off sales price minus dealer rebates and discounts. This did not include my trade (which had already been taxed) nor did it include the cash (also already taxed by both the state and federal government) I paid down at the dealership.

So I still paid tax on about $35k despite using a previously taxed trade and money. I hope your state is different. To me this is double taxation at its finest. Although in fairness this state taxes your income and sends you a refund for excess payment. Then the next tax year you have to report that refund (an over payment of taxes) as additional income that gets retaxed. Rinse and repeat. Pisses me smooth off as again double taxation. Luckily I have my deductions, etc setup where I get a very small refund or pay in a small amount each year. I dont believe in big refunds as I like to use my money throughout the year as I like and until those entities start paying me interest to use my money I'd rather save it and collect a paultry couple percent myself.
 
:wavey: from the land of the 10.25%...

The combined sales tax rate for Chicago, IL is 10.25%. This is the total of state, county and city sales tax rates. The Illinois state sales tax rate is currently 6.25%. The Cook County sales tax rate is 1.75%.
Illinois: 6.25%
Chicago: 1.25%
Cook County: 1.75%
Special: 1% -- *special*? Oh it's *special* all right...

:cry2:

(If you think this is bad you should see how our property tax bills read.)
 
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