Amazon Charges Sales Tax On "Shipping and Handling"

You may have noticed that retailers like Amazon are charging tax, in compliance with state laws, on not just the price of goods, but on the "shipping and handling" fees they charge. An anonymous reader writes "By coincidence I noticed this myself the other night, and ended up ordering something from a supplier in Arizona, rather than Amazon, to avoid the sales tax. Now here is an article about it in the Los Angeles Times."

Comments

Buy Amazon Prime.

[Anonymous Coward]

Problem solved.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, continue to support a company that has shown it will gouge you all it can. Brilliant plan.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[alen]

$80 a year for "free" books and streaming media and 2 day shipping is gouging?

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[larry bagina]

s/company/state/

You do realize that amazon doesn't get to keep the sales tax, right?

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[neo8750]

Way i see it is netflix is 8 bucks a month 8*12 = 96. Where with amazon prime its 80 and i get free shipping on my amazon purchases.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Lumpy]

But if you dont do it the y PUNISH you by delaying when your package ships. I have had orders sit unshipped for 5 days with them, when I ask about it I was told that "to avoid this get a prime membership"

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Prosthetic_Lips]

False. The sales tax laws are very specifically worded, anything collected (even if in excess of what you were supposed to collect) is required to go to the states. Unless the rules are different since Amazon is out-of-state? I have looked into Florida laws, and even if I were to collect double what I was supposed to, I couldn't keep a penny (legally).

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not punishing, it's exactly what they told you they would do. If you choose free shipping, they say your stuff will be delivered in 5 to 8 business days. Given the abundance of their warehouses and ridiculously low shipping times, you should have received your order within 8 business days, so, they were within their right to delay your order to get more profitable (paid shipping and prime) orders out of door first. If you didn't get it on time, that's a different story.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Relayman]

The merchant is required by law to account for all money collected as sales tax separately from the amount of the sale and to remit all sales tax collected to the state. If the merchant collects less than is required based on the sales, then the merchant has to make up the difference. To not remit all money collected as sales tax to the state is illegal.

It's possible that North Carolina is different than the Midwestern states which I'm familiar with, but I doubt it.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[houstonbofh]

The free books and streaming media collection suck, they are worthless.

Huh... I guess all of those TV series we have been watching for half a year have just been a waste of time. So glad you told me...

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[meerling]

The company that is gouging you for the sales tax is California. Amazon fought the sales tax for online purchases for years, it's over, by law they have to charge you. Sucks, doesn't it, but don't worry, there are other reasons you can still use to complain about Amazon with. :)

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Anonymous Coward]

FALSE. Or at least potentially false. All California sales tax paid by Amazon will be directed to Patterson and San Bernardino where Amazon is building warehouses. These cities are/were planning to rebate 75%-80% of the sales back to Amazon.

From the LA Times:

"San Bernardino and Patterson, where the centers will be located, will gain not only jobs but also a tax bonanza: Sales to Amazon customers throughout California will be deemed to take place there, so all the sales tax earmarked for local government operations will go to those two cities....

[Patterson] City Manager Rod Butler said the city is considering rebating as much as 75% of its share of sales-tax revenues to Amazon. He reasons that even a reduced share of those taxes would enable the city to balance its budget and pay for city parks, streets and garbage collection....

San Bernardino, meanwhile, is working on an agreement with Amazon that would give the retailer as much as 80% of its share of sales taxes in the first few years, according to city spokesman Jim Morris."

California lawmakers have ensured that Californians pay more for everything on Amazon, and that Amazon gets to keep the money as extra profit. Can't legislators just leave us alone? :P

Source:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/19/business/la-fi-amazon-sales-taxes-20120520

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Anonymous Coward]

Further, ALL collected sales taxes, whether lawfully, legally collected or not, or even ifthey are collected in error, MUST be remitted to the state.
Shipping and handling is exempt from sales tax in California but if it is collected, it MUST be sent to California. If they don't, it is tax fraud and they could face stiff penalties, and lose their reseller's permit, preventing them from selling to California addresses.

A lot of businesses collect sales tax for all sales, including tax-exempt sales. Do they remit those taxes? Probably not.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Sentrion]

In many states, companies that collect sales tax are allowed to keep a portion of the tax collected. In fact, they HAVE to keep a portion of the tax collected to remain compliant with most state laws. It's just a fraction, but it is meant to "reimburse" the company for going through the trouble to collect the tax in the first place. If tax is collected when it wasn't due, then the retailer is supposed to refund that money back to the customer. If you buy from a retailer that doesn't charge you sales tax then it is presumed to be your duty to files a state sales tax return to "voluntarily" pay the sales tax yourself directly. Technically you could save a fraction of a fraction by setting up yourself or your company as "self pay" for sales tax. You'll typically need a certificate and a statement, then you can buy tax free and file your own state sales tax return. I've known a few companies that do this, as it can make sense both to save a small portion (the amount the retailer would get to keep) and to keep your company compliant when so many retailers do not collect sales tax or charge the right amount. Staying on top of what percent tax is for each and every zip code and for each and every type of product for each and every state and territory can get even big online retailers bogged down.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[ottothecow]

and what would they do with that money? Spend it on entertainment?

There is some very good television out there and the fact that they are watching it on Prime instead of live makes me think they aren't watching Honey Boo Boo. Nothing wrong with opting for leisure (and maybe opening up discussion topics) over spending every waking hour trying to make money.

Would it be a problem if they spent that same time playing WoW or reading a book?

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Joe Tie.]

I work in order to have time for leisure. In all seriousness, if you took the time I spent relaxing after work and made me work a second job? I'd prefer to be dead. That's not life, that's slavery.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[mysidia]

Two day shipping is a convenience, but not worth it to a lot of people. It is for me, even if I opt for standard shipping,

You're forgetting the important part: not only is it 2 day shipping, but it's also "free"; as in, no cost other than the cost of the prime membership for prime eligible items.

As long as you would normally make 12 orders a year from Amazon, with approximately $7.00 regular shipping per order (approximately 1 order a month); then Prime is a good economic choice.

More so, if you regularly paid extra per order for expedited shipping. More so if you have sales taxes in there.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[slippyblade]

The share they are allowed to keep is minuscule. In Arizona it's apx 0.1% of sales tax collected. It's been a few years since I ran my business so I'm sure the numbers have changed a bit - sorry for a non-exact figure.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Miamicanes]

The existence of Prime shipping is a game-changer to someone who lives in a place that gets hurricanes, because it enables you to buy things with overnight or 2-day shipping that would be cost-prohibitive to buy from them if you had to actually pay full price for that shipping. I don't even bother fighting the zoo at Home Depot, Target, or Sam's Club anymore before hurricanes... I just buy everything from Amazon, and come home from work to a pile of hurricane supplies waiting on my front doorstep the next day, a few hours before the hurricane makes landfall. Prime shipping is the whole reason why I now buy things like cat food, batteries, and lawnmower parts from Amazon, as opposed to books. Even places that offer free shipping can't compete, because THEY only offer free GROUND shipping, and if you want it upgraded to 2-day or next-day, you get hit with the full cost. With Amazon, 2-day is free, and overnight is only a few dollars more.

I just wish Amazon had a search option for "Only show me items that can be shipped in time to receive tomorrow". If there's any consistent logic to their cutoff times for same-day shipping, I have yet to figure out what it is. Sometimes it seems to be as late as 8:30pm, sometimes it seems to be 4pm, and it doesn't just seem to vary by warehouse... it literally seems to be a matter of blind, random good or bad luck that changes daily with no apparent rhyme or reason. Saturday and Sunday delivery are even more randomly variable. Few things are more frustrating than trying to do last-minute birthday present shopping on Friday as the deadlines are ticking away, and you can't even figure out what the deadlines ARE without clicking on the item and scrolling down. I swear to god, I'm going to write a program to do brute-force scraped-searches on Amazon called "OnlyTomorrow" that spoofs a browser, executes your search, then fetches the items and brute-force eliminates any that can't ship in time or that don't literally include the requested keywords in the title/description (my other pet peeve about Amazon... sometimes, its signal-to-noise ratio for searches is just horrendous, and the SNR seems to be the absolute WORST when you're panic-buying and desperately trying to beat the same-day shipping deadline).

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Miamicanes]

> Don't forget unlimited $4 overnight. Do that once with a computer case and it pays for itself.

Or a generator. I have friends who literally bought a generator with prime shipping as a hurricane was making landfall, and had the generator on their front porch the following afternoon (obviously, they lived in an area where the power lines went down, but there was no major flooding or destruction).

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[mwvdlee]

At the end of your live, when you're on you deathbed and ready to breath your final breath, do you regret not working more or do you regret not taking more time off?

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Seumas]

I'm not judging the quality of the shows that you watched, but if you added up all the time you spent watching TV shows you would see that you "wasted" lots of hours when you could have been starting a new businesses, working a second job, posting replies on slashdot or something that that could have instead added up to thousands of dollars in your pocket. So in a way, yes, you wasted all that time and have nothing to show for it.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[Seumas]

Exactly. Instead of shopping online at Amazon (where the supplier of the Amazon-fulfilled shipment is often a small business or mom and pop), make sure to shop locally, at mom and pop shops that still exist, like Walmart, Best Buy, or Target.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[AnonyMouseCowWard]

While I fully agree with you and would never use my free time to work more, I also sure as hell won't die thinking "damn, I wish I saw more of those TV episodes..."

On the other hand, "I wish I had spent more time walking and cuddling with my wife", "I wish I had gone out and done some volunteer work to help others", etc? Definitely.

Re:Buy Amazon Prime.

[sglewis100]

I like prime myself, I shop a lot online. But for a lot of people it is price gouging. The free books and streaming media collection suck, they are worthless. Two day shipping is a convenience, but not worth it to a lot of people. It is for me, even if I opt for standard shipping, Amazon ships though OnTrac, which is usually 1 day shipping.

That's not price gouging. That's something that is for some people and not for others. To me, the streaming is as good as Netflix for my kids. I buy enough that the shipping is a great deal for me. But it's not "price gouging".

Considering Amazon's normal two-day rates which are in the $6 to $12 range typically, if you want fast shipping and buy half a dozen items a year, it's a good deal at $80 even if you never stream any video.

If you pay $80 and buy one thing, once, that's not price gouging, that's you buying something you didn't need.

sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[alen]

in some states you even have to pay sales tax on the full $649 price of a smart phone

sales tax is on GOODS AND SERVICES

are slashdotters really that dumb not to realize this?

Re:sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[mkraft]

Not in California, which is where the buyer was.

http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/pub100.pdf

Re:sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[hduff]

Not in Virginia; no sales tax on services.

Re:sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[PPH]

And now you see why small businesses don't like to have to collect taxes for hundreds of different taxing jurisdictions. When they aren't located there, are much smaller than Amazon and can't afford a tax compliance department staffed with accountants and lawyers. Yeah sure, you could do business as a 'associate' of Amazon and have them handle tax compliance for you. But now you're their bitch and they can dictate other aspects of your online existence.

Wave good by to innovation.

Re:sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[unitron]

Depends on your definition of services.

If you rent tools, you pay sales tax on the rental here in The Old North State.

Re:sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[Mr. Slippery]

And now you see why small businesses don't like to have to collect taxes for hundreds of different taxing jurisdictions.

Most small businesses don't. They collect sales taxes in the jurisdiction where they are located. If I (in Maryland) sell you something by mail, I collect tax if you're in Maryland, or no tax if you're not. You might owe use tax, but that's Not My Problem.

In New York, where it's a destination tax, a merchant located there has to collect for a few dozen jurisdictions -- a pain, but far from "thousands".

It's a problem for too-big businesses such as Amazon that have "nexuses" of business all over the place; screw them, companies shouldn't be that big.

But it can be a problem for small companies that provide a venue for merchants in many different locations.

Re:sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[Tokolosh]

Amazon loves this complicated and convoluted system - it raises the barriers to entry of competition.

Re:sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[Solandri]

This really needs to be run by the government. Rather than make it the responsibility for every company out there to collect sales tax info from every jurisdiction in the country, the Federal government needs to set up a web site. The jurisdictions update the site with their current sales tax info every day (or week). Businesses then just download the tax tables from the site at the start of the business day (or week).

Yes there are companies that collect all the sales tax rates throughout the country, and you can pay them to subscribe to their tables. The problem is they don't indemnify you from their mistakes. If they screw up and you fail to collect $5000 in sales tax before they notice the mistake, you owe the extra $5000, not them.

By having the government run it, the party making the error bears the consequences.

- If a jurisdiction fails to update their tax rate correctly causing a shortfall in tax revenue, then the government website has a record of their error and the jurisdiction simply loses out on the tax revenue.
- If a business fails to update their tax tables and fails to collect the right sales tax, then it's their mistake and they're liable for paying the shortfall.
- If the federal government screws up and the website goes down, then either they can compensate the jurisdictions for lost revenue, or say the federal government is immune to liability and tell the jurisdictions tough luck.

Re:sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[Sir_Sri]

but far from "thousands".

Add in the EU, which is like the US, but with potentially one extra layer of government, since the EU has local, provincial (your "State"), Federal and EU level rules, and there are 27 federal governments, with god knows how many provinces etc.

And then there's india, china, japan, south america etc.

Web businesses essentially do business with potentially every country in the world, and that can be a nightmare, because your local rules for dealing with every country can be different, and you may only need to look up trading rules to some company in northern nigeria once. But one mistake can be the end of you.

Re:sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[shutdown -p now]

screw them, companies shouldn't be that big.

Why not? Scale brings efficiency; there's a reason why they grow that big in the first place, you know.

Re:sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[Fjandr]

How about they do their job and regulate interstate commerce?

The apply the Commerce Clause to everything under the sun, but when it comes to normalizing trade between the States they have basically remained quiet. Of course, what that means is that there should be no taxes charged by any State on goods arriving from outside their borders. Aggressive jurisdictions, like California and New York, have taken it upon themselves to exceed their authority, and all it would take is a simple clarifying act for Congress to settle the issue.

Of course, that can only happen in a country that isn't broken. Since the US is not such a country, don't expect a simple, straightforward Act to pass settling the issue. When they finally decide to do something, it will be so incomprehensibly Byzantine that tax lawyers everywhere will simultaneously jizz themselves.

Re:sales tax is always on the FULL PRICE

[ideonexus]

Just to add to this, the shipping and handling is actually the source of profit for many companies on Amazon. I personally knew the owner of a company that sells $0.99 computer games on Amazon, but charges $5.99 shipping on them, which turns into a $5-plus profit on each game sold. I recently fell for this tactic when I bought a copy of the Hulk Video Game for $3.96 and got charged $4.59 in shipping. This is also the case with many used-book sellers on Amazon, who sell the book for a dollar, charge you five in shipping, and then send it using the library book rate, which only costs them pennies.

Someone else in this thread mentioned that NC does not have a tax on services, which might be why the company I knew was located there.

Outrage!

[White Flame]

After all the outrage in the Apple tax thread, everyone should stand for paying their fair share of sales taxes, not dodging them by ordering out of state from somebody they normally wouldn't.

Re:Outrage!

[ThatsMyNick]

Er, no body is complaining about paying taxes. They are complaining paying extra taxes for shipping and handling. In california, there is no tax on services. People have every right to complain about Amazon charging sales taxes on things, the state does not want it to.

Re:Outrage!

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, in California, you must collect taxes on Shipping if you're charging more than the actualy cost of shipping, or you don't keep detailed shipping cost-records. So, the flat-rate $4.99 shipping option in California, according to the BoE is fully taxable.

Re:Outrage!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes I am complaining about paying taxes in California. We used to be able to build roads and school our children on a 6% sales tax. California employees were allowed to unionize under Jerry Brown and since then there has been a steady drumbeat of tax increases to keep California government growing and public employees living large. In a few years we will have 20,000+ California retirees living like lottery winners with 100k+ pensions (with automatic inflation increases) and lifetime gold plated health benefits. California has net 200,000+ citizens moving out of our state a year because of the poor business environment and economy relative to other states. They are never satisfied with several ballot measures this election asking for more and higher taxes in the name of "education" when in reality it is about shoring up the pension funds.

Re:Outrage!

[swillden]

Because the sales tax on S&H for a $9.99 dvd is morally and ethically the same as pre-tax profits of $36.8 billion

Sure it is. What's the difference? One number is much bigger than the other, but the difference in tax amounts is similarly different... and the *aggregate* of all the S&H fees on all the DVDs is probably not so much different in scale than the Apple number. So, what's the difference?

Re:Does Amazon know the tax laws for each state?

[alen]

there are national services that compile this kind of data and sell it to corporations

not a big deal

That's a an interesting point

[SuperKendall]

I wonder if you also have to pay tax on Prime? It's main function is to cover shipping & handling for all orders, I cannot see why it would not count. But since it's not part of any one order, perhaps it does not..

Re:That's a an interesting point

[lsllll]

I don't know. I just tried to order something and during the checkout process there was NO tax added. I am using Amazon Prime. I wonder if Amazon will lower its prices if it ends up charging taxes. I am a democrat and am not opposed to more taxes. In a way more taxes could help things.

Here's how I see it. Amazon is all of a sudden forced to charge sales tax on out of state purchases, while it'll be a few years before smaller businesses will have to charge sales tax. Meanwhile, some people will flock over to small businesses, which will help those businesses. Amazon, in return, will have to lower its prices to stay competetive. So the Amazon users will pay the proper sales tax, which goes to the states and will benefit the people as a whole. Small businesses will not necessarily flourish, but will do better meanwhile. It's a win-win situation for tax payers.

Was the handling charge really for handling ...

[perpenso]

Was the handling charge really for handling or is it a euphemism for our markup after costs? In other words is part of the price being hidden/embedded in the handling charge? *If* so there may be some justification for including handling in the taxable portion of the bill.

Re:Was the handling charge really for handling ...

[Sir_Sri]

This is why the EU has a value added tax. It doesn't matter how the value was added to the product, it's taxable. This conceptually makes sense if you consider the basic unit of value is labour - labour is used to extract the resources that make things, and to convert the resources into other things. So any use of labour can be taxed.

In north america we have various 'goods' taxes, (usually provincial or state taxes), but some are goods and services taxes. Varies a lot by place.

Re:Does Amazon know the tax laws for each state?

[rubycodez]

not just state, but city, county, zone: you can buy web service or software to do this automatically, and the tables are updated monthly as part of subscription. such softwares have been around for decades and the web services since the late 90s.

Re:Yup.

[Dahamma]

Unfortunately, it's also the correct policy by the state governments to tax shipping and handling. Otherwise mail order purchases would all go the way of TV-infomercials where the product is like $5 with $20 "shipping and handling"...

Re:Is shipping

[Osgeld]

ok tinfoil, if you are not paying for a service ...

why are there so many dumb fucks on slashdot?

Re:I wonder...

[unitron]

I haven't had a need to do this, but suppose I buy a TV from some online place using my CC.
It's shipped, and I've paid sales tax on the shipping. Okay, I return it for some reason,
for a CC refund.

Do I receive a refund for the sales tax paid for its original shipping, or is that lost forever?

You returned the TV, but you didn't return the shipping. You "consumed" it.

(return shipping is not the same as returning the shipping)

Re:Is shipping

[Lumpy]

Mostly because Slashot's green color is lead paint, and all these screen lickers are getting lead poisoning.

Bad Summary

[doug141]

Summary should have summarized it's the law. "According to California's sales tax collection agency, the Board of Equalization, sales tax should be collected when a seller "makes a combined charge for 'shipping and handling' or 'postage and handling,' " if the invoice does not show the actual cost of the individual delivery."

Re:Is shipping

[nedlohs]

You are a special kind of stupid.

Shipping and Handling charges suck

[Cruciform]

A few years ago I was trying to find a gameboy advance cartridge that was fairly uncommon.
Sam Goody's carried it for 16 dollars, so I ordered it immediately. They charged me 17 dollars and change for "shipping and handling".
When the package arrived it was the size of a deck of cards and had $1.60 in postage on it, sent via regular post - not even first class.
Talk about thieves.

Re:Try J&R

[Relayman]

Yes, but do you live in a state, like Illinois or Ohio, where you are required by law to pay that sales tax on your income tax return? Not cheating on your taxes, are you?

For me, the extra sales tax runs about $10 a year. Not a big deal.

It's the law in CA

[kenh]

Have a look at this FAQ entry on the California Board of Equalization website:

Are delivery and handling charges taxable?
Delivery charges.
You have the property delivered directly to your customer using a common carrier, the U.S. Mail, or an independent contractor

Tax does not apply to the delivery charges under these conditions if the charges are clearly stated as a separate entry on the invoice or other bill of sale. If the delivery charges are not stated separately, they are taxable.

Example.

You sell a refrigerator and have it delivered by an independent contract carrier. On the invoice, you show a $750 charge for the refrigerator plus a separately stated $50 charge for delivery (the amount charged you by the carrier). Since the delivery charge is stated separately, tax applies only to the charge of the refrigerator ($750). If the invoice had shown a single charge of $800, tax would apply to the entire amount.

Note: If you charge more for delivery than your actual costs, the added amount is subject to tax. In the example above, if you had charged your customer $60 for delivery, but your actual delivery cost was $50 (the amount charged by the independent contract carrier), tax would apply to the additional $10 charge.
You use your vehicle to make the delivery

Tax applies to the delivery charges if you use your own vehicle, whether or not those charges are separately stated on the invoice.

Example. You sell a refrigerator and deliver it to your customer using your own vehicle. On the invoice, you show a $750 charge for the refrigerator plus a separately stated $50 charge for delivery. Tax applies both to the delivery charge and the charge for the refrigerator.

Note: Tax does not apply to delivery charges using your own vehicle if there is a written contract of sale, signed before delivery, that transfers ownership of the property to the purchaser prior to delivery.

Handling charges. Handling charges are generally taxable.

Combined charges. If you charge a single amount for delivery and handling (for example, the invoice shows a single amount for "postage and handling" or "shipping and handling"), the portion of the charge that represents handling is generally taxable, while the portion that represents delivery may or may not be taxable.

Note: It is important to use terms such as "delivery," "shipping," or "postage" on the invoice to represent delivery charges. A separately stated charge that says only "handling", for example, is not considered a delivery charge and the entire handling charge is taxable--even if postage or shipment charges are indicated on the package.

For more information on delivery charges, or information on how tax may apply to a specific transaction, please see Regulation 1628, Transportation Charges or publication 100, Shipping and Delivery Charges. You can also contact the Board's Information Center 800-400-7115 or your nearest Board office.

http://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/faqpurch.htm#10

Then pay for faster shipping

[Sycraft-fu]

Their shipping rates are competitive with other online companies. You seem to be complaining that they won't both comp you shipping and do it quickly. Well given that I don't know anyone else that does that, it seems reasonable they don't. Amazon just offers lots of options:

1) Free shipping that is slow. They note it can take a number of days. However, you don't have to pay anything extra for it.

2) Per shipment faster paid shipping. They have all the regular options, up to next day. You pay based on size and weight, like with most retailers, and get your shipment in the specified time.

3) Prime. Yo pay a yearly fee to get two day shipping on all items (even pretty large and heavy ones) and have the option to upgrade any item to one day for $4/item. Often even the 2 day items arrive in one day, though they don't guarantee it.

Sounds damn reasonable to me.

Freeloading, tax evading douche, you are

[BitZtream]

Congratulations, you're a douche. You are intentionally avoiding paying your fair share and I'll bet my bottom dollar that you still think you're entitled to of your states services.

To follow that up, just because the vendor doesn't collect taxes from you doesn't mean you don't owe them. You are still liable for the proper tax amount and by not paying it you are committing tax evasion.

Stop being such a freeloading fuck and pay your fair share or stop taking advantage of government funded services like roads, schools, health inspectors to keep you from dying from the food you ate at Waffle House last week.

I really can't stand free loading assholes like you.

Re:Is shipping

[Local ID10T]

In California at least:

Charges for shipping (what I am charged by the courier, and an approximate cost of packaging materials) are not considered as part of the sale, and I am not required to collect sales tax.

Charges for handling (additional charges beyond the courier and packaging materials) are considered as part of the sale (as they are part of my business income), and I am required to collect sales tax.

A shipping and handling charge is taxable as it does not differentiate the taxable amount from the non-taxable amount.

It all comes down to how you advertize it, and how the invoice is itemized.