Question

Trying to think of items bought out of state for which use tax should be paid. What sort of things should I list and is there a $ minimum?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 4, 2019
1 reply
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What untaxed out-of-state purchases should be listed for the state use tax requirement?

TurboTax Self Employed iOS

Employee

Most states are doing this now -- anything you buy out of state that you pay no sales tax on, that you would have paid sales tax on if you bought in-state, you are supposed to pay the use tax. What that is will depend on where you live and how much you buy online, and from what sites. For example, Amazon now charges New York sales tax on my purchases, and so do the few other stores I order from, so even though I have online orders, they are all already taxed so I put zero. On the other hand, a few years ago I bought a computer from an out of state company that did not charge sales tax and that was more than $100.

You really need to think about what you buy and where from and if those places already charge you sales tax or not. If you aren't sure, most states have a "safe harbor" amount based on your income -- they calculate an estimate based on your income and you can pay that with no questions asked. If you are sure you bought less out of state that was not taxed, then put the lower amount.

E

efg4

My question is a little different: Suppose you have a package, say a Christmas gift, shipped to another state. Then you wouldn't owe use tax to your state, you'd owe it to the other state, right?

Now suppose you have the package shipped to you, but you don't use it; you just wrap it up and take it to the other state as a gift. It seems like you would not owe use tax to your state (because the product was not intended to be used there). However, the recipient might owe use tax to their state.

Can someone clarify the laws on this?

Critter

Employee

The use tax is paid to the buyer's home state no matter why it is bought or where it was shipped to... don't try to complicate the situation with all those "butts" ... remember to KISS