Nashbar + taxes

[false_Aest]

Nashbar is located out east.

Why am I getting charged tax for an order?

I've already put the question to Customer Service but they haven;t gotten back to me.

So I'm putting the question to you.

[Louis]

Nashbar is located out east.

Do they have a retail outlet in CA?

[Louis]

From the PDF version of the order form (on the web site):

Tax Rates:

For shipments to these
states, we are required
by law to collect sales tax.
Sales tax will be based on
shipping location. Rates will
vary by county within each
of the following states.
AZ, CA, CO, GA, IL, MD,
NC, NM, OH, PA, TX, VA,
WA, WV

[false_Aest]

All I can see is this: "Tax Rates: For shipments to the states in which we operate, we are required by law to collect sales tax. Tax rates will vary by locality within each of the following states.
AZ, CA, CO, GA, IL, MD, NC, NM, OH, PA, TX, VA, WA, WV. "

But I don't get why. Is it because there are Performance stores located in these states?

[Louis]

Some states are more aggressive than others on collected tax $ from online sales. Think of it this way: If every retail purchase in a given state were online from out of state then they would loose lots of revenue. They are trying more and more to tap into this potential source of money.

[retrogrouchy]

All I can see is this: "Tax Rates: For shipments to the states in which we operate, we are required by law to collect sales tax. Tax rates will vary by locality within each of the following states.
AZ, CA, CO, GA, IL, MD, NC, NM, OH, PA, TX, VA, WA, WV. "

But I don't get why. Is it because there are Performance stores located in these states?

Yes.

Additionally, it's a huge issue (loss, they would say) for the states' revenue streams as more and more purchases are made across state lines via the Internets that Al Gore invented. There are all sorts of efforts to start collecting way more Sales Tax from the largest Mail Order places now (soon to trickle down to the smallest, you can be sure...).

[fogrider]

nashbar = performance bikes

[Ken Robb]

Any business with a physical presence in California has to pay sales tax on sales shipped to California. Nashbar is owned by Performance so----pay up.

[retrogrouchy]

Any business with a physical presence in California has to pay sales tax on sales shipped to California. Nashbar is owned by Performance so----pay up.

Precisely.

The same venture capitalists that own Nashbar own Performance. I predict that the Nasbar brand will go away within five to ten years. I think the same folks also own what is left of Bikecology / Supergo, yes?

Hell, Dorel in Canada owns darn near all the rest.... :rolleyes:

[false_Aest]

Yeah that's what I figured.

BAH!

[PoppaWheelie]

Here's the story as described to me last month by the California BoE auditor as she went back through three years of my company's purchases...

When you purchase from out of state (over the interweb, mail order, etc) you are actually obligated to claim these purchases and pay Use Tax. The fact that this is done currently on the honor system means of course that not many people do. If you get audited (trust me on this) you could be liable for back tax and penalties on any tax that isn't sent in. My three-person company ended up owing about $300 in tax due to purchases made over the years (back to 2006) from the likes of Amazon, etc. Some states already have agreements with the big online retailers to collect Use Tax at the time of purchase, and certainly if there is a brick/mortar store from said retailer, you'll see the tax up front.

The auditor spent probably $2k in her time sifting through our stuff to collect about half that in back-taxes. My accountant says that audits in CA are becoming very common as the state has id'd this as a revenue source. His opinion is that it is crazy because in every case he's seen the state has spent far more pursuing the tax than they've collected. However, they did id a few areas in my business where we were not quite taxing our clients correctly and therefore I guess they've increase their future take from us.

Anyway...point is that ALL purchases, even from out of state, are subject to tax. Nasbar is just obliged to collect at time of purchase where the rest are subject to the honor system. Its a crazy system and not likely to change as the collection of tax at the time of purchase would certainly put a huge drag on the mail-order economy.