Has anyone else got a call from Minimax asking for money? (Morphed into an OT thread)

[Mark Rios]

I got a call from a lady from Minimax this morning. She said that due to a policy change somehow relating to a new management they were calling past customers (only in CA?) and telling them that Minimax was going to send them out a bill for the sales tax on their equipment purchases.

How is it legal for them to, almost a year and a half later in my case, decide to charge us more? When I was given the final price I believed it to include all extra charges. What was charged on my card was the bill. Now they want to come back and charge me for something that they decided to on a whim?

Has anyone else gotten this call or notification? What's the flimflamdingdang deal here? Are they going to call up Steve Clardy and ask for money from him on the MM16 that they gave him when his roof collapsed? Sheeeeesh!

[Joe Jensen]

When I had a sales tax permit (not in CA), it was the businesses responsibilty to pay tax based on sales out. We did not have to collect it from customers. I would assume that Minimax is responsible for paying, but you are not responsible to pay them.

[Brian Effinger]

I'd tell them you already clamed the sales tax on your state income tax returns. I don't know how California handles this, but here in New York, the tax forms asks you to input any out of state purchases.

[Brian Kent]

I'll bet you that wasn't the company calling, but someone who got their sales list. I recommend you call the company from a phone number that you are sure is them and let them know what is happening.

[Ben Davis]

I'll bet you that wasn't the company calling, but someone who got their sales list. I recommend you call the company from a phone number that you are sure is them and let them know what is happening.

Bingo. This stinks of a scam!

[Bill Wyko]

I'd tell them the price you paid is the final sale and they need to deduct the sales tax from what you already paid. Get her number and report them to the BBB or the IRS.

[Doug Shepard]

I'll bet you that wasn't the company calling, but someone who got their sales list. I recommend you call the company from a phone number that you are sure is them and let them know what is happening.

I dunno Seems like a scammer would be trying to get stooopid folks to cough up a charge card number to make that "tax" payment. If they're sending a bill out, it sounds like it might be legit (though still "Not My Problem") as it would be on Minimax invoices and return address info on the envelopes.

[Chuck Wintle]

Bingo. This stinks of a scam!

I agree! It sounds like a scam.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I'll agree, it sounds like a scam. Businesses are responsible for paying any and all applicable taxes. They may use money from the sale price or state and collect as a separate line item on the bill. I highly doubt that any company can persue the collection of taxes...ESPECIALLY after the tax year has closed.

If there customer service is worth anything, a quick phone call should clear it all up.

[Phil Thien]

You are ultimately (as the end user) responsible for sales and use taxes on everything in your possession. Unlikely you'll ever be audited, but just the same. You don't have to pay the tax to Minimax, but you do have to pay it to CA (to be legal).

I have no idea why they have decided they need to collect the taxes now, though. If it was a policy change, you'd think they'd collect them going forward. Perhaps they have an office in CA that they didn't understand required they collect CA sales taxes? Perhaps they are applying for a business license in CA and CA is shaking 'em down for sales taxes on previous sales before granting it? I can only guess.

Going forward, more and more companies are requiring payment of sales taxes for states they don't even have an office in. Many states were shaking down mid to larger outfits to collect these, but I think a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling made it unlikely the states will get very far on these efforts.

[James Hart]

If a company physically sells directly to a consumer in a state, then they must collect sales tax on all sales in that state.

I think it's Woodworkers Supply that you might notice collects tax in WY, NM and the other state where they have a store.

Maybe CA decided that something MM did in the past couple of years equated to a direct sale to a consumer (WW show?) and they're making them go back and pay on sales delivered to CA.

Just speculation.

I think the odds of this being a scam are close to zero. Getting a list of MM buyers would be very unlikely, and as someone earlier said, the mechanics of how they plan to try to collect the money isn't at all consistent with how scammers operate.

I'm in the data business and have to pay pretty close attention to what the bad guys are up to, this smells bad, but not from the perspective of it being a scam.

Jim

[Jim Becker]

I'm not sure what this is, but if I had received a call like that, I would have asked to be transfered to someone I knew at the company to see if this truly is legit and "why"....

[Jamie Buxton]

This story sounds familiar. Last year on FWW's Knots forum there was a thread about Martin or Altendorf attempting to retroactively collect tax. (They're both German company making industrial-sized woodworking machines.)

[Ben Cadotte]

You paid the agreed upon price for the product. It is not your fault they failed to add tax if necessary to the order. The tax is now their responsibility. Only thing I can think of is they got audited and busted for not collecting state sales tax. Again its their tough luck they didn't bill it correctly.

And even if you get a letter I would still call the company and verify. And if it is legit, then have a discussion on how they can raise the price of the items 18 months after purchase.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

I can't imagine Minimax doing that. This has to be a scam. If anybody follows up on this please let us know.