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

[Sean Troy]

Almost makes me happy I can't afford any more tools right now.....almost

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I'd tell them to 'talk to the hand'.

[Tom Leasure]

A company the size of MM most likely did not forget the sales tax - if it needed to be charged. Sounds like a scam.
To bad scammers didn't put as much effort into working as they do scamming - the country might run a little bit better !! MHO


Tom L.

[Mike DeHart]

I am curious if this is unique to California - the use tax in general, not just Minimax.

I pay all my taxes, so this is a disturbing development. I have made several purchases (about $2,300) in the last several years, plus a lot of little internet stuff where a significant part of the purchase equation was lack of sales tax. I would almost like to pay the $178.25 today if I could just see the look on the tax processor's face -

"Look! Somebody actually paid the use tax! The first one!"

I have a friend who went to the welfare office to say she had accepted more welfare than she deserved and wanted to pay it back. They tried to kick her out of the welfare office because they didn't know how to handle it. She paid it back, has a clean conscience, and a really great story.

Most states I have to deal with do it the same way. NY has a little check box on the income tax form that you can check off and pay a "standard" amount and not have to worry about it coming up if you ever get audited. I think it's about $25 a year to not have to worry about. At 8.75% it doesn't take much to cover it.

[Brad Townsend]

This is one good reason to live in New Hampshire. Our neighbors on three sides of us all have sales taxes and out state border towns have large shopping centers that cater to all their needs. It is great for our economy. The other states used to send "revenuers" to watch what people from their states were buying, but we retaliated by arresting the tax folks for loitering. It made good reading in the papers. We also have the lowest priced liquor around and out stores are run by the state. We have strategically placed liquor stores on the interstates coming into and leaving New Hampshire. Our neighbors buy it by the caseload. There are several woodworking stores located in border towns. It is a good place to buy that big piece of equipment. You can save 5% or more.

BTW: My wife bougt a sewing machine in Maine and we saved $500(that is right, five hundred dollars) by having it shipped to New Hampshire.


CPeter

So I guess its "Live Tax-free, or Die"??

[Doug Shepard]

...
was only stating that the state of california has a larger bonanza by going after your customers in california, rather than MM.

Maybe from a total dollar amount, but it would probably cost them a lot more to collect it as it probably means contacting a lot more buyers for a lot less return. The MM machines probably represent a bigger return on the effort invested per buyer.

[Matt Bickford]

sellers are not responsible for collecting sales tax in interstate transactions when they have no place of business in the state of the buyer. That is why you'll often see/hear things like "PA buyers must pay sales tax."

Example: if I buy a plane from Lie Nielsen (in ME) over the phone or over the internet they will not collect sales tax despite there being a sales tax in both ME and PA. The reason is because I do not owe ME any tax. I do, however, owe PA tax. It is my responsibility as an out of state buyer to send this tax to the state. If I buy a plane while they are at a convention in PA they will collect and pay PA tax.

[Peter Quinn]

Here in the great state of Connecticut there is most definitely a use tax, in fact if you physically purchase goods out of state for use in state and pay the other state's sales tax, and this tax rate is lower than CT's, they want a check for the difference! They want you to pay 6.5% tax on everything you buy everywhere always. If you have something shipped here, you owe the tax.

That being said I know few people that willingly declare use tax, and of those few declare all of it. There have been high profile stings on certain luxary items and attempts to track internet purchases but the effectiveness has been limited. There are amnesty periods offered here periodically to allow people who may have 'forgotten' their tax responsibility to pay without penality after which there are generally a few well publicized stings and prosecution.

My concern reading this post is that CA has determined Minimax has a presence there, has audited them, has your name and purchase amount, and is giving both parties an amnesty opportunity to pay the tax after which they will get ugly. In the same position I would verify the situation with the vendor then pay and get a receipt.

Minimax is likely being held over the same barrel you are. I wouldn't hold a grudge against one of wood workings finest tool vendors for a situation that may be beyond their control and I wouldn't expect them to pay your tax. If you feel disgruntled about taxation I suggest a call to your congress person who will likely offer nothing but may be sympathetic.

One thing which is certain, my attorney charges more per hour than the tax on any single machine I have purchased, so an opportunity to resolve a tax issue without including my attorney or incurring late penalties is one I would consider fortunate.

[John Bush]

Washington State has stepped up their auditing and collection of "use tax" over the last ten years. They seem to target a specific business type at a time, then move on to another businss group. I wasn't aware of the "use tax" and I recieved a letter from the state Dept. of Rev. asking that I provide all my purchasing records for the previous five years. I sent two boxes of records to my accountant and he handled it for me. He said that all his Dentist clients had been audited that year and he estimated fairly accurately what I would owe in back taxes and penalties. I didn't think too much of it until five years later I was audited again and my accountant again said they were hammering the Dentists that year. I now keep records of all out of state or non taxed purchases and pay with my quarterlies so I don't get spanked again.

[Art Travers]

How silly, how many Californians ever do this ...There is no way for
California ever to determine these purchases. California has a terrible
budget problem so they are pushing from any end to collect what they can..

[Ben Rafael]

How silly, how many Californians ever do this ...There is no way for
California ever to determine these purchases. California has a terrible
budget problem so they are pushing from any end to collect what they can..

Nope. They can catch alot of it.
The Franchise Tax Board and Board of Equalization can audit your credit card records, which they do to many people. All those credit card payments to Amazon and other internet businesses will be questioned. Out of country credit card payments will also be examined. Paying cash is the only way to avoid this trap.

[Greg Cuetara]

Not to take away from the OP but the State of Maine is currently trying to figure out how to charge sales tax to everyone if an item is shipped from Maine. Being that LLBean is in the state and ships a great deal out of state our great state wants their share of everyone else's money. I suspect that this is coming for a lot of states around because tax revenues are down and they want their buck.

To the OP, you owe your money to the state not to MM. If you did not pay tax then the state is coming after it. I know Maine has gone to internet companies and tried to get records to go after the 'use' tax. It is still very sketchy if states have this right or not. We should have privacy in any purchases we make over the internet or out of state. A question I have is, can the state prove that you kept the machine in state. Eventhough it was shipped to CA you could have taken it out of state and they wouldn't know or you could have given it as a gift which is now being used in another state. How can they prove it is still in the state without actually going into your house? Can they just go into your house without a warrent? Would they go through that trouble...maybe...you could always fight it and ask them to prove it is still in CA but then are you being honest or dishonest. That is a question for you to decide.
Good luck,
Greg

[Ben Rafael]

Not to take away from the OP but the State of Maine is currently trying to figure out how to charge sales tax to everyone if an item is shipped from Maine. Being that LLBean is in the state and ships a great deal out of state our great state wants their share of everyone else's money.

That's a good way to get LL Bean to leave the state, not to mention other businesses that rely on mail order sales.
I do believe it is unconstitutional to tax sales out of state, but that certainly wouldn't stop any state from trying it.

[Robert Waddell]

YOU THE PURCHASER OF THE PRODUCT ARE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SALES TAX ON THE ITEMS YOU PURCHASE.

That's how the law reads here in North Carolina. The seller is to collect the sales tax and remit to the state DOR but if they fail to, it does not change the fact that the customer owes the tax. Also, the tax is to be added on top of the selling price and is not part of the price. I sell ww'ing at retail and buy supplies sales tax exempt, so I've had some experience with this.
Rob

[Butch Spears]

Peter said
" One thing which is certain, my attorney charges more per hour than the tax on any single machine I have purchased, so an opportunity to resolve a tax issue without including my attorney or incurring late penalties is one I would consider fortunate."

How true, and the penalty and interest is at a higher rate.

Most of us have always heard ( there are only 2 things that are SURE in life) " Death and Taxes" They are gonna get it one way or the other.