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Wanted to buy the new HD Models bundle but had to pay 24$ in taxes


Guitarmaniac64
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As a UK resident I wouldn't normally have a clue about this, except that my day job is working for a Retail Systems company and I have worked on modelling Sales Tax rules for worldwide implementations quite a bit.

 

Technically crusinon2 is quite correct except that in many states the Sales Tax that you would have paid when you bought from an out of state retailer is defined as Use Tax and it is normally but not always due at the same rate to your local Tax Authority (State, City, etc) charged on the date of the transaction as part of your Tax return. Sales Tax is only enforced as collectable by an online retailer if the have Nexus in your local Tax Authority which is usually when they have a physical presence (Store, Distribution Centre or Office).

 

The fact that most people don't bother is why there is a lot of pressure in the US at the moment for at least the largest online retailers to charge local Sales Tax due at the point of delivery because it is an unfair playing field where your local retailers have to charge not just what would be normally due, but instead an increased rate to make up for all the income that is lost because people aren't following the Use Tax rules.

 

What Line 6 has done is absolutely correct from a Tax perspective, but it is unfortunate that they didn't make it clear anywhere in the purchase process before payment that your Local Sales tax would be added to the $99 which is why most non-US buyers have got upset.

 

I did wonder what would have happened if I had declared my address as being Alaska, Montana, New Hampshire, Delaware or Oregon because those States don't have Sales tax and therefore I would have paid 0%... but my Credit Card is a UK one and I am not sure that the transaction would have gone through.

my state has sales tax, but there was none charged...

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Well then, I'm sure you're sending the required amount to your state's revenue agency. :lol:

to the best of my knowledge there is no such requirement... nothing on their website about it...the only items taxed IN a state are items purchased IN state.. thats why amazon orders in states here there is no center are not taxed. If I buy an item from overseas or another state (That doesn't have a store here) I am never charged sales tax..

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ok, so i do order the pack 'n my prepaid/credit/debit card is charged with $99 plus taxes...
how do i know that these taxes r finally paid 2 my country's tax authorities on my behalf?
what kind of document(s) am i supplied with as a tax-payment proof? :unsure:

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ok, so i do order the pack 'n my prepaid/credit/debit card is charged with $99 plus taxes...

how do i know that these taxes r finally paid 2 my country's tax authorities on my behalf?

what kind of document(s) am i supplied with as a tax-payment proof? :unsure:

 

Others have said that you'll get a receipt when you buy it. That is the document that you need. 

How do you know that L6 hands it over --- you don't. But, if they give you a receipt with it showing that taxes were paid, and then they don't pay the taxes, that is their issue. 

 

 

 

*although, I can't say that with a certainty because you are in another jurisdiction. 

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to the best of my knowledge there is no such requirement... nothing on their website about it...the only items taxed IN a state are items purchased IN state.. thats why amazon orders in states here there is no center are not taxed. If I buy an item from overseas or another state (That doesn't have a store here) I am never charged sales tax..

There are two phrases everyone needs to remember. 

1. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. 

This means that just because you didn't know you were breaking a law does not give you permission to break it. Nor do you get a slap on the wrist with a stern finger pointing -- now you know, don't do it again. 

2. and the 2nd phrase has been stated in a few different ways depending on the legal document it is written in, but basically: 

A lack of enforcement in the past does not nullify the future enforcement of the law.  

Which means, that just because no one has been arrested in 175 years for the 1812 law that says you need to carry an umbrella at all times, does not mean that you can't be arrested for it tomorrow. 

 

 

 

But remember... 

having the tax collected at time of purchase is different than not owing the tax at all. 

I think it has been said many times, that everywhere is different so no one can say with a certainty on your specific situation. But it is quite possible that you owe and responsible to pay it yourself, it is also possible that you simply do not owe it. 

 

The question, however, is: 

Are you going to bury your head in the sand and just hope that you are not a tax cheat. 

And then, if the answer is yes, are you going to still complain about the 'evil rich people' that cheat on their taxes even though you are doing it too. 

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seriously how is this topic not dead? this is a government issue not a line6 issue.

 

Because 450% of our income goes to support a government tax or fee in one way or another. 

 

And yet, some people just continue to want more government! 

 

 

Yes, I said four hundred and fifty percent. Because I included the amount of debt the government takes on. 

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was not arguing that at all.... i know governments need reigned in....

was just making the argument about the topic being forum appropriate....

this is something that a line6 customer should accept... because its out of line6's control....

it's also something that a citizen of whatever country... should not accept... and try to change.

just don't think you'd find much of that change is gonna happen by beating up line6....

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Agreed. 

 

But then, just when you think it is over. 

Someone else comes back and questions it again. Which, if you think about it, is better than them starting a new topic. I mean, who wants to see 20 topics "why was i charged taxes"

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I would have liked to buy the full HD bundle amp pack, but with 22% taxes the final cost was too much for me, so I had to choose and I bought the Metal Pack. I do not blame Line6 for that (there is nothing to blame), it's the law (an european law) and I obviously prefer paying Line6 for new amps rather than paying taxes on software (or any intangible asset), but that's it.

The frustration (and a bit of confusion) is because some time ago (before January 2015 if I am correct) we european customers (I speak for Italian ones at least) could buy items from non-EU countries paying the item's local taxes and not the customer's local taxes. So, for example, if I bought a software from USA I didn't pay 22% taxes. Now it's different and our country's tax is applied even if I buy outside.

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I would have liked to buy the full HD bundle amp pack, but with 22% taxes the final cost was too much for me, so I had to choose and I bought the Metal Pack. I do not blame Line6 for that (there is nothing to blame), it's the law (an european law) and I obviously prefer paying Line6 for new amps rather than paying taxes on software (or any intangible asset), but that's it.

The frustration (and a bit of confusion) is because some time ago (before January 2015 if I am correct) we european customers (I speak for Italian ones at least) could buy items from non-EU countries paying the item's local taxes and not the customer's local taxes. So, for example, if I bought a software from USA I didn't pay 22% taxes. Now it's different and our country's tax is applied even if I buy outside.

 

On a long enough timeline, we will all have gov't issued, coin-operated toilets in our homes.

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On a long enough timeline, we will all have gov't issued, coin-operated toilets in our homes.

They have already changed the meters to digital units and have started charging different rates for different times of the day. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I got caught by this too and was quite annoyed (I'm in the UK)

 

There's obviously nothing wrong with Line6 charging sales tax but they should advertise prices that might be subject to extra charges as being 'before tax'

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.....

 

There's obviously nothing wrong with Line6 charging sales tax ....'

To reiterate something that has already been mentioned several times here, corporations (like Line 6) don't charge sales tax. Governments do. ANY price advertised by a U.S. corporation is pre-tax unless stated otherwise (that's simply the way things work in North America, different from the UK), and the corporations have no control over the sales tax that may be charged by the purchaser's local government. They simply collect it at the point of sale and pass it on to the appropriate government.
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"To reiterate something that has already been mentioned several times here, corporations (like Line 6) don't charge sales tax. Governments do. ANY price advertised by a U.S. corporation is pre-tax, and the corporations has no control over the sales tax that may be charged by the purchaser's local government."  

 

This strikes me as a strange point to make...

 

US corporations sometimes can and do charge sales tax. This thread is specifically talking about the sales tax section on the Line 6 checkout. Corporations just don't get to keep the money they charge. It Its not like foreign governments are magically siphoning  money from corporate checkouts systems before the money enters the corporate account. Its true that the governments set the amount extra to be charged but this is certainly not what I what I was complaining about. 

 

 

 

 

I'm a developer of a UK based E-commerce website and here It's normal for retailers to set the price of consumer products such that the advertised price includes tax and where it doesn't or can't its usually stated. What you see is what you pay. Our prices include tax, uk based or otherwise, where we charge it.

 

It would seem like this isn't common practice in the US which explains what happened but isn't particularly satisfying as it feels like a bit of a bait and switch tactic given the end result

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Used car sales by individuals do not have a sales tax. But there are other taxes/fees involved that aren't called "sales tax" but for the sake of discussion you could consider it a sales tax. 

 

As I said in the post, the big tax/fee is based on blue book value regardless of the amount you paid for, and then there are other miscellaneous gov't add-ons that are flat fees. 

In PA you pay sales tax on used car purchases from individual to individual. It is paid when the title is transferred.

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In PA you pay sales tax on used car purchases from individual to individual. It is paid when the title is transferred.

 

Never bought a used car individual to individual in PA.

 

Most states make you pay sales tax on a vehicle when you go to register it - even if it's used.  Here in Colorado it's based on what they look up as the value of the car.

 

But then, if it is based on a 'bluebook value' instead of the actual sales price, it isn't a sales tax in the common sense. Which is what I said in the post Rocco quoted. 

 

 

 

My stores are in multiple states. In one state, delivery is a taxable service, in another it is not.

In one state sales tax is figured before the trade, and in another it is after the trade. 

So, if you buy a $10,000 piece but have a $9,000 trade, in one state you are paying based on $1,000 and another $10,000. 

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