North Carolina State Tax a Deal Breaker!

[Sony Guy]

I live in North Carolina and have always delt with Amazon in purchasing my higher end photo items and computer equipment. Up until fairly recently, Amazon did not charge NC customers NC state tax on items but have started doing so. I want to purchase a new Sony 70-200 G lens that runs about $1500 but the tax alone on this is over $100! That hurts. I love dealing with Amazon because of thier generous return policy and prompt honest service, but now with this added on tax, it's becoming less attractive.

Does anyone out there know of another good honest vendor of photo gear that yould carry this lens but will not charge me the NC state tax?

[PhotogNY]

Try any other out of state camera store (beach camera, Adorama, b&h, etc.).

 

I know how you feel. I live in NY. So every great sale at Adorama or B&H I have to add like $200 to the sale price just for tax. It's a killer when I know I can order the same thing from an out of state store like Beach Camera and not pay tax.

 

Also, try https://www.greentoe.com. It's supposedly some new camera gear reverse auction site that guys are getting great deals on. You set the price you want to pay for the lens or gear, and the stores either accept your offer or give you a counter offer. Might be able to save even more money.

[Max the Dog]

When your untaxed lens gets stolen maybe there won't be a viable police dept and judicial system because you didn't contribute to the social contract. 

 

You owe a tax whether the retailer charges it. 

 

The Customer’s Responsibility

In cases where the online retailer does not have to collect sales tax, it is the customer’s responsibility to pay the tax—in which case it is known not as a sales tax but, rather, a “use tax.” The DOR has a webpage providing basic guidance on the use tax, as well as a FAQ page on the use tax. The DOR’s basic guidance states that “Out-of-state retailers that are not ‘engaged in business’ in this State cannot be required to collect North Carolina's tax,” and that such retailers include out-of-state businesses selling over the Internet. Similarly, the FAQ page mentions that items purchased on the Internet may be subject to use tax.

For additional information, you can check the use tax statute, N.C. Gen. Stat. 105-164.6. 

[Austerror]

$1500 +$100 seems like a good deal.

 

In Australia we pay +10% on anything that gets ordered in from overseas.  If it is LESS than $900 the government does not care.  Anything above that you pay tax (called GST). GST gets applied to anything you might be renting too...