Does FFL Tax Online Tranfers ?

[ICEN]

I am already aware that if you buy any type of firearm online that there will be a transfer fee ranging from $15-$35 most of the time.

What I forgot to think about though, if I was to buy a firearm from lets say budsgunshop or any other online website, will the FFL Charge Tax on the gun even though they are not the seller?

For Example : Lets pretend I bought a handgun from budsgunshop for lets say $500 exactly with free shipping to the FFL.

Lets also say that the FFL Dealer said the FFL Fee is going to be $30.

So would that be exactly $530 and thats all.
Or Does the FFL Actually Charge Tax even though they are not the seller?

This may be a dumb question but I was thinking about it and was wondering if the FFL dealers can actually charge the tax since you pay no tax online.

Or is it only the Transfer Fee.

I bought guns from shops I know how that works but I never bought from online so I was wondering if they can charge tax on something they are not selling but only transferring.

 

[Dennis The B]

It depends on state laws. As the purchaser, you are required to pay use tax, if required, on any taxable merchandise shipped to you in your state of residence. Most states require that you remit use taxes on out-of-state purchases at least once per year. Of late, there are states which require FFL's to collect the use tax from the recipient. The tax, of course, is based on the amount you paid for the merchandise.

The FFL is only collecting for the state. States are increasingly looking to guarantee their cut of use and sales taxes. The honor systems most states have, doesn't work very well, since there is no way for state revenue departments to prove that you bought goods from out of state. Since a gun has to be opened for logging purposes, by the receiving FFL, it's no great deal to ascertain the value of the gun. The state determines whether transfer fees, in addition to the value of the gun, are taxable.

Your premise that you pay no tax for online merchandise is incorrect. As I wrote above, you are required to pay use tax to your local, county, or state taxing jurisdictions whenever you import goods into the state where they will be used (hence, USE tax).

 

[finesse_r]

The FFL does not have the power to tax. Only the state government has that power.

That said, some FFL dealers do collect a sales tax for the state just to cover their butts. It is not required in Texas or most states, so if you FFL is telling you he collects sales tax on out of state transfers, contact a different FFL dealer and call around.

If it is from an instate seller, then I would think a sales tax must be collected by someone.

 

[ICEN]

I don't really understand how you know if your suppose to pay use tax.

I mean I buy tons of things online and I never had to pay tax on alot of things. I'm not sure if buying other things online count as having to pay use tax or not but I know that if people are suppose to well that is kind of funny because out of all the people who buy things online I can say that 0% of us are actually paying tax lolol.

So the state basically says
"We want to make money off of you selling things eventhough we are not selling it"

Seems legit

What is the point of buying things online if you still have to pay tax. I thought the entire purpose of online buying was to get things cheaper and avoid store prices.

I never had anyone ever tell me in my entire life that I had to pay use tax on things. I don't get how the state expect use tax but yet its not very well known or at least they don't clearly make it obvious that you are suppose to.

Anyways "Suppose" can be broken I guess

Its not like the state is selling cookies why should they get a cut of the girl scouts money when the state didn't sell any cookies. If I am selling cookies I want that money for myself.

I don't share cookies

 

[LVSteve]

The "sales and use" tax thing depends on the law in your state. Strictly speaking, if you live in such a state as I do, you should pay tax on everything you buy online. It's called "obeying the laws of your state".

Now, the joke here in Nevada is that there are no forms or obvious mechanisms to pay such taxes, nor do the state seem set up to collect on out of state purchases except for motor vehicles. Bizarro, huh? Some states have required FFLs to collect tax on their behalf, recognizing that firearms are high dollar items (raising much revenue) and they have you by the short hairs because an FFL transfer is required.

I've even been screwed by Maryland who required an online auction house to charge sales tax there and you had to get a tax waiver or produce evidence that you had paid tax in your state before they would refund the money. Haven't dealt with a Maryland business since.

 

[WC145]

I don't see how the receiving dealer can collect sales tax on something he did not sell. It is up to the selling dealer to collect any applicable sales tax for the state he is located in. It is up to you as the purchaser to pay applicable taxes in the state you live in direct to the state, if you're state of residence taxes mail order or on line purchases made from out of state retailers. All the receiving dealer is doing is clearing you to take possession of the gun through the NICS process.

 

[Mydogmax]

In my state you're supposed to report online purchases and pay sales tax on them ( like we don't pay enough taxes ) Do people do it? No comment on that as the Mn Dept of Rev might be listening in.
That being said, there is a small chain of gun stores here that will charge you tax when you order a gun from them but I guess that's considered an in state purchase. As far as online purchases go, I use a FFL that works out of his house. No tax collected. His quote to me was " I'm not selling you the gun".

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

Transfer fees are a LABOR charge-- there is no tax for labor, at least in VA- I cannot vouch for other venues.

 

[KevinCH]

What is the point of buying things online if you still have to pay tax. I thought the entire purpose of online buying was to get things cheaper and avoid store prices.

Better on-line prices has nothing to do with sales tax; it's all about the seller having less overhead than a brick-and-mortar presence & passing the savings onto you as a consumer.

In fact, if you buy from an on-line seller that also has a brick-and-mortar presence in your state, the seller is required to collect sales tax.

For instance: if you buy something on-line from Cabela's & they happen to have one of their retail stores in your state, they are required to collect your state's sales tax.

I've found shipping costs can offset a good bit of the money saved in not having to pay sales tax.

 

[4011]

Some FFL's in Texas charge sales tax. As said before go find a different FFL.

 

[Hodgin]

I can only speak to what happened to me in TN at one specific FFL. The FFL was a gun and pawn shop charging $30 for a transfer.

I was charged sales tax on the $30 transfer only, not the sales price of the pistol. However, in TN I am responsible for paying a state "user's tax," on the purchase price of the gun as well. The user tax is exactly the same as the sales tax. This can be done online but I suspect that many people don't actually pay the tax. Some online retailers charge it directly to the online purchase (Home Depot for example) while others don't (Grabagun). I think Amazon is the only out-of-state retailer that doesn't charge it directly but does report it to the state. Nevertheless, the purchaser is still responsible for the tax if it's not charged directly.

 

[rburg]

Tread lightly. I got "caught" back in the last century. I wasn't being bad on purpose, I just did what everyone does. I found a great gun at an attractive price and bought it. The entire transaction went smooth as, well, you know. I took the gun home and it was great. Then early the next year I got a notice of a tax owed. It seems we have a bunch of bums in a department called the "Revenue Cabinet". And one of their jobs is auditing sales tax collections around the state. So they selected the FFL I used and did an audit. All the audit turned up was the fact that I'd transferred a gun into the state. And apparently they gained access to the forms and discovered it was a K22. So from that they deduced that it had a retail value of between $200 in terrible shape and $650 in perfect shape.

So they assessed me the 6% on the high value. What do they call it "easy peasey" So being a dummy, I called and got a nice girl who explained the facts of life to me. Basically, they want their pound of flesh. On every transaction. And because I was bad an didn't declare the value, they did me the favor of declaring the highest value in the Blue Book on that model. I had the right to appeal, but I'd need to hire an attorney and schedule a court date. I could even bring in the gun and as many expert gun appraisers as I wanted. And my paperwork from the seller. I might even with the case and only need to pay the amount the appraisers say my gun is worth. But by the time you've paid an attorney and a couple of appraisers, you've exceeded the value of the gun itself. The tax was only $39 plus a minor penalty.

So of course I just did what they wanted and paid up. And the nice girl working for the state even explained how I could avoid the problem in the future. Just don't be a tax scofflaw. There is a state income tax form dedicated to listing all the guns and consumer stuff I bought out of state and the value. With a gun, all you needed to do was list the model and the amount paid. She mentioned even that as long as it was within the range of prices in the Blue Book, they just accepted it. They do have sleezy lawyers on staff, but they've got to prove my gun was worth more, and it just wasn't worth the effort, just like it wasn't worth my effort on the one gun.

So its a new rule of life. If I bought a hand gun and had it transferred in, it was worth a couple of hundred dollars. Long guns can mostly be bought out of state and the forms filled out there. You pay the sales tax in that state. Well, unless of course you want to stir up the Federal hornets nest and avoid taxes at a gun show. At our instate gun shows they have an evil tax person that walks around and gives nearly everyone a tax form that has a table. You're expected to fill it out and send it in. The effort they go to has varied over the years. Some promoters (jerks) actually provide the tax folks a copy of everyone that purchased a table! I prefer not bothering with those shows. I don't sell enough to make it worth my time.

 

[Aticus]

Where I live the SELLER is required to collect state sales taxes. It gets a little complicated 'cause, I think, if the seller doesn't have a business presence in my state they are not required to collect the sales tax. I could be wrong in that. The sales tax is collected when you pay for the product. In an on line transaction you generally pay the seller before he/she ships the product.

As for the online purchase of a gun, you would pay the seller of the gun who then ships it to your FFL. Your FFL then transfers the gun to you for a fee. If there is a law in your state that this transfer is taxed your FFL will collect that tax at that time. Where I live there is no tax on such transfers and I know of no FFL that collects any tax. Your state can and probably does differ.

Also understand that any sales taxes collected or not collected by an online seller on a product shipped into my state are the responsibility of the seller not the buyer. Again your state can and probably does differ.

 

[H Richard]

There are proposals in Federal legislation to require ALL on-line sellers to collect sales tax at the rate of the state the merchandise is being shipped to (and remit to that state). Too many states are losing the tax revenue that buyers are "supposed" to pay voluntarily. It till become mandatory, it's only a matter of time.

 

[NCW Ray]

Let's "Pretend" you live in the State of Washington, if you don't I'm sure eventually someone will pick your state. Washington State Use Tax

 

[LouisianaJoe]

I Louisiana, There is a entry on your state tax return to declare items bought online and there is a "Consumer Use Tax" to be paid. If a "Tax" is illegal, a state will call it a fee. If "Sales Taxes" are illegal, then they call it a "Use Tax".

 

[Doug M.]

On an FFL transfer here, the state tax is collected by the FFL, but that will vary from state to state.

 

[carpriver]

I have not purchased a gun from and online gun sight. What I have done is used the price listed on line to dicker with my local gunshop. He normally has to order the gun for me. He can either meet the online price or come close to it. I end up paying the sales tax. My gun shop will charge a higher FFL transfer fee If you order online and he does the transfer.

 

[b_san]

On an FFL transfer here, the state tax is collected by the FFL, but that will vary from state to state.

That's true even though the state's claim that the WA FFL is an "agent" of the out of state dealer is a specious argument. Highly surprised it hasn't gone to court yet.

 

[Jim1392]

I just purchased a gun online and had it shipped to my local FFL. Online dealer did not charge tax nor did my FFL. FFL just collected the transfer fee his $25.00.