State sales tax on online purchases

coltle6920

Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2013
Messages
4,476
Reaction score
8,900
Location
Denver,Colorado
Still waiting on my order from MantisX but noticed something on the invoice breakdown they sent me. I thought Companies were only required to collect STATE SALES TAXES. To make it worse some of these charges are Fees... Not taxes. :mad:

Subtotal : $225.99 USD

Denver City Tax : $10.88 USD (4.81%)

Rtd Greater Denver : $2.26 USD (1.0%)

Colorado State Tax : $6.55 USD (2.9%)

Scientific & Cultural Fac.(Cd) : $0.23 USD (0.1%)

Colorado Retail Delivery Fee : $0.27 USD (0.0%)

Shipping : $0.00 USD

Total : $246.18 USD
 
Register to hide this ad
I don't know but I would be asking.

Unless the company is in Denver also not sure the City taxes would apply. If they are in Denver and you are in Denver I believe they would have to.

But I am not sure but have never seen a City tax on anything I ordered online.

I would also ask the City of Denver if they collect those taxes from the business.
 
I was under the assumption that they were to collect only state sales tax, too, but have been proven wrong. When something is delivered to my house in town I'm charged municipal tax, when its delivered to my wife's house in an unincorporated part of the county, they only tack on Colorado sales tax. That "Retail Delivery Fee" is the one that tweeks me the most: at least you got to vote on the other ones. .
 
Last edited:
In Texas, cities get a share of the retail state sales tax from the state from the sales in each city, but you never see it shown listed as a separate city sales tax. But nonetheless Texas purchasers pay an invisible city sales tax. I would say that Colorado city sales taxes would have to be collected even if they are shown separately.
 
Last edited:
I just sent my son a case of Blazer Brass 9mm in Colorado: $238.28, 3.69 S/H/I, .27 CO delivery fee and 9.29 Tax. $251.53 total. Same to my house: $238.28, S/H/I 3.69, Fl Tax 18.15 $ 260.12. Almost $9 more tax, but without a "delivery fee." Bugs me extra that sales tax was figured after adding the annual $95 "membership fee" to the invoice. I don't know how much we lose to taxes but "all source" must be close to 50%. Joe
 
I don't know but I would be asking.

Unless the company is in Denver also not sure the City taxes would apply. If they are in Denver and you are in Denver I believe they would have to.

But I am not sure but have never seen a City tax on anything I ordered online.

I would also ask the City of Denver if they collect those taxes from the business.

A couple of years ago I had to pay NYC sales tax on a camera that I ordered via telephone from a large camera store in NYC. I live in Texas and my phone has a Texas area code.
 
A couple of years ago I had to pay NYC sales tax on a camera that I ordered via telephone from a large camera store in NYC. I live in Texas and my phone has a Texas area code.

I believe the practice is you must pay sales tax on one end or the other. What I find especially annoying is computation of sales tax on the Shipping & Handling charge. :mad:

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103
 
I had all my online purchases sent to my daughters address in Mt. No sales tax and I just had a purchase from Midway sent to the recipient in Delaware...no sales tax. By the time you get a product it's already been taxed about 5 times even some food products. Sales tax is a ripoff
 
I am in CO also and don't get those. Looks like a Denver thing to me. I do get taxed for the state but, not anything else except for the Polis .27 transportation tax um er fee.
 
Those extra fees are something different. Don't let Pittsburgh mayor know that stuff. We pay 6% sales tax in PA, and in Allegheny County (PGH) it's 7%. Maybe 7% elsewhere in the state, but I don't know.
Our state is on the ball, though. I hit $1000 on the state lottery a couple weeks ago and they already sent me a W2 type form for when I do my taxes next year. Like I'm gonna know where that form is next year!
 
My gut feeling is many of the online businesses collect sales tax and put it in their pocket.

My experience has been whenever there are large amounts of money involved there is always corruption - frankly the temptation is just too great.

Many States have a State, County & City sales tax.

Think about it:
50 States, 3143 Counties not to mention over 108,000 Cities & Towns.

The logistics of any company paying all of these tax entities is mind boggling.

I think in order to pay sales tax to a State the company would have to be registered as a business in that State.

Would they also have to have a business license for the County & City?

The real question is:
Is there a way to verify or track that an online company REALLY sends collected taxes to a State/County/City?
 
Last edited:
Back in the wild early days of the internet, the ability to conduct relatively anonymous transactions was a huge problem for localities because there was no way to collect sales tax on those transactions.

Over the years, laws have been passed that allow for tax collection on online purchases. Sellers collect the tax and pay it. The tax rate depends on the buyer's location determined by the address of delivery .
 
Last edited:
My understanding is that a business has to have a presence in your State to collect taxes even if you order from them online.

Otherwise, it's your responsibility as an honest citizen to report these purchases at tax time. LOL! :rolleyes:
 
Back
Top