2Nd Question About Use Tax??

Okay... so Oregon doesn't have sales tax. Those of us here in Washington often take rather large advantage of that! Especially people who are closer to the border.

Ditto we have quite a few Reservations.

And Canada is is on our other side.

((Amazon is HERE (like 10 minutes down the road in an old psych hospital, no joke, the vibe around that place is soooooo much better than it used to be! It used to be this huge old scary building on the hill, now it's a huge old building on the hill)... we pay the same tax via Amazon as we do instate. :P Ah well, whatever.))

ANYHOW... Point being is that here in WA it's very easy to bypass sales tax by dropping down into OR, up to BC or by going onto the reservations. So people bypass taxation all the time. Even more back when gas prices weren't through the roof.

It's also not legal.

It becomes a pretty big deal when you're talking cars, tvs, cameras, etc. Big ticket items. And small ticket that add up; like clothes or cigarettes. Also if you're buying 50 cartons of cigarettes a year (the state loses $2500 in sin-tax, but personally, I prefer the money to go to the tribes, in any event).

HOWEVER

There was a case a WHILE back (my sister was at Wazzu). WSU is about 2 minutes from the Idaho border. One could buy cigarettes in Moscow ID for $3 a pack, but they were $6-7 here in WA. So college kids regularly just bought them in ID. Now, they were paying the TAX IN IDAHO. Completely legal. But they were being pulled over crossing back into WA and the cigarettes confiscated / fined for not paying WA's sales tax. Until they pulled over a law student. The case went to trial and the judge was TICKED.

"Free trade between States".

In some cases, you're required to pay the tax of the state you reside in. In other cases, it's free trade between states.

Crosseyed yet?

I always think they are funny. Illinois makes a big deal about it yet they have no way to prove how much you bought. Amazon pisses them off to no end.

That is what it is mostly about. They can't make Amazon collect the taxes because they do not have a brick and mortar in the state so they are hoping we will just pony up the cash because we are so kind and benevolent. Well I am not so I ignore it. :)

They can't prove any of it which is why very few people pay it. Heck on my tax programs it doesn't even pop up as a question because it would probably confuse people. :p

Here's some basic info about use tax.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_tax

Unless you travel to another state regularly to supply your business, I doubt it will apply to you.

If you own an out of state storage locker, or warehouse, for example to save a year's worth of taxes......

Can't imagine this applying all that much to a resident with an in-home daycare business. Maybe ask your tax preparer about this if you're stioll curious...