I owe a California Use Tax? WTF?!!!

[magellan01]

Every state I've ever lived in also has a use tax for out of state internet purchases. I wish they'd just make Amazon collect local sales tax as I feel like a sucker because I'm one of the only ones who actually pays it. Why? Because I'm scared that the one time I don't, I'll get audited and busted. Plus, it only comes to ~$80 a year, so it's not that big of deal. I just hate paying it when everyone else is getting away with not paying. Either enforce the law for everyone, or take it off the books.

I agree with this. My only real fear is that I'll get hit for 8 years worth of this tax at one time. I buy a lot of stuff online.

 

[Lok]

Ummm, it's not just California that does this. Ohio requires* you to pay a use tax as well on items purchased from online retailers. There's an area on your Ohio Tax return form where you are supposed to report it.

*By requires, it is codified in the tax code that you are required to do this, but it is purely self-reported so my understanding is that most people don't do so.

I report my use tax in Ohio. Or at least a rough approximation, since I don't actually keep exact track of everything I buy online in a year. Well, I did for last year, I only bought like 3 things. Lack of money makes it much easier to keep track of such.

 

[DiosaBellissima]

Oh god, are you pushing this meme again?

Why? He's right. That's the #1 thing I tell my clients: if you've got the IRS on your back, that's easy enough to deal with - the FTB will straight murder your ass and don't feel sorry about it. They are vicious and aren't governed by nearly as much regulation as the IRS, so they get away with a ton of stuff the IRS couldn't dream of doing.

I'm not kidding: the FTB will ruin your life.

 

[yoyodyne]

Funny you should mention "all these taxes" when we have Prop 13 on the books which is keeping property taxes artificially low, depriving local and state government of billions of dollars in funding.

How is an artificially low tax defined?

 

[Shot From Guns]

This should be the thread in question, if you're curious.

 

[Erdosain]

How is an artificially low tax defined?

Plus, property taxes have to be analyzed in conjunction with state and local income taxes and state and local sales taxes. Often the discrepancy between states' rates of property tax depends on the autonomy of their local governments. That being said, I have no idea if CA has artificially low property taxes or whether they compensate for this with higher income and sales tax.

 

[Frank]

I'm not calling him a retard for not knowing the proper route. I'm calling him a retard for having never even heard of the idea that he might need to pay sales tax on items he purchased from out-of-state vendors.

Also, he's a piece of racist trash. So that colors my opinion somewhat.

I find this sort of thing to be mildly irritating. I can't think of anything that magellan01 and I agree on. I dislike him intensely on the board, and I suspect that if he is anything like his board persona in real life, I'd intensely dislike him there too.

But this subject isn't remotely related to anything I disagree with him on, and I was somehow able to alleviate a bit of ignorance without calling him names. It's a simple question about what was to him an unknown piece of the tax code, and it should be possible to answer that without being a putz about it.

 

[mhendo]

But this subject isn't remotely related to anything I disagree with him on, and I was somehow able to alleviate a bit of ignorance without calling him names. It's a simple question about what was to him an unknown piece of the tax code, and it should be possible to answer that without being a putz about it.

As i suggested earlier in the thread, if he had started the OP in GQ or something, and had said, "Hey, i just got a letter from the California government about something called a 'use tax.' Can anyone tell me what this is?", then i wouldn't have had a problem with it. I would simply have offered up an answer.

But he marched into the Pit, calling California the "nuttiest fucking state" for a tax and a tax policy that is followed by the vast majority of American states, and threatened to leave the state because of a policy that has been in effect for decades.

Pretty fucking stupid.

The OP gets to choose where he or she places a thread in this forum. If you start one in the Pit and act like a tool, you can expect to get called on it.

 

[Starving Artist]

All the OP tells us that that you don't have a fucking clue.

Of course he doesn't have a clue! He as much as says so in the OP. Does gratuitously acting like a dick make you feel like a big man? Does it fill some sort of void in your life? Is it transference based on how you'd like to behave to your students but can't? Is it an outlet for the frustration you feel over having to be you? What?

The rest of your post was very good. So I'd really like to know what it is about you that requires you to feel compelled to act like an utter ass as a prerequisite to offering genuinely helpful information.

 

[jtgain]

A bunch of states have recently been trying to work out a way to collect more of the taxes owed on internet purchases, and supporters of the move include brick-and-mortar stores who argue, quite reasonably, that the ability of online retailers to sell without charging sales tax effectively undercuts local retailers and makes it harder for them to do business.

The local retailers should direct their complaints at the state which taxes them on every business transaction they make. Several states somehow keep paved roads without a sales or use tax.

 

[mhendo]

Of course he doesn't have a clue! He as much as says so in the OP.

And if he had posted his thread in GQ, something like, "Hey, i got this letter from the California State Government about use tax, which is something i had never heard of. What is it?", i would have responded with the appropriate tone.

But he marched into the Pit, ranting and raving about something that has been law for decades, and calling California "the nuttiest fucking state," despite the fact that this tax is in no way unusual among US states.

And because it's the Pit, i decided to point out what an ignoramus he is. Which would put him in perfect company with a fucking stupid dickwad like you.

You're welcome.

 

[magellan01]

Do talk to your accountant since the odds are he has not been paying, but you never know. You are also not the idiot that most people on these boards are making you out to be, California didn't get serious about collecting use tax until this year, and it is likely that you can get a waiver to discharge the penalties from previous years. It it also likely that you will only owe tax going back to 2007. For my clients, even the one's who buy lots and lots of stuff online, the use tax owed was not a lot of money, so again don't freak out. Again, talk to your accountant, all standard disclaimers about this not being tax advice apply.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll be calling my accountant this afternoon.

 

[magellan01]

This should be the thread in question, if you're curious.

You made the same claim in the other thread, but when called on it, here's what you finally admitted:

I can't dig into their slimy little minds to prove anything--I can only offer conjecture. And the main difference seems to be that these aren't (to them) Europeans.

Pretty lame, huh?

And this ignores that I said that I think that Americans (generally white) who were raised here and recently converted to Islam were deserving of more wariness (however teensy the amount) then someone who was brought up in the religion.

But this is what you do. Something doesn't agree with your world view and he must be the most vile/ignorant/stupid sort of person. You should go back to that thread, son, and read it afresh. Try to find those things that I actually said that are so racist (you know, the ones you couldn't find before, as you admitted in the quote above?). Even leaving aside that "Muslim" isn't a race. rolleyes Thing is, you're a schmuck. And maybe that exercise will show you that you're hyperventilating for reasons that exist in a weak, knee-jerk PC mind only.

I won't respond to any further attacks referring to the other thread here, as it is inappropriate. So, go comment over there and I will be more than happy to stop by bitch slap you as much as I think you need it.

 

[Rumor_Watkins]

Why? He's right. That's the #1 thing I tell my clients: if you've got the IRS on your back, that's easy enough to deal with - the FTB will straight murder your ass and don't feel sorry about it. They are vicious and aren't governed by nearly as much regulation as the IRS, so they get away with a ton of stuff the IRS couldn't dream of doing.

I'm not kidding: the FTB will ruin your life.

Good. Tax cheats are pretty much as bad as you can get.

 

[mhendo]

The local retailers should direct their complaints at the state which taxes them on every business transaction they make. Several states somehow keep paved roads without a sales or use tax.

Yeah, five whole states.

I'm not especially interested in having a big debate over whether sales/use taxes are the best way to raise government revenue. But the fact is that they exist in the vast majority of US states, and when they are not collected on purchases from outside the state, it puts in-state retailers at a competitive disadvantage.

Not only that, but the law in most (all?) of those states requires that such taxes be paid on out-of-state purchases, so it's not unreasonable for states to seek a mechanism to ensure this happens. Not really very complicated, is it?

 

[magellan01]

As i suggested earlier in the thread, if he had started the OP in GQ or something, and had said, "Hey, i just got a letter from the California government about something called a 'use tax.' Can anyone tell me what this is?", then i wouldn't have had a problem with it. I would simply have offered up an answer.

But he marched into the Pit, calling California the "nuttiest fucking state" for a tax and a tax policy that is followed by the vast majority of American states, and threatened to leave the state because of a policy that has been in effect for decades.

Pretty fucking stupid.

The OP gets to choose where he or she places a thread in this forum. If you start one in the Pit and act like a tool, you can expect to get called on it.

OMG!!! I called California nutty! And I didn't know that states charged use taxes!! OMG!!! And I posted this in The Pit and expressed some RO as I 1) admitted complete ignorance on the subject and 2) sought to rectify that fact. MG-MG-MG!!!!!! Heaven's to Betsy, that makes me such a tool!!!

Look, genius, I don't mind some ribbing if you feel you must, but to imply that you were just completely unable to offer up the info you did without the personal attack is more of a commentary on you than me. And I have to ask you again, do you really think that calling me ignorant on a subject that I admitted zero knowledge of and announced so in the OP is supposed to cut me to the quick?

Pretty fucking stupid.

But, yawn.

 

[DiosaBellissima]

Good. Tax cheats are pretty much as bad as you can get.

I don't disagree. Just saying: I have plenty of clients who literally did nothing wrong, but due to an error in the FTB, they are being raped by the state. Shit happens, errors are made, etc-- it just happens a lot more with the FTB because they have a lot more leeway.

 

[CanvasShoes]

The states can enforce a use tax whether or not you have local suppliers. They just usually don't if there isn't a local supplier.

I'm glad that the OP posted this. As a 40 year resident of Alaska, I have been completely ignorant of anything even close to this, and I do plan on moving to the lower 48 as soon as the economy improves enough for me to transfer to one of the offices on the west coast.

I buy a lot of stuff online, when I move, I'll pay close attention to what sorts of use tax laws each of my "maybe" states has

What percentage of people simply ignore them?

 

[billfish678]

The rest of your post was very good. So I'd really like to know what it is about you that requires you to feel compelled to act like an utter ass as a prerequisite to offering genuinely helpful information.

Its the internet dick tax. And Mhendo is going to collect damit!

 

[magellan01]

I don't disagree. Just saying: I have plenty of clients who literally did nothing wrong, but due to an error in the FTB, they are being raped by the state. Shit happens, errors are made, etc-- it just happens a lot more with the FTB because they have a lot more leeway.

Thanks for this heads up. Maybe I should call the person they assigned to me after all, regardless of what my accountant says. Who, by the way, is in NY, though he deals with lots of client in CA.