# (Anonymous Poll) Do you report unpaid sales taxes on goods purchased online? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 22, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389 "2010-03-22T21:06:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/1 "2010-03-22T21:06:41Z")
So if you go to [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) and buy $50 worth of books, do you calculate what your state sales tax would be on that and pay it when you do your state income taxes? In most states you’re supposed to, but according to articles I’ve read if you don’t you’re in very good (or at least very big) company since between 90% and 98% (depending on the poll) don’t. So just curious- which of these best describes you? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/2 "2010-03-22T23:09:44Z")
I do, ever since they started to ask about such purchases on the state income tax return. Since I have to sign my state income tax return, I feel that denying such purchases amounts to perjury and/or tax fraud (although I am not an attorney so perhaps it’s not perjury), and I’d rather not do that. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/3 "2010-03-22T23:48:00Z")
Oregon-no sales tax. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/4 "2010-03-23T03:33:32Z")
I always do. What would be the excuse for knowingly and willingly breaking the law? ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/5 "2010-03-23T03:46:06Z")
I live in a state with no state income tax, so it isn’t an issue for me, but I had no idea people in other states had to do that. In my mind it doesn’t make sense - shouldn’t any sales tax and related actions be based on where the company you’re paying is based? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/6 "2010-03-23T03:50:23Z")
Yes and no. I don’t add up all of my untaxed purchases, but my state tax return allows me to pay a set amount based on my income if I choose not to keep records. ---
**Author:** ![SleepyDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@SleepyDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SleepyDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/7 "2010-03-23T04:03:24Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > What would be the excuse for knowingly and willingly breaking the law? What, I need an excuse now? Okay, uh, Fucking the System? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/8 "2010-03-23T04:08:05Z")
There are states without sales tax?! ---
**Author:** ![luv2draw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/9 "2010-03-23T04:15:59Z")
NJ - no sales tax on clothing or things to make clothing (fabric, thread, etc.). No need to report the taxes on other things, the sales tax is billed on the order. I have, for example, an invoice in front of me for books that I ordered online and the sales tax is noted. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/10 "2010-03-23T04:24:50Z")
What’s a sales tax? I don’t have one here in Oregon and when I shop across the river in Washington all I have to do is show my Oregon driver’s licence and I don’t have to pay their’s either. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/11 "2010-03-23T04:30:50Z")
You guys are talking about THE sales tax, right? \>.\< The 8 dollars extra I have to pay for every 100 that I spend? Knowing that there are states where you don’t have to pay it makes me feel… strangely violated. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SleepyDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@SleepyDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SleepyDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/12 "2010-03-23T04:51:23Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > You guys are talking about THE sales tax, right? \>.\< The 8 dollars extra I have to pay for every 100 that I spend? Knowing that there are states where you don’t have to pay it makes me feel… strangely violated. 😛 Ex-Oregonian here. No sales tax there, but they more than make up for it with state income tax and property tax. I pay less tax per annum in Nevada, which has a 7andchange percent sales tax, but no state income tax. The tourists pay alot of my tax burden, so, thanks for the money; Now get out. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/13 "2010-03-23T04:55:10Z")
> [@SleepyDuck](#): > > Ex-Oregonian here. No sales tax there, but they more than make up for it with state income tax and property tax. I pay less tax per annum in Nevada, which has a 7andchange percent sales tax, but no state income tax. The tourists pay alot of my tax burden, so, thanks for the money; Now get out. So if I’m ever living near Oregon and I want to buy something big like a LCD television I should go across the border and buy it there? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SleepyDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@SleepyDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SleepyDuck)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/14 "2010-03-23T04:59:58Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > So if I’m ever living near Oregon and I want to buy something big like a LCD television I should go across the border and buy it there? 😛 Or New Jersey. I think those are the only two states without a sales tax. Also, “self serve” gas is illegal in Oregon, which is a whole 'nother topic. Oregon is weird. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/15 "2010-03-23T05:07:11Z")
> [@SleepyDuck](#): > > Or New Jersey. I think those are the only two states without a sales tax. > > Also, “self serve” gas is illegal in Oregon, which is a whole 'nother topic. Oregon is weird. Wait. In Oregon they HAVE to have a guy come out and pump gas for me?! This sounds like paradise. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/16 "2010-03-23T05:14:53Z")
something I heard in a conversation my father was having when I was just a young pup “Fred got caught by the California Franchise Tax Board for cheating on his sales tax remittance. they tossed his ass in jail.” “Yup, the franchise tax board makes the IRS look like your best friend. You don’t ever fuck with the Franchise Tax Board.” :eek: Words I have never forgotten. If anything I might over pay by $10. just to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/17 "2010-03-23T05:15:21Z")
just a minor nit - it’s not called a sales tax as the point of sale isn’t the locus of the tax anymore. They’re called use taxes. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/18 "2010-03-23T05:17:18Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > something I heard in a conversation my father was having when I was just a young pup > “Fred got caught by the California Franchise Tax Board for cheating on his sales tax remittance. they tossed his ass in jail.” > “Yup, the franchise tax board makes the IRS look like your best friend. You don’t ever fuck with the Franchise Tax Board.” > :eek: > Words I have never forgotten. If anything I might over pay by $10. just to be sure. um, I would expect any state department of revenue to be severely harsh on merchants who do not remit sales taxes. They are double cheats - they don’t give the government their due, and they consequently are effectively stealing from customers. So your father’s example may not necessarily warrant your paranoia, but I get the sentiment nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Khendrask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@Khendrask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khendrask)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/19 "2010-03-23T11:58:57Z")
> [@SleepyDuck](#): > > Or New Jersey. I think those are the only two states without a sales tax. > > Also, “self serve” gas is illegal in Oregon, which is a whole 'nother topic. Oregon is weird. New Jersey has a sales tax on non-food, non-clothing items, and IIRC, the food exemption was only for actual groceries. Dining out on prepared food still had a tax. New Jersey is also a state where it is not legal to pump your own gas. As far as online taxes, I leave that up to the website, and report nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389/20 "2010-03-23T12:28:35Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Wait. In Oregon they HAVE to have a guy come out and pump gas for me?! > > This sounds like paradise. Unless you in a hurry and there is one pump jockey working eight gas pumps. Then it can be a bit of a drag. The state of NC is nice enough to estimate for me based on my income. I run the numbers in my head and it usually seems that I come out ahead using their numbers. It isn’t all that much and I figure putting a zero in there probably increases your chances of an audit by some percentage. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-poll-do-you-report-unpaid-sales-taxes-on-goods-purchased-online/533389.md?page=2)