No More B&H For Me! (Page 2): I cannot understand what happens with this US purchase tax system, here the UK price shown instore or online is what you pay, there are no extra taxes as...

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

I cannot understand what happens with this US purchase tax system, here the UK price shown instore or online is what you pay, there are no extra taxes as that is already included, the only extras could be delivery or insurance, the latter being optional.
It's a very neat system but the standard VAT (Value added Tax) is currently 20% so this usually makes the UK more expensive.

Jakebrake Loc: Broomfield, Colorado

Woodworm65 wrote:

If you have a brick and mortar store near you you should be supporting that store because you my friend are the contributing factor to camera stores closing and a lot of retail stores closing all across this country,, sorry just my opinion.

Your opinion is valid, however being retired and not born with a silver spoon in my mouth I have to be frugal with my hobby funds and a close to 9% sales tax, that is substantial on a major purchase. Nuff said, I will now be a Mike's Camera customer. Thank you.

Old Timer Loc: Greenfield, In.

The state and local governments both are putting pressure on shippers to collect the sales tax. Amazon in Indiana has caved in to the demands in some degree. If it is shipped from an instate facility in In. now we have to pay the tax. The same for Roberts here in Indiana. As stated above we are supposed to pay the taxes but most of us do not. I do not like taxes but they are necessary for the government to function for the services they perform. I have not got any thing from BH but it does give out of state retailers an unfair advantage and makes it harder for them to compete.. I just bought a Canon 70 200 f4 is lens from Roberts last week and even paying the sales taxes I could not match price any where else.

Jakebrake Loc: Broomfield, Colorado

chaman wrote:

How high is that horse?

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Jakebrake wrote:

I have been a B&H customer for many years, and... (show quote)

The title of the Original Post is wrong - it should be "Local Store for Me"

Incidentally, the real "scandal" is if people are evading sales tax by purchasing from Amazon, because they are replacing local merchants for all kinds of things.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

I used to do meetings and creative work for a company called Vertex in PA where I lived. They started
as a service to help companies big and small deal with taxes for all the US states. A very complicated task
and they are now huge and very successful. Think of how complicated paying taxes back to states where needed.
Every state is different in how much, due dates laws between states etc. Just another crazy mess in our
country. I had a few creative companies in PA like an Design Studio and we could call the state and
get a different answer on whether we should charge state sales tax for a script. Never got the same answer.
B&H is basically selling list price I think. And yes without sales tax. Used to go to NY and buy gear have
it shipped to PA. No tax. Or no tax online. State governments are mean and confusing. The state of PA
was awful to deal with. They need money so they become a collection mafia.

leftj Loc: Texas

Old Timer wrote:

The state and local governments both are putting p... (show quote)

The reason most people dislike taxes is because of the wasteful government spending of our money. Aid to foreign countries that hate us, grants for the study of the sex life of a housefly and other such nonsense.

Jakebrake Loc: Broomfield, Colorado

Old Timer wrote:

The state and local governments both are putting p... (show quote)

Well, I guess Colorado isn't making enough in taxes on wacky tabaccy, so now they are going after revenue from online retailers...

Jakebrake Loc: Broomfield, Colorado

leftj wrote:

The reason most people dislike taxes is because of the wasteful government spending of our money. Aid to foreign countries that hate us, grants for the study of the sex life of a housefly and other such nonsense.

BINGO!

chaman

leftj wrote:

The reason most people dislike taxes is because of the wasteful government spending of our money. Aid to foreign countries that hate us, grants for the study of the sex life of a housefly and other such nonsense.

Nail got hit. In its head too.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

In Washington State, we have been enjoying regular, tax free shopping with B&H, LLBean and a few third party sellers on Amazon. There was a new law in 2017 that was to be effective Jan 1, 2018 to force outsiders to collect sales tax. My wife's first order of the year at LLBean in Maine had Washington State sales tax collected.

Note that Washington State is the home for both REI and Amazon.

So far, there has been no sales tax at B&H for a couple small (ink cartridge) orders.

Jakebrake Loc: Broomfield, Colorado

bsprague wrote:

In Washington State, we have been enjoying regular... (show quote)

So far I haven't been charged sales tax from Amazon, however I see the writing on the wall and expect, not in the too distant future tax will be collected and forwarded to the states on all online purchases. It's just a matter of time as the states see all of this revenue they are missing out on to waste.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

Why not support local in first place.

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

johneccles wrote:

I cannot understand what happens with this US purchase tax system, here the UK price shown instore or online is what you pay, there are no extra taxes as that is already included, the only extras could be delivery or insurance, the latter being optional.
It's a very neat system but the standard VAT (Value added Tax) is currently 20% so this usually makes the UK more expensive.

Brexit asside, what happens between EU states? Like someone in France purchasing from a store in England? Where does the tax get paid? If you purchase from Amazon or Ali do you still pay the VAT?

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

The "real deal" in Washington is to live near Oregon. Washington has no income tax and Oregon has no sales tax. You can (legally) live in Washington and shop in Oregon! Washington does have plenty of property tax!