If "you pay the tax, we pay you back." FTFA wasn't clear enough, you could just like click through to the relevant page and their FAQs, here:
Am I paying sales tax on my purchase? Do I need to submit anything in my tax filings?
B&H will collect and remit state sales tax in accordance with state sales tax laws and regulations. So, customers do pay required sales tax and do not need to keep track or file anything separately.
Again, it's time to wake up from that deep slumber you self-admittedly are in. Note that CA state is NOT on the B&H "we collect sales tax from this state" list. Therefore, B&H won't collect taxes when you ship to any address in CA, BUT because all state sales taxes are in fact USE taxes, the buyer is actually obligated to pay sales tax to CA state if they didn't pay a tax on their purchase. AND, as I stated previously, if indeed B&H reports the transaction to CA state (their wording isn't perfectly clear, but it implies such), then the buyer in CA could be held liable for back taxes in the event of an audit. This is what I was trying to say in my previous post on page 1 of this thread.
Sick burn on that slumber joke.
Their wording seems pretty clear — CA is not listed under those which they report sales to:
Will B&H collect any sales tax on my order?
If your order is shipping to an address in a state which either requires us to collect sales tax, or is being picked up in our Manhattan SuperStore, local sales tax will be automatically assessed unless the account is registered as tax-exempt. In addition, we are legally required to report certain purchases to the local state taxation departments in Washington, Colorado, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico. If you reside in any of these areas, please check with your local government to see if your purchases are subject to a use tax.
Somebody please help me understand. The president of the US gets a lot of hate because people speculate he has avoided taxes, yet B&H is helping people collect back taxes? From the CNN I understand that everyone, including Trump, should pay as much tax as possible.
You’re definitely not understanding. Firstly, B&H isn’t helping people avoid taxes. It’s a rewards purchase system that matches sales tax to encourage in-state buyers where taxes are collected.
Many corporations in the USA have paid ZERO taxes for 2018. They’ve also been given tax REBATES, so tax payers are basically being indirectly taxed by corporations for existing in the same country as us. I’ve paid more tax than multimillion dollar corporations who are making money from the tax season. They are using the USA to make vast amounts of money on business operations and then paying back nothing to the country.
You think that’s acceptable?
Yeah it wasn’t too clear at first or I didn’t read it carefully.
I agree with you. Taxes are dumb but if I have to pay, huge corporations that make millions sure as hell need to pay their share too.
Edit: taxes aren’t dumb, they are annoying. Therefore if I have to pay everyone should pay.
US citizens are not 5% of AI's readership, they are the vast majority I'm pretty sure. Maybe a mod can step in and tell us what the percentage is, if they feel like sharing such information? Much of the world is simply irrelevant. That's just how things are.
It would be fabulous if AI could tell us what percent of their readership is US-based. You think it's the "vast majority"? Does that mean over 75%? I would be very surprised if that was true. Maybe the actual number is an AI trade secret. However if they treat me as "simply irrelevant" I might go elsewhere for my news. I don't really expect them to give us an exact number but an approximate value would be very appreciated. Eg, "US and non-US readers are roughly equal in number" or "US readers outnumber non-US readers by a modest amount" or something like that would be very helpful.
There’s really no secret to country readership. This is a common metric. Ranking sites give limited information to free users. Alexa, similarweb, etc. similarweb says over 50 percent of desktop users of AI are from U.S. other countries in smaller percentages.
There is a difference. The B&H card is a store only credit card; it is not a universal credit card like MasterCard/Visa/Amex. The B&H loyalty dollars are a credit to spend only at B&H.
The Apple Card reward is cash rebated to your Apple Card that you can spend anywhere, since the Apple Card works through the MasterCard system.
You're right, that is a big difference.
I didn't realize that it was store only credit.
So, let's say I'm going to buy a new MacBook which costs $1500.00
Using the B&H card, it would cost me roughly $1633.00 including tax (for my state), and I would receive about $133.00 in store credit to spend only at B&H.
If I were to buy the same MacBook at Apple it would also cost me $1633.00 including tax, and I would receive 3% cash back on $1500, which is $45.00, which I can use towards anything.
This is assuming that the price is identical at both places, but often B&H will have a lower retail price or sale price than Apple has it for on their site.
I guess if somebody buys a lot of stuff at B&H or maybe they're a photographer or something, then the B&H card would make sense. For others, who would rather prefer the straight up cash back, then the 3% Apple Card cash back makes sense.
Of course, there is nothing stopping anybody from having both cards, and using them as they see fit, depending on the circumstances.
It's not that you get a store credit for $133 to use for future purchases, you instantly get a discount of $133 for this current purchase, so you're actually only paying $1500 which is a huge savings!
I am an American who lives outside the US and I found the article very relevant since I buy from B&H and have for years, shipping to an address in California as well as to my overseas address.
Even though CA state isn't on the tax list, note the B&H Terms here:
Specifically: "B&H is legally required to report certain purchases to local state taxation departments. Please check with your local government to see if your purchases are subject to use taxes."
But all general sales taxes from all 50 states are technically "use taxes" these days. So that wording implies B&H will report all purchases to the governments of any state which has sales taxes. (Obviously, Oregon would be an exception because it doesn't have a sales tax.) That makes every B&H customer technical liable (i.e., neck on the line) for sales taxes in the delivery state. If B&H did not report such purchases directly to state governments, you technically would owe the tax but it could not easily be found out. By this direct reporting on the part of B&H, it would be easy for any state government (with a sales tax) to find out the name of the buyer and delivery address in the state.
Specifically: "B&H is legally required to report certain purchases to local state taxation departments. Please check with your local government to see if your purchases are subject to use taxes."
This was actually applicable BEFORE the Payboo Card was developed. This was the reason B&H developed this program.
The state use laws have been fulfilled because the customer PAID the sales tax on their purchase which B&H is in turn required to pay the respective states.
The reimbursement of paid sales tax is a business promotion. It will obviously reduce their margins on sales that get this benefit, but it should be offset by an increased number of total sales as more customers place orders with them.
I’m sure this program will be carefully monitored to make sure it is having the desired effect on their net earnings.
Comments
Their wording seems pretty clear — CA is not listed under those which they report sales to:
Will B&H collect any sales tax on my order?
If your order is shipping to an address in a state which either requires us to collect sales tax, or is being picked up in our Manhattan SuperStore, local sales tax will be automatically assessed unless the account is registered as tax-exempt. In addition, we are legally required to report certain purchases to the local state taxation departments in Washington, Colorado, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico. If you reside in any of these areas, please check with your local government to see if your purchases are subject to a use tax.
I agree with you. Taxes are dumb but if I have to pay, huge corporations that make millions sure as hell need to pay their share too.
Edit: taxes aren’t dumb, they are annoying. Therefore if I have to pay everyone should pay.
The state use laws have been fulfilled because the customer PAID the sales tax on their purchase which B&H is in turn required to pay the respective states.
The reimbursement of paid sales tax is a business promotion. It will obviously reduce their margins on sales that get this benefit, but it should be offset by an increased number of total sales as more customers place orders with them.
I’m sure this program will be carefully monitored to make sure it is having the desired effect on their net earnings.