Bummer for those of us residing in NJ, but B&H will start collecting sales taxes for NJ residents Feb 1st. :^{

NJ residents will need to factor that into the price of anything they plan on buying once that starts.

[lithedreamer]

Technically, unless you live in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, or Oregon, you are legally obliged to pay use tax (which is equal to sales tax) on items purchased out of state. The fact that almost no one actually declares the purchases of these items on their taxes doesn't make it any less illegal, but states have shown little interest in pursuing individual buyers.

What surprises me, though, is that retailers have been allowed to get away with things like this, since while worded in a technically true way, it really is a misleading business practice to promote to your customers that they aren't obliged to pay tax when they actually are:

If a law isn't enforced, I don't see why people on the forum are talking like people should police themselves by filing use taxes when there's no consequences. Just like those lists of 'silly old laws that are still on the books'. Sure, those things are technically illegal too.

[Spodeworld]

Exact. I wasn't sure if they were saying that with a straight face.

If a law isn't enforced, I don't see why people on the forum are talking like people should police themselves by filing use taxes when there's no consequences. Just like those lists of 'silly old laws that are still on the books'. Sure, those things are technically illegal too.

Getting B&H tax free seemed like one of the advantages (consolations? ) of being so close to but not in NYC. Now even that's being removed.

[jab2980]

Technically, unless you live in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, or Oregon, you are legally obliged to pay use tax (which is equal to sales tax) on items purchased out of state. The fact that almost no one actually declares the purchases of these items on their taxes doesn't make it any less illegal, but states have shown little interest in pursuing individual buyers.

What surprises me, though, is that retailers have been allowed to get away with things like this, since while worded in a technically true way, it really is a misleading business practice to promote to your customers that they aren't obliged to pay tax when they actually are:

As someone who is filing as a (very) small business and plans on deducting some large purchases, this was a hard reality to discover earlier this year.

[gofour3]

Welcome to the club!

B&H has been collecting Canadian taxes (GST), duties and courier fees at checkout time for years.

Phil.

[travelswsage]

If a law isn't enforced, I don't see why people on the forum are talking like people should police themselves by filing use taxes when there's no consequences. Just like those lists of 'silly old laws that are still on the books'. Sure, those things are technically illegal too.

A word of caution to all -- there are consequences and some states do enforce this law. Pennsylvania certainly does enforce this law, not so much against individuals, but against anyone with a business registered in the state. I know -- I am required and do file use tax and sales and use tax forms -- many years ago when I first moved to the state I was caught unawares and wound up having to go back and calculate back years use tax in addition to what I had to pay for the then current year -- this was back when I was doing a lot of 4x5 film work and also had an out-of-state lab for processing so it was quite costly. Now when I buy from Adorama or B&H or any other out-of-state business I mentally add the tax to the total price because I will be paying it through a use tax or sales/use tax filing in Pennsylvania anyway.


There are also the moral considerations -- those not paying the tax have an unfair business advantage over those who do.


Finally, if you vote for big government and big taxes you should be willing to pay the very taxes you voted for and have required many of your fellow citizens to pay. ..... just sayin' .....

[Spodeworld]

Referring to the image in your post, Adorama has a fulfillment center in NJ and collect sales tax there.

Technically, unless you live in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, or Oregon, you are legally obliged to pay use tax (which is equal to sales tax) on items purchased out of state. The fact that almost no one actually declares the purchases of these items on their taxes doesn't make it any less illegal, but states have shown little interest in pursuing individual buyers.

What surprises me, though, is that retailers have been allowed to get away with things like this, since while worded in a technically true way, it really is a misleading business practice to promote to your customers that they aren't obliged to pay tax when they actually are:

[Biro]

Referring to the image in your post, Adorama has a fulfillment center in NJ and collect sales tax there.

Exactly right... it's in Elizabeth, NJ. The interesting thing about Adorama is that often - not all the time but often - one would notice that certain items they sold were discounted just enough to make the final price with sales tax about what one would pay B&H for the same item without sales tax. As a result, they were competitive on price with B&H, which didn't charge sales tax in NJ. There'll be no need for them to do that now - unless B&H does it.

Idle thought: If someone in NJ preordered from B&H today a new camera that won't ship until, say, March... would one have to pay sales tax? Does the rule apply to the time one places an order or when an item is shipped? Would it make a difference if one used a service like PayPal, which B&H does charge at the time one orders something? Interesting as an academic question.

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Last edited by Biro; 01-23-2017 at 09:09 AM.

[lithedreamer]

Exactly eight... it's in Elizabeth, NJ. The interesting thing about Adorama is that often - not all the time but often - one would notice that certain items they sold were discounted just enough to make the final price with sales tax about what one would pay B&H for the same item without sales tax. As a result, they were competitive on price with B&H, which didn't charge sales tax in NJ. There'll be no need for them to do that now - unless B&H does it.

Idle thought: If someone in NJ preordered from B&H today a new camera that won't ship until, say, March... would one have to pay sales tax? Does the rule apply to the time one places an order or when an item is shipped? Would it make a difference if one used a service like PayPal, which B&H does charge at the time one orders something? Interesting as an academic question.

The rule applies based on time of payment.

[henryp]

Getting B&H tax free seemed like one of the advantages (consolations? ) of being so close to but not in NYC. Now even that's being removed.

Benefits New Jersey customers can anticipate, as soon as our new facility is up and running we will be able to extend order cutoff times for free next day delivery from 3:30PM/4:00PM to approximately 7:00PM. In addition, we will have a new customer pickup option for New Jersey customers who need their orders right away. Finally we are actively exploring options for same day delivery to large parts of New Jersey.

---------- Post added 01-23-17 at 01:22 PM ----------

B&H has been collecting Canadian taxes (GST), duties and courier fees at checkout time for years.

That's an option B&H offers our Canadian customers to simplify their paying cross-border fees and speeding final delivery. You can opt out of this and handle those fees on your own.