Warning to Buy.com users in CA - check your tax rate.

[HotShot]

Buy.com is still charging CA residents last years tax rate. As you should know, CA lowered (yes, lowered) it's state tax by .25%. I was just charged the same tax rate as last year on something I just bought today.

Moderator, please do not block this post right away to see if other people respond having the same issue. If so, this is a pretty big deal because this can really add up state wide and this is just pure profit to the businesses out of our pockets.

UPDATE: I sent an email to buy.com telling them of the situation and they credited back my order $5.00 (which is much more than just the tax). Cool.

 

[beat mania]

A lot of online stores are still charging last year's rate, not just buy.com (as you claim, didn't buy from buy.com this year).

 

[jsmonet]

verasoft charged me 8.5%, wtf? LA's new tax rate is 8 flat, right? and riverside is down to 7? something like that.

 

[tran1981]

i thought sale tax is the same everywhere in CA.

 

[drac747]

Nope. It depends on county I believe.

Its was 8.25% in LA, 7.75% in Orange County .. not sure about other areas.

 

[amnesiac]

It's 7.75 in OC and 8.00 in LA now
Those are the only ones I'm sure of

 

[Ranger X]

I thought they lowered Orange County to 7.25%? That's what I was told to believe but I could be wrong.

 

[aliu79]

this is kinda of a deal... u save .25%!!!

just bought something from staples.com and they have the corrected sales tax, so no worries there =)

 

[yodayoda]

here is how i understood it. the state minimum was 7.25%. riverside and san diego counties had no additional tax. OC charged +0.5% for the bankruptcy bailout. LA charged +1.0% for the LA riot costs. state lowered the minimum tax by 0.25% to 7%. OC's 0.5% tax expired, so now OC, SD, and Riverside all should be at 7% and LA county is 8%.

 

[pdragn78]

whats the tax rate in San Fran? is it 8.5% cause thats what i was charged from buy.com

kinda negates the $30 coupon; so that sucks

 

[frank828]

Tax By Counties

there u go guys

frank

 

[jedimasta]

Yep, by county, thats why at places like disneyland and universal studios, once they reach a certain size they register the property as a county so they can charge their own tax.

 

[IITravel]

Also be aware that they are not allowed to charge you tax on shipping and handling, Buy.com charges tax to Californians for the full sale price (including shipping). That's a NONO.

 

[KillaBee]

Woohoo! Bay Area has the highest tax rates like everything else. Cost too much to live in this area. $1.85 for regular unleaded, 1 hour commute to travel 20 miles. Of course I could move a little close to work if I could afford to pay $1900 for a 1 bdrm apt or $500k for a decent home that isn't in the ghetto.

Who wants to pay 1 million dollars an acre with no house on it...but there is a guest house there already.
Check it

 

[gev115]

yeah, i am in the bay area as well. the rate changed from 8.25% to 8%.... yet when i ordered things from buy.com last year, they always charged me 7.25%. what's the deal with that?

 

[Heffe]

I live in LA and I got charged 7.25% on an order two weeks ago.

 

[RONType1]

Duh, cause Buy.com isn't based out of LA... I'm assuming, LA is now at 8% tax and I know San Diego is now down to 7.5%... everything else.. who knows...

 

[vinnyracer]

If tax is cheaper in OC than LA. I'm going to buy my next car in Orange County.

 

[KillaBee]

vinneyracer: When you buy a car you're charged the tax rate of the city the car is registered in, not where you buy it.

 

[vinnyracer]

DAMN!

 

[Lore]

I thought you can't charge sales tax on shipping, either, and then I found this:

"buy.com charges sales tax for orders shipped to California, Tennessee, Indiana and Massachusetts. Sales tax is automatically computed on both product(s) and shipping costs. To see the total sales tax charged on your order, click on checkout in the upper right of your screen or underneath your basket listings.
We will gladly credit sales tax for government institutions. Just fax us a copy of your tax-exemption form with an address matching your order's billing or shipping address at: 949-389-2837. Please include a copy of your receipt or your order number. "

Source: http://www.us.buy.com/corp/support/billing/tax.asp?what=salestax

Is that true, that you can charges sales tax on shipping?

 

[IITravel]

Yeh, let's all start a Ca. state wide class action lawsuit against Buy.com (again) for charging tax on shipping, which you are not allowed to do since it's considered labor, who's in to help put another .com under? This is supposed to be sarcastic, but someone should inform the State as to this illegal practice, someone has probably notified Buy on this and they seem to ignore it...

 

[goucberkeley]

hm...in the Bay, some places still charge 8.25% and 8.5%...

 

[Lore]

Well, in reality you are able to charge tax on shipping and handling but buy.com makes no claim whatsoever that they are charging for HANDLING costs. So in that sense it's illegal, but they have to give the extra tax to the state anyway. They can't hang on to it. If what they are doing is truly illegal the real victims are the customers; buy.com makes no gain (hopefully) from this.

 

[aLuBa]

As I know, Buy.com has warehouse at OrangeCounty. That why Buy.com charged 7.75% as tax for
orders from LA. However, the way Buy.com computes your order is:

(Product Cost + Shipping + Tax) then Subtract Coupon (if you used one).

Didn't save much when applying 30 off 150 coupon.