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B&H Photo - PayBoo Acct - State Tax discounted

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Just a share for those that may have been unaware as myself...
With all the Internet Sites now collecting State Tax; I recently noticed that B&H Photo offers a method to receive your State Tax back in form of instant discount.
They have a Internal store card called the PayBoo Card. When purchasing items, using the PayBoo card you get all your State Tax returned at the time of checkout.
They do "collect" state tax, but they provide a discount equal to the State Tax.

The catch... it's zero interest applied if you pay in full by bill due date, otherwise it's a hefty 29.9% interest charge.
If large purchase, a tactic would be to purchase with PayBoo to obtain Tax saving, then turn around and pay off total, or pay off by transferring debt with PayPal Credit or other low interest CC.

For my State... that's a 7% savings on my purchases.
 
I submitted an NTTC to eBay, so I pay no tax there. AFAIK, Amazon doesn't offer the same NTTC option. So now I have to consider state tax when comparing Amazon prices to eBay prices, which usually eeks eBay out ahead.

D
 
I submitted an NTTC to eBay, so I pay no tax there. AFAIK, Amazon doesn't offer the same NTTC option. So now I have to consider state tax when comparing Amazon prices to eBay prices, which usually eeks eBay out ahead.

D
The NTTC is focused toward Sellers; I’ve looked into my State‘s tax exemption on eBay... exchanged a few emails. Ya, for a few of the purchases I could get tax exemption but that trickles over to my state’s IRS and their requirements & proof. Basically, introduces additional attention by state and a few more forms to process for state.

Then needing to separate the casual vs possible business... all comes to more state IRS attention than worthwhile and frustrations if challenged... I’d just as soon avoid when bulk of income isn’t associated to side UAV work.

The “Seller” on eBay doesn’t have to collect / pay taxes if not regularly selling as business... if casual limited Seller they can apply for a non-tax but I think eBay has that buried and difficult for the casual Seller to find and by default is turned on.

My opinion, eBay needs to make the non-business Seller listing easier to indicate it’s a private sale and no tax. But that in-directly places more burden on eBay‘s accounting.

I just find it objectionable to pay a tax for a used item being sold by the Original Owner. Might be an argument & justification for used items sold through a business. The guy selling a “widget“ he no longer needs, shouldn’t pay a tax... thus collect tax from Buyer.

Thus... when new and at B&H, I’ll take the tax discount and avoid a small savings on a used. If it’s a big difference, or hard to find item, then I’ll pay the eBay tax.
 
Just a share for those that may have been unaware as myself...
With all the Internet Sites now collecting State Tax; I recently noticed that B&H Photo offers a method to receive your State Tax back in form of instant discount.
They have a Internal store card called the PayBoo Card. When purchasing items, using the PayBoo card you get all your State Tax returned at the time of checkout.
They do "collect" state tax, but they provide a discount equal to the State Tax.

The catch... it's zero interest applied if you pay in full by bill due date, otherwise it's a hefty 29.9% interest charge.
If large purchase, a tactic would be to purchase with PayBoo to obtain Tax saving, then turn around and pay off total, or pay off by transferring debt with PayPal Credit or other low interest CC.

For my State... that's a 7% savings on my purchases.
I have been using the PayBoo card for quite some time and your description is very accurate.

The 7% saving usually puts the final price way below Amazon. Good guys up there in the City.
 
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The NTTC is focused toward Sellers; I’ve looked into my State‘s tax exemption on eBay... exchanged a few emails. Ya, for a few of the purchases I could get tax exemption but that trickles over to my state’s IRS and their requirements & proof. Basically, introduces additional attention by state and a few more forms to process for state.

Then needing to separate the casual vs possible business... all comes to more state IRS attention than worthwhile and frustrations if challenged... I’d just as soon avoid when bulk of income isn’t associated to side UAV work.

The “Seller” on eBay doesn’t have to collect / pay taxes if not regularly selling as business... if casual limited Seller they can apply for a non-tax but I think eBay has that buried and difficult for the casual Seller to find and by default is turned on.

My opinion, eBay needs to make the non-business Seller listing easier to indicate it’s a private sale and no tax. But that in-directly places more burden on eBay‘s accounting.

I just find it objectionable to pay a tax for a used item being sold by the Original Owner. Might be an argument & justification for used items sold through a business. The guy selling a “widget“ he no longer needs, shouldn’t pay a tax... thus collect tax from Buyer.

Thus... when new and at B&H, I’ll take the tax discount and avoid a small savings on a used. If it’s a big difference, or hard to find item, then I’ll pay the eBay tax.

You must live in a city on one of the coasts. I live in N.M. It'll be 5 years before they even know eBay is collecting tax.

D
 
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You must live in a city on one of the coasts. I live in N.M. It'll be 5 years before they even know eBay is collecting tax.

D
Ag land... IA. State has always been very attentive for any way to collect from any source. They’ll audit or review at the slightest sniff of coin.
 
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Ag land... IA. State has always been very attentive for any way to collect from any source. They’ll audit or review at the slightest sniff of coin.

Ironically, it was getting audited by N.M. state twice that really gave me an inside view of how the N.M. tax "system" (huge air quotes there) works. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. They have rules and regulations that nobody down at the Taxation and Revenue office understand. Even tenured employees with a dozen years under their belt don't understand it.

The problems...

We're one of only a hand full of states that have Gross Receipts Tax (which is like Sales Tax, but differs in that it taxes GROSS receipts, as opposed to Sales Tax that taxes NET receipts). Regular sales tax is like "Net receipts" tax. N.M. doesn't care if your business endeavor LOST money (a loss is normally a write off as a "loss" in most states). N.M. collects tax regardless of the net outcome.

We're also one of only a hand full of state who charge tax on labor. So the state doesn't see me as a drummer in a rock band. They see me as some kind of "rock drummer business" to be taxed for every note I play. A more stark example would be something like your 13-year-old kid who mows lawns in the summer for extra cash. In the eyes of N.M., THAT is a business and is to be taxed accordingly. So, in a nutshell, it's ridiculous, borderline retarded. But it's so strict that it's nearly impossible to track. Therein lies their flaw. But I digress....

My point is the system is so flawed that nobody in the N.M. Taxation and Revenue office really knows how it works. If I don't like the answers I'm getting from agent #1, I simply move on to agent #2. This is how I got out of TWO audits virtually unscathed - which were for thousands of dollars each. Turns out, going toe-to-toe with an $8/hour tax lemming isn't that tough. You just have to know the loopholes. And they're all women down there, so flirting doesn't hurt; "Oh...are those your children?? How beautiful they are!" In N.M. I advise friends "DO NOT CALL. DO NOT EMAIL. Go in person." I got WAAAAAY more done in person. Email and phone were exercises in futility. But I digress...

When I do business, depending on the business, I generally don't collect tax unless they want me to fill out a W9. For drone stuff I collect tax 100%. For computer repairs I generally don't because that's a cash-only business. For my sound company or any of my bands, it depends on the client. If they want me to fill out tax forms (like a W9), then they are charged tax. If they don't like the fact that I'm collecting tax, then I tell them that there's the "cash price" and the "W9 price." Pick one. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. You don't get to make the transaction "official" so you can write off my performance without paying the Gross Receipts tax. Most bands/musicians around here don't understand how the whole tax thing works. So they allow vendors to get away with compulsory paperwork without paying the tax. So if musician makes $100 for a night, they have to "back out" the tax so they only make $93/night. I've gone to war with musicians on this. I don't allow musicians to "back out" state tax. I don't do it to them. So I don't allow it to be done to me. But again, I digress... It's a mess.

Anyone who knows anything about sales tax will tell you that the tax is supposed to be paid in the state of origin, NOT the state of delivery. If I purchase a widget in Arizona, I pay tax on that widget IN Arizona, NOT N.M. And what about used items? Are we supposed to pay tax on items that have been taxed already in their original sale? That kind of taxation is literally against the law.

It's a ridiculous system that hugely flawed and literally breaks its own rules. Bottom line, I'm not worried about the eBay dealings.

D
 
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Ironically, it was getting audited by N.M. state twice that really gave me an inside view of how the N.M. tax "system" (huge air quotes there) works. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. They have rules and regulations that nobody down at the Taxation and Revenue office understand. Even tenured employees with a dozen years under their belt don't understand it.

The problems...

We're one of only a hand full of states that have Gross Receipts Tax (which is like Sales Tax, but differs in that it taxes GROSS receipts, as opposed to Sales Tax that taxes NET receipts). Regular sales tax is like "Net receipts" tax. N.M. doesn't care if your business endeavor LOST money (a loss is normally a write off as a "loss" in most states). N.M. collects tax regardless of the net outcome.

We're also one of only a hand full of state who charge tax on labor. So the state doesn't see me as a drummer in a rock band. They see me as some kind of "rock drummer business" to be taxed for every note I play. A more stark example would be something like your 13-year-old kid who mows lawns in the summer for extra cash. In the eyes of N.M., THAT is a business and is to be taxed accordingly. So, in a nutshell, it's ridiculous, borderline retarded. But it's so strict that it's nearly impossible to track. Therein lies their flaw. But I digress....

My point is the system is so flawed that nobody in the N.M. Taxation and Revenue office really knows how it works. If I don't like the answers I'm getting from agent #1, I simply move on to agent #2. This is how I got out of TWO audits virtually unscathed - which were for thousands of dollars each. Turns out, going toe-to-toe with an $8/hour tax lemming isn't that tough. You just have to know the loopholes.

When I do business, depending on the business, I generally don't collect tax unless they want me to fill out a W9. For drone stuff I collect tax 100%. For computer repairs I generally don't because that's a cash-only business. For my sound company or any of my bands, it depends on the client. If they want me to fill out tax forms (like a W9), then they are charged tax. If they don't like the fact that I'm collecting tax, then I tell them that there's the "cash price" and the "W9 price." Pick one. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. You don't get to make the transaction "official" so you can write off my performance without paying the Gross Receipts tax. Most bands/musicians around here don't understand how the whole tax thing works. So they allow vendors to get away with compulsory paperwork without paying the tax. So if musician makes $100 for a night, they have to "back out" the tax so they only make $93/night. I've gone to war with musicians on this. I don't allow musicians to "back out" state tax. I don't do it to them. So I don't allow it to be done to me. But again, I digress... It's a mess.

Anyone who knows anything about sales tax will tell you that the tax is supposed to be paid in the state of origin, NOT the state of delivery. If I purchase a widget in Arizona, I pay tax on that widget IN Arizona, NOT N.M. And what about used items? Are we supposed to pay tax on items that have been taxed already in their original sale? That kind of taxation is literally against the law.

It's a ridiculous system that hugely flawed and literally breaks its own rules. Bottom line, I'm not worried about the eBay dealings.

D
You certainly have your own nightmares in NM... and know you State's system. As I understand IA, and best to not fuel their interests. All in all... the tax isn't my biggest problems, just don't want to add it to the list.

On a different note... your Bands... all local NM or you have distribution of tracks? Hard Rock?
 
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On a different note... your Bands... all local NM or you have distribution of tracks? Hard Rock?

Just local stuff. I was in a band that released a CD in the '90s that went nowhere. From there I did USO tours for a little over 6 years. Last tour was Feb 2002. Post 9/11 touring became nearly impossible. Since then I've been playing in local bands. It keeps me out of trouble...<;^)

Here's one of 'em.


D
 
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OK - I've moved this to Off Topic (for now).
Knock yourselves out on the fascinating areas and nuances of sales/income/state/country/personal/corporate/vehicle and any other taxes, taxis (or even tacks). :D
 

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