Claiming taxes you paid shopping online/out of state

[mommymilkies]

When I did my taxes this year, I noticed it asked how much I purchased out of state (including online) so that the state could take taxes from me. I forget the exact wording. I have to ask...do people actually keep track of that? We get gas out of state about once a week (we live on a border) but I never keep my receipts and often pay cash. There is absolutely no way I know what I spent out of state. The state IRS isn't going to show up at my door or anything, right? :laugh:

[QueenCat]

Amazon just sent me a statement telling me how much I'd spent that I owed sales tax on, as well as the link to the state form to fill out, to accompany my check to the state of TN.

[QueenCat]

If you paid sales tax to another state, you don't pay it to your state. Such as your gas example. With Amazon, the item was technically sold where I reside, so taxes are owed.

[Acorn]

Yes, people keep an estimate. I think that in our OH booklets there is an approximation formula for people who need to calculate an appriopriate use tax since they didn't keep records.

[bettyandbob]

this has been on tax forms for years. it is mainly to capture mail order (previously) and online purchasing. Yes, many people tracked it because it was required. Many more people ignored it. That is why online retailers are now required to collect taxes on online purchases now. Most retailers I used collected sales tax for my state this year. The others I can easily get a purchase history from them.

 

I suppose if you are really buying a lot of gas out of state that might be an issue. I've never tracked my gas purchases. The closest state has more expensive gas. So, I can probable count on one hand the number of fill ups I've had out of state. I supposed I can go back through the credit card statements to find that. I know when I was out of state so it would n't be hard.

[mommymilkies]

 

I suppose if you are really buying a lot of gas out of state that might be an issue. I've never tracked my gas purchases. The closest state has more expensive gas. So, I can probable count on one hand the number of fill ups I've had out of state. I supposed I can go back through the credit card statements to find that. I know when I was out of state so it would n't be hard.

 

 

I pay cash because we've had problems with fraud at stations. And I'd say less than $100 month for all of our gas (including the truck paid here).. I can't think of any places I've shopped online that didn't charge tax (RR is here, so I know they do!) and we haven't bought much online in the last couple years because of money issues. I didn't get a tax document from amazon, but I'm pretty sure at least my last order Was taxed. I remember being less than pleased with the total. ;) It's just not something I would have ever thought about! I'm glad I don't have to pay tax twice if I already paid tax for my gas. We're rural, so gas station choices are limited!

[lavender's green]

Ahem...my answer is...

 

:lol:

 

I'm a bad kid, I know.

[bettyandbob]

check on the gas. I think the pp is right. You paid the tax in the other state.

[happi duck]

I think we did some sort of estimate in lieu of keeping track. It was a worksheet or something within the booklet.

 

If I'm remembering correctly there wasn't an option to skip it...either put in your amount or do the estimate.

[alef]

I guesstimate a number for my taxes. I would feel guilty if I paid nothing, but I don't care enough to keep track of it all either. And I agree with the person who said it shouldn't apply to gas--you paid taxes, just to another state.

[mommymilkies]

Here they let me skip it. I'm pretty certain I wouldn't pay anything anyway (our budget has been redonkulously low), but I had never really thought about it. They never even asked me that last time I went to H&R to get my taxes done. It must vary by state.

[In The Great White North]

Here, they have an estimate based on your income and we've been told that if you don't pay it, it's a flag for an audit. So why bother keeping track of it if you have to add on their estimate anyway??

[mommymilkies]

Here, they have an estimate based on your income and we've been told that if you don't pay it, it's a flag for an audit. So why bother keeping track of it if you have to add on their estimate anyway??

maybe that's what they do here. Idk. I hope I didn't pay money in for taxes I didn't avoid paying! Lol

[Orthodox6]

Counting my lucky stars that we do not have a state income tax! More paperwork that would be to track online purchases!

[Parrothead]

I usually just guesstimate how much.

 

I wouldn't worry about gas you bought in another state.

[QueenCat]

Counting my lucky stars that we do not have a state income tax! More paperwork that would be to track online purchases!

 

We don't either. There is a form in TN that is not part of one's income tax return, as we don't have a state return, in which one is supposed to report purchases made for which they did not pay the sales tax at the time of purchase. A check is to accompany the form. On the federal form, there is a place where one can DEDUCT an estimate (actual if you kept records) of sales tax paid OR their state income tax paid. For that, we get to deduct an estimate of sales tax paid since we don't have the state income tax.

[bettyandbob]

Counting my lucky stars that we do not have a state income tax! More paperwork that would be to track online purchases!

 

 

It's not about collecting state income tax. It's about SALES tax. Does your state have a sales tax. When you go to Target do they ring you up and then charge you 4.5% over the total of your purchases. That is the sales tax. Income tax is based on your income, not on what you purchase.

[DawnM]

I am pretending to have no clue how much I spent on Amazon in 2012. :leaving:

[In The Great White North]

Here, they have an estimate based on your income and we've been told that if you don't pay it, it's a flag for an audit. So why bother keeping track of it if you have to add on their estimate anyway??

 

It's not about collecting state income tax. It's about SALES tax. Does your state have a sales tax. When you go to Target do they ring you up and then charge you 4.5% over the total of your purchases. That is the sales tax. Income tax is based on your income, not on what you purchase.

 

Yes, but they've added it to the INCOME TAX form and it's your INCOME TAX that will get audited if you don't include it.

[Orthodox6]

It's not about collecting state income tax. It's about SALES tax. Does your state have a sales tax. When you go to Target do they ring you up and then charge you 4.5% over the total of your purchases. That is the sales tax. Income tax is based on your income, not on what you purchase.

 

I understood that. The point appeared to be that in some states where filing a state income tax is required, one is required to report (or estimate) how much sales tax was collected elsewhere. As Texas has no state income tax, no such reporting exists. Is the original post, instead, referring to the federal tax filing? I just reread it, and it looks as if OP is discussing a state income tax filing. I may, of course, have misunderstood her.

[mommymilkies]

 

 

I understood that. The point appeared to be that in some states where filing a state income tax is required, one is required to report (or estimate) how much sales tax was collected elsewhere. As Texas has no state income tax, no such reporting exists. Is the original post, instead, referring to the federal tax filing? I just reread it, and it looks as if OP is discussing a state income tax filing. I may, of course, have misunderstood her.

 

 

Statel, but I'm tired, so I don't think I saw it on federal.

[Starr]

Amazon always charges me tax. hmmm

[lisamarie]

I just pay the flat rate they offer. They say you can enter your total or you can pay a flat rate. I don't keep track, we do tons of online ordering, so I figure it's fair. I have only been charged tax once ever from amazon and that's because it was a third party seller with a store in my state. We only pay tax online if there is an actual physical store in our state.

[TravelingChris]

THere are two different issues. One, on the federal form, if you are doing itemized deductions because they will be higher than the standard deduction for you, you have the option of deducting either state income tax or state sales tax, I believe. That has nothing to do with what you didn't pay in sales tax but everything with what you did pay. :Last year, because we bought two cars and some new furniture for our new house, I think we used the estimation for how much we paid for sales tax and then added the car taxes, like the online program we used told us to do.

 

Then when we did state income tax, we had to estimate how much we spent outside the state. I came up with some guess. I don't remember if there was a calculator based on income or not. I hope there was since I have no idea how much I spent last year. I do not keep track of this.

[QueenCat]

Amazon always charges me tax. hmmm

 

They have different agreements with different states. It has to do with whether or not they have a physical presence in the state, along with agreements with state governments.