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Taxes on online orders

Matt MarvelMatt Marvel Posts: 930 ✭
in General Discussion
I just received a text from a friend of mine asking about paying taxes on cigar orders. He says the owner of a B&M he's at said that next month if you're not paying your taxes on online orders, the government is going to confiscate your cigars. Wouldn't they just fine you for all the back taxes you owe them? Has anyone else heard about this? It sounds fishy to me.

Comments

  • phobicsquirrelphobicsquirrel Posts: 7,347 ✭✭✭
    I know if you live in Cali and order from cali and don't pay the taxes you might get a letter or something but confiscating? I don't know. I've heard that people ordering cigars overseas for say cuban cigars could have their stuff taken and then fined.
  • Matt MarvelMatt Marvel Posts: 930 ✭
    Cubans make sense. I don't know, it sounds a little far fetched. I asked for proof and still haven't gotten any.
  • zoom6zoomzoom6zoom Posts: 1,214 ✭
    Pretty much every state that collects sales tax (and income tax) has a line on the annual return where you're supposed to report the total of out of state purchases and pay the sales tax on it. I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who actually does.

    Your B&M guy is either a dope, or a jerk who's trying to scare you into buying from him instead of online.
  • undulacundulac Posts: 1,129 ✭
    Spend $500 to collect $50. Yeah, that sounds like something our government would do.
  • Matt MarvelMatt Marvel Posts: 930 ✭
    zoom6zoom:
    Pretty much every state that collects sales tax (and income tax) has a line on the annual return where you're supposed to report the total of out of state purchases and pay the sales tax on it. I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who actually does.

    Your B&M guy is either a dope, or a jerk who's trying to scare you into buying from him instead of online.
    Yeah, that was my argument to the friend who told me that. It's not my B&M though. I can say that I have zero interest in visiting this shop now.
  • Alex_SvensonAlex_Svenson Posts: 1,224 ✭✭✭
    How would they ever find out if you bought online? More importantly it is unconstitutional to regulate interstate commerce. Unless a company operates inside a state, that state has no authority over a company even if they ship into that state. Texas can pass all the laws it wants but those laws can only extend to those companies that physically operate within the state of Texas. The shop owner clearly has his own agenda which is for you to stop buying cigars through the mail and buy from him. Just my .02.
  • Alex WilliamsAlex Williams Posts: 1,515
    Alex Svenson:
    How would they ever find out if you bought online? More importantly it is unconstitutional to regulate interstate commerce. Unless a company operates inside a state, that state has no authority over a company even if they ship into that state. Texas can pass all the laws it wants but those laws can only extend to those companies that physically operate within the state of Texas. The shop owner clearly has his own agenda which is for you to stop buying cigars through the mail and buy from him. Just my .02.
    Your .02 is an average person's .99!!
  • Stryker808Stryker808 Posts: 269 ✭
    I would love to see Obama come into my house and confiscate my cigars! Over my dead body!
  • RedtailhawkozRedtailhawkoz Posts: 2,915 ✭
    Alex Svenson:
    How would they ever find out if you bought online? More importantly it is unconstitutional to regulate interstate commerce. Unless a company operates inside a state, that state has no authority over a company even if they ship into that state. Texas can pass all the laws it wants but those laws can only extend to those companies that physically operate within the state of Texas. The shop owner clearly has his own agenda which is for you to stop buying cigars through the mail and buy from him. Just my .02.

    +1 Thats Absurd isnt it. Texas LOL They let a gazillion lbs of Dope cross thier Borders and they want to take your cigars... That B&M Owner must be Smoking some of that S.H.I.T
  • JZJZ Posts: 827 ✭
    I think you should order some cigars from ccom to rub it in the B&M's idiot face
  • mrpillowmrpillow Posts: 464
    Seeing as how Texas collects no income tax, you couldn't even report out-of-state sales to them. I see no logic here. Maybe it's time for a new B&M.
  • PuroFreakPuroFreak Posts: 4,131 ✭✭
    Alex really hit the nail on the head when he asked, how would they know you oredered online, but the second part is how would they know you still have said cigars, and if they looked in your humi, how would they know which ones you purchased online and which ones did you purchase at your local B&M? The biggest question that tells me this is a load of crap, is how would they get into your home to search for these "bootlegged" cigars without obtaining a warrant from a judge? Also who I going to enforce this? The already overloaded police force, or the state tax offices? It just doesn't make any sense.
  • JZJZ Posts: 827 ✭
    Everyone send me 3 cigars each and all will be forgiven!
  • Matt MarvelMatt Marvel Posts: 930 ✭
    Alex Svenson:
    How would they ever find out if you bought online? More importantly it is unconstitutional to regulate interstate commerce. Unless a company operates inside a state, that state has no authority over a company even if they ship into that state. Texas can pass all the laws it wants but those laws can only extend to those companies that physically operate within the state of Texas. The shop owner clearly has his own agenda which is for you to stop buying cigars through the mail and buy from him. Just my .02.
    This was pretty much my argument as well. The more thought I put into the whole thing the more it bugged me that someone would say that. It bugs me even more that my buddy is dumb enough to believe it.
  • KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
    I agree with Alex here, that B&M owner is probably trying to get u to buy more cigars from him than online.

    "Long ashes my friends."

  • rwheelwrightrwheelwright Posts: 3,296 ✭
    I do think about this from time to time. I have never heard that theu will confiscate them but I have heard that they will come after you for the taxes that you have not paid. I have seen places on line that say the buyer is responsible for paying the taxes owed to the state they live in. I think that is BS. A lot of people go into NYC to buy clothes at a certain time of year because they will remove the tax and then they bring them back to NJ or whatever state they live in. What is so different then with buying something online from a different state? Is it because you are doing the ordering from your home state? WHo is to say that I didn't place my order from a hotel room or a friends place in another state? What if I drive over the border, place my order and drive back? Who's to say that people didn't do this?
  • TatuajeVITatuajeVI Posts: 2,378 ✭
    The only way this would ever come up is if the IRS audited you. If they went through my financial records/credit card statements they would find online purchases and certainly ask me to pay sales tax on all sorts of things purchased online. It's right on your tax forms every year - technically you are supposed to declare your online purchases and pay sales tax. No one does, of course. There are always rumors of crack-downs on stuff like this, whether anything comes of it remains to be seen.
  • phobicsquirrelphobicsquirrel Posts: 7,347 ✭✭✭
    Alex Williams:
    Alex Svenson:
    How would they ever find out if you bought online? More importantly it is unconstitutional to regulate interstate commerce. Unless a company operates inside a state, that state has no authority over a company even if they ship into that state. Texas can pass all the laws it wants but those laws can only extend to those companies that physically operate within the state of Texas. The shop owner clearly has his own agenda which is for you to stop buying cigars through the mail and buy from him. Just my .02.
    Your .02 is an average person's .99!!
    wouldn't that be .98?... =p
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