filing taxes - question

[Sweetum]

We are in the process of filing our taxes, and it seems we have to report any online purchases we made during the last year for which we did not pay taxes (like amazon, and diapers.com I guess). Am I understanding it correct that we will now pay the tax? thanks.

[DebbieJ]

haha...you must live in IL. That is such a joke. I know MANY people who left that blank.

[Pear]

Technically it has always been true that you have to self-file and pay taxes for online purchases in states that have a sales tax. Most people overlook that law. I'm not even sure how to go about doing it for my state. (and just my luck several online retailers Like amazon are located here so they collect our tax automatically :(

[ladysoapmaker]

It's rather easy here in Ohio, you total up all your non-tax internet purchases subtract shipping and the multiply by the state tax rate. and put that amount on the line Internet/mailorder purchases.

My Internet purchases are generally fifty-fifty taxed and non-taxed so I just throw those receipts in a folder to have when I do taxes. The first time I did it I had $5 in taxes, the next year none. 2010 tax year I think it'll be around $3 or $4. 2011 tax year will be interesting, we've been purchasing most of our textbooks through Amazon.

I know more people then not ignore that little provision but I figure I should help provide my part.

Jen

[karstmama]

nc does that too. i skip it.

[Penny's Pappa]

Yep. Some states require you to report your online purchases so they can collect sales tax on them. Most people I know just skip it.

[o_mom]

We have it here. I know several people who recieved letters from the state after putting down zero. They were basically given the option of ammending the return or being audited. We usually end up with $50 or so in tax on out of state purchases.

[KrisM]

We have it here. I know several people who recieved letters from the state after putting down zero. They were basically given the option of ammending the return or being audited. We usually end up with $50 or so in tax on out of state purchases.

Same here. In MI, we have an option to use their estimating table, and I do that.

[Penny's Pappa]

We have it here. I know several people who recieved letters from the state after putting down zero. They were basically given the option of ammending the return or being audited. We usually end up with $50 or so in tax on out of state purchases.

I wonder how much it would cost the state to perform the audit versus how much they would make in back taxes, penalties, and interest?

[o_mom]

I wonder how much it would cost the state to perform the audit versus how much they would make in back taxes, penalties, and interest?

No idea, but they probably make enough just sending the letters since most people will fess up at that point rather than deal with an audit. I would also imagine that they might find enough other errors in the audits to make it worthwhile.

Not paying it is tax evasion, so I'm not very sympathetic to someone that knowingly flaunts it and then gets caught. Kind of like speeders, IMO. Yes, many people do it (myself included), but when you get caught, don't complain, just pay the fine. :)

[pomegranate]

There's a special section on the CA tax form too. I know lots of people don't put anything down, but I put down maybe 2/3 of our previously non-taxed purchases for fear of being audited.

[ett]

There's also a section on the MA tax form. We did put down an amount because we do order online a lot.