Would you be more likely to buy new gear out of state if there was no sales tax

Bill (Grannyring), you have not misunderstood what has been said. If your state charges sales tax for in-state purchases, its residents are almost certainly also liable for use tax on out-of-state purchases of items and services that would be subject to the tax if purchased in-state. See the second page of the link I provided earlier. As rcprince mentioned, however, enforcement of those laws by the states is certainly problematical for them.

In the case of Amazon specifically, their presence in many states requires them to collect sales tax for sales to residents of those states (consistent with Dave’s comment above). And I believe that the huge scale of their operations has prompted some states to try (successfully in some cases) to get them to collect sales taxes in some states they don’t have a presence in.

I have no knowledge of Turbo Tax, as I don’t use it or anything similar, but in my state (Connecticut) the income tax form includes a line item and an associated worksheet for computation and reporting of the use tax that is due. If one knowingly makes a false entry on that line, perhaps such as zero, one is signing a fraudulent return.

Also, the state has in the past published online the names of particularly notorious use tax scofflaws it has identified and pursued.

Best regards,
-- Al

I purchase from out of state not to avoid taxes but because many brands have no dealers near me.
Technically, I must report my purchases and pay tax to my home state but who does that? I've never met anyone who has paid such a tax.

Turbo tax and others do not prompt for input of these figures and they would if needed.

Sorry - I don't know which version of TurboTax or TaxCut you've used but whatever I've used for about the past 20 years it has always asked in the State Tax section if I have anything to declare for that.  We do have that darned Use Tax here and sooner or later you have to decide if you're going to really be a real part of your larger community (a.k.a. the State).  Amazon does add in state tax for us (since they certainly have at least one address in the state) and they do it for practically everywhere I know of.  If they aren't tacking on your state tax then maybe they don't feel the need to have a warehouse or any other office or facility there?

jafreeman107 posts01-22-2016 4:54pmSales tax is legalized robbery. It exists because it is an efficient collection engine.  It also slows down consumerism.

Actually Sales tax is the tax the business actually pays regardless if one has or hasn't income. Indeed robbery. I do NOT support it in any form or spelling. It basically sucks.

No Tubro Tax does not ask or prompt for the subject of this thread. Again, I know know of no person doing such a thing. Seems our wonderful government has kept this a secret for the most part. It is an interesting subject.