I was wondering if someone can explain if it is appropriate for a vendor to charge buyers the sales tax rate where the vendor is located instead of the sales tax rate where the purchaser is located, for an online purchase? MusicDirect is located in Chicago where the sales tax rate is 10.25%. I live in Illinois but not in Chicago where the sales tax rate is 6.25%. MusicDirect persists on charging me 10.25% when Amazon, eBay and other vendors charge me 6.25%. They have told me that they charge me 10.25% because the have “a physical nexus to Chicago”. Well I do not. Using MusicDirect’s logic Upscale Audio should be charging me California sales tax, which they do not. Anyone care to explain to me if MusicDirect is correct in their practice and why? Thanks.
Bought many a thing from them without issue and was charged my state tax of 6.25 percent. However I do agree that not everything they sell is at the best price available. It does pay to shop around, in fact other places such as audio advisor do not charge me any sales tax! So that right there is a decent savings on a big buck item.
I work for the Illinois Department of Revenue. While sales tax sourcing is complicated, if the sale by an Illinois seller is to an Illinois buyer, the tax rate of the inventory location in Illinois is applied. Illinois has ORIGIN sourcing, not DESTINATION sourcing.
I make several purchase each month from Music Direct and only get charged my local tax rate. I live in Minnesota, BTW. If you do not live in the state of Illinois and are being charged their tax rate something's not right. I have no idea how to fix it, but I do know that everything I buy from them has only been charged MN tax rates.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.