We hate to cast more clouds over an already-cloudy New Year, but it has come to our attention that you -- yes, you -- owe the state some dough.You, who bought the Xbox Kinect on eBay for $360? You owe California about $36.
And you, who bought the Barbie dune buggy on Amazon for $200? You owe California about $20.
And so it goes. Online, catalog and other out-of-state purchases are not tax-free, despite the popular wisdom. For every purchase where you weren't charged California sales tax -- and that's likely a lion's share of the shopping you did on eBay, Amazon and the like -- you are legally required to pony up the tax directly to the state of California. There's even a handy dandy line on your state income tax form that allows you to come clean.
Thing is, a huge number of us -- er, of you -- fail to do so. And that means more than $1.1 billion in taxes owed to the state of California have gone unpaid in 2010, according to the Board of Equalization's most recent estimates:
* That translates to $795 million owed by consumers, and $350 million owed by businesses,
* For an average unpaid tax of $61 per household, and $102 per business,
* By 13.1 million households and 3.4 million businesses.
The state is sending letters to 90,000 California businesses and individuals that owe unpaid taxes, saying they may also owe a fee as of Jan. 1.
WHAT?!
See, if a merchant doesn't have an actual, physical presence in California, it doesn't have to collect sales tax on behalf of California. But that doesn't mean you, the consumer, don't have to pay, the Board of Equalization says.
"We understand we have an education issue here," said Anita Gore, spokeswoman for the Board of Equalization, urging consumers to keep track of their online shopping receipts. "We know it's something people need to be notified about. But it's been the law since 1935."
I can actually understand the idea and do think that states should get tax for items they would normally collect at a store front, but this is kinda ridiculous. More details at link.