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Originally Posted by Yoda
At last I feel I have some clarity on what has been a confusing understanding on what seemed an opaque subject. Thank you, gentleman.
Bob, I couldn't agree more about Heritage's fiduciary responsibility of collecting and remitting sales tax to Florida. So, having paid such tax for years on multiple winning auctions, do I have any legal right to see evidence that Heritage has done the right thing and sent my payments, along with many other FL residents in similar circumstances, to the state?
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LOL
Wonderful question John, but I'm afraid the answer is no. Heritage doesn't have to show you their specific books and records. As I mentioned before though, you yourself are clear and free of concerns since you paid the Florida sales tax to them, and should have records to prove it. If Heritage ended up not paying it in, rest assured Florida is not coming after you for it.
Now even though you don't have any right to legally force Heritage to prove to you that they paid your sales tax money to Florida, if you truly have some concerns that they may not be remitting your sales tax money to your state, as a Florida resident you can always contact Florida and raise your concerns to them. You want to go to the website for the "Florida Department of Revenue". Once there, click on the "General Tax" link button near the top of the page, right under the word "REVENUE". This will take you to the page regarding Florida sales and use taxes. Under the "Quick Links" heading on the left side of the page you'll see a "Contact Us" button, and at the bottom of the page you'll also find a "Questions and Answers" link. They will tell/show you how to contact them electronically, by phone, or by mail.
If you tell them you are concerned that Heritage is not paying them sales taxes they collected from you, I sincerely doubt Florida would tell you anything specific. However, it may prompt an agent to do a quick internal check to see if in fact they are receiving sales tax payments from them. And depending on what they find, could end up prompting further review of their account, and even lead to an audit. But again, I doubt Florida would share what they end up doing regarding Heritage with you.
And be careful if you do end up talking to someone in the Florida Department of Revenue. During a conversation you may get asked if you buy things from any other out of state AHs, and if so, who. You might then get asked if you got charged Florida sales tax on purchases from those other AHs as well. And if not, and you confirm that to the agent you're talking to, their next question may be if you paid the use tax you owed to Florida then. And if not, Florida may now be looking at you. So be careful what you say and do.
Have fun, be careful, and hope this helps.