Quote:
Originally Posted by D. Bergin
Hi Bob,
Perhaps I miss-spoke. I probably meant to use "Nexus" rather then point of sale.
Point was, Heritage, as of about a couple years ago or so, because of the size of the company it is, likely has to collect sales tax no matter where you live (unless you live in a sales tax free state).
I think that was the gist of the beef the OP had with Heritage. That they were collecting sales tax from him while he was stationed in Florida, and they in Texas.
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Hey Dave,
There is a definite difference between "nexus" and "point of sale". "Nexus" refers to a seller and whether or not they are even required to collect and remit sales taxes in a particular state, whereas "point of sale" refers to which state/locality a specific transaction is subject to having sales tax paid to. And if there is no seller that has "nexus" requiring they collect and remit sales tax on a particular transaction, the "point of sale" still determines what tax authority the buyer is then supposed to pay the "use tax" they now likely owe on their purchase to, and the sales/use tax rate they are supposed to base their payment on.
And in John's particular case, both "nexus" and "point of sale" are relevant. The fact that he was living in and received via mail/delivery items he won from Heritage clearly places the "point of sale" in Florida, not Texas. So, the only state entitled to sales tax from this particular sale/auction is Florida, period. Now the concept of "nexus" comes into play to determine if it is the seller, Heritage in this case, that is responsible for collecting and remitting the sales tax due to Florida on this particular sale/auction, and if not, that means it is then the buyer's (John's) responsibility to remit the sales tax that would have due to Florida himself, except it is now called a "use tax". And in this case, Heritage several years ago opened up an actual office in Florida, immediately giving them a physical presence in Florida. And having a physical presence in any state automatically gives that same company/seller a sales tax "nexus" in that state. So, in John's particular case, Florida is most definitely the state sales tax is owed to, and Heritage is just as definitely the party responsible for charging, collecting, and remitting to Florida the sales tax owed on what they sold to John.