PSA insanity (So funny I had to post but OT)

[Jim VB]

Recently I received a card in the mail urging me to renew my PSA subscription for an annual price of $100. This includes all the usual goodies (6 free submissions, a handful of cardsavers, another copy of Joe's book, yada, yada, yada.)

I did renew and enclosed my check for $100.


Today, I get a bill in the mail showing that I still owe them $6.60 for some unspecified "tax." Of course, it's after 5:00 PM in CA and their offices are closed, so there's no one to answer my questions.

But apparently, they think I owe CA sales tax on this service. Lawyers feel free to correct me, but my understanding is that they are only required to collect sales tax for state in which they have a physical presence (nexus). They are in CA. I live in TX. Legally, I may owe TX a Use Tax, which TX has trouble collecting because they have no income tax and hence no annual forms to file, meaning even the most honest people have no easy mechanism to pay this tax. In no case would I owe tax to any other state.

Has this happened to anyone else? I know it didn't happen to me last year.

[kkkkandp]

I'm no tax lawyer, but I don't think nexus is limited to a brick-and-mortar establishment. I think the simple presence of a sales representative who does sufficient commercial activity in the state might be construed as nexus in certain cases.

That having been said, I'm not sure even that broad definition would apply to PSA in this instance.

[kylebicking]

I renewed my membership, sent a check for $100 and that was it. No $6.60 bill for me. Strange stuff...

[chaddurbin]

[ ] insanity
[ ] funny
[?] ot

is there an advantage or something else i'm not seeing to renew right when psa send the notice? i just let them run out and when i actually have a submission then just order the membership again...if i renew it could be months where the membership is doing nothing (i'm all over the online SMR tho...hmmm)

[mcap100176]

$6.60 makes no sense as the CA sales tax rate is 8.25%.

Why rejoin? Doesn't PSA accept single submissions now? It is $15 for a regular 10 day grading service. It's cheaper not to join, unless the extras are worth more than $10 (or $16.60).

[chaddurbin]

the extra yearly stuff is probably worth $10, not to mention the latest book(s) written by joe orlando...

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by chaddurbin

the extra yearly stuff is probably worth $10, not to mention the latest book(s) written by joe orlando...

I could do without a new copy of the book every year. I gave the last one away.

The six "free" submissions covers the annual fee, and I like the online info.

We've had this discussion before on the board and I'm not aware that PSA lets you submit repeatedly, without being a member. I thought we discovered that they don't.



Edited to add: And Quan, I did the same thing with the renewal. My subscription lapsed for a month or so before I renewed.

[kylebicking]

I am certain you need to be a member to submit. I asked for no book with my last renewal, and they thankfully listened. Otherwise I would have recycled it.

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by kkkkandp

...I don't think nexus is limited to a brick-and-mortar establishment. I think the simple presence of a sales representative who does sufficient commercial activity in the state might be construed as nexus in certain cases.

Again, I get most of my legal knowledge from Google and Wikipedia, which is a dangerous practice, but my understanding is that that interpretation of nexus is a state by state issue and Texas hasn't addressed the issue yet. New York, Rhode Island and North Carolina have expanded there law to include web only operations.