Firearm out-of-state purchase sales tax?

First Big Foot

It was my understanding for some years now that mail orders purchased from somewhere outside of California, (my home state), carried no sales tax responsibility, such as purchasing a firearm from someone in Oregon.

But My FFL guy insists that the Sales Tax Board insists that he charge and pay sales tax, from me and to the state, on every firearm sale, regardless of where it is from.

Is there anybody out there that can actually quote me law or ordinance or whatever you call it to prove me right? Or is he right?

Thanks for your input:
First Big Foot

Laredo Lefty

I think he is right. I have experienced the same thing. A friend of mine is a licensed dealer and has done many transfers for me over the years.

In the early days there was no tax assessed on guns I bought from another state, Iam also in So Cal. In the last couple years he has been adding sales tax based on the purchase price.

He said the state began requiring the collection of tax for some time. Exactly when it started, I dont know. He also said the state checks his books and collects the appropriate tax.

gruntled

This came up some time ago & I checked with the Franchise Tax Board.
The answer I got back from them said no BUT you are required to pay a Use tax when you file your state income tax form.
The best thing to do is to send an E-Mail to the Franchise Tax Board & then if you get the same answer I did make a copy of it to show to the dealer.

I was going to copy this page but it says it is copywrited so I will just post the link.

http://www.ftb.ca.gov/current/usetax.shtml

tsr1965

At minimum, they have to charge sales tax on the transfer fee, if there is any. Besides, how do they know that the weapon is not just being transferred, changing ownership. A change in ownership does not mean a PURCHASE had to take place. b However, if you have an advertised transfer fee, I can see where they would expect to see it.

I live in the other Commie state...New York, and they TAX everything.

lts

The receiving FFL charging tax on the sale of the item being transferred is BS, They didn't sell it so how can they collect sales tax on it? I'd use another FFL. I pay the internet purchases flat fee on my "commie" state tax form.

crisisbill

Many FFL's are doing this, at best they should only tax the transfer fee. They are not selling the gun, they did not take in or put out any money for it.
Many are doing this to add to the profit margin of the transfer, find another FFL.
It's no different then the guys who charge big bucks for shipping and handeling. Just greed!

nmyers

This is a STATE issue. States can tax (or not tax) anything they want within their borders. Many states that have a sales tax also require that you pay sales tax on out of state purchases; of course, that's often difficult to enforce, but they still have that on the books. Some states also tax services, in addition to goods; that's up to the state.

If a state Attorney General decides that FFL's must pay a tax on transfers, then they have to do it. What else can they do but collect it & remit to the state? The dealers are licensed by the state, & must follow its laws.

If you don't think you should have to pay sales tax, YOU have to go to your Attorney General & get a decision letter. Just don't tell someone in another state what he should or should not have to pay.

Neal

tigguy

I read that some of our ffl holders charge tax and others don't. May be that they haven't updated their website in awhile. Asked a buddy about it and he said it's true, that it's a state requirement to collect tax on out-of-state transfers. Also heard that a major huge retailer won't charge tax, just a flat fee. I'm guessing the tax for a transfer charge is say, $25 + tax on $25, or is it a purchase price plus tax, just as if you bought it at Cabela's or another store? I live in Wa State. I think I'm going to have a bunch of transferred guns instead of purchased guns in the future. Rossi for Gov.!