[thelist] Let's Discuss Ecommerce Enabled Sites...

[Michele Foster]

Matt and everyone ...

Thanks for the heads-up on this.  I'll bring it up to the client(s) again,
and make sure they have done their due diligence.

Adrian brought up an interesting point, about shipping intra and
inter-state.  I did ask one client to check into this, and he said he had,
but now I'm not so sure.  I've done what he's told me to do, but that
doesn't necessarily mean the information he gave me is accurate.  I'll
double-check with the client if the state tax fluctuates in Maryland.  I
haven't a clue.  I do know that the tax applied to hotel rooms is different
than the tax rate applied to products.  Thanks Adrian, I had forgotten about
the fluctuations, think I would remember with all my cross-border shopping
of years ago.  <G>

The new client is also in Maryland, but I'll ask them to make sure they've
discussed this with an accountant, and to verify their own situation.

As a web developer/designer, is this part of our *job*?  I mean, shouldn't
the client be doing this?  Making sure all the due diligence has been taken
care of, with respect to county taxes, state taxes, etc.?  I don't mind
mentioning a few things to them, but I think it should be the client's
job/responsibility to figure out what the situation is with their particular
case.  I just want the rate(s) and the variables to who does get charged.

Can one of you 'mericans confirm something for me please.  If a customer
orders a product from State A and lives in and has it shipped to State B, do
they NOT have to pay state tax?

In case anyone cares, to the best of my understanding up here (Canada),
provincial/territorial taxes only need to be charged within the same
province/territory, based on final shipping destination.  But, there is
another entire issue of "paying provincial taxes by the honour system."
Which, in simple terms means, if I purchase items from a specific province,
I am *supposed* to report the purchases to the provincial/territorial tax
agency and pay the taxes where I live.  It isn't enforced to a great extent,
but I've heard a few cases where it has come up.  One final thought for the
Canadians, what happens in provinces that have HST (harmonized tax - instead
of provincial and federal tax).  Do those clients charge the full HST
amount, or just the GST portion to clients ordering outside of their
province?  And, isn't it Alberta (?) that still has taxes included in their
prices?

Oh my, aren't taxes fun!!!!

Michele

----- Original Message -----
From: "Warden, Matt" <mwarden at odyssey-design.com>


| > > A question that is missing from this article.  When to calculate
taxes?
| >
| > It depends. Most of the time, you'll need to know the state of the
customer
| > before calculating the taxes.
|
| One more thing that I forgot to mention. Not all items are in the same tax
| "category". For instance, luxary items have a higher tax rate. So do
certain
| other items. Just something to consider. Not only is tax state-based, but
it
| is also item-based.