NY State Residents Pay Sales Tax On Heritage Auction?

Have an out of state family member do it for you is probably your best bet

If your state charges tax on the sale of coins in its' territory, you are already breaking the law by not paying tax on a similar online purchase. It's just that the law, as written, places the voluntary burden on the consumer to pay that tax. That's what makes me wonder about those who complain about Congress possibly passing a law requiring online merchants to charge sales tax - it's only a change in who is burdened by existing law, and they're only doing it because people like you and I aren't holding up our end.

I usually do pay sales tax if I'm buying a coin being sold by a business in my territory. That's why I always research where the item is located before I buy....like I did today. I am new to the Heritage scene and didn't realize until today that Heritage was a NY, CA, TX company. Would be interesting to see what would happen to ebay sales if sales tax was manditory. Sales would still probably do well, but sellers 'might' receive less with the additional "buyer's premium." Amazon seems to get by with always charging tax.

Thanks for all the replies. Funny how inflection doesn't translate well in writing and things have to be written exactly as they mean. I wasn't looking to do anything wrong. Was just new to Heritage, and my first day bidding. Didn't really think about the sales tax issue, but noticed it at the last minute. Wasn't sure if I was supposed to pay it or not, or if I was clicking the wrong button, or if it was for businesses, etc. So as it turns out it is for residents of states where Heritage has offices.....CA, TX, NY. I'm sure the tax is automatically added to the invoice, like Amazon, ebay businesses, etc. I found out the hard way once to pay attention to who's selling the coin and where they are located, and if they are a business or not. I probably could have won what I was bidding on, but things kind of went sour...items that I thought would stay low bid up quickly...sales tax issue....so I backed off. Will live to bid another day.

Amazon fought with the states for many years and finally caved in - used the siting of distribution centers to negotiate various amnesty programs for past 'sins'.

It's incredibly complex.

For example, here at home, a purchase is subject to three tax components - a transit district, the city and the state base rate of 6.25% totaling 8.25% (the 8.25% is pretty much standard across TX, but the distribution of it varies). On my wife's route to work, one side of the street is unincorporated County and the other is a City's ETJ (Extra territorial Jurisdiction) - same 8.25% but the components are TOTALLY different.

Plus WHAT is taxable varies from state to state.

Which is why lots of companies ignore it and leave it to you to figure out and pay the use tax.