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Well that's the definitive word; "above".Ritchie at Ritchie's in Wesport recently told me it came down from above...charge all transfers MA sales tax...
If you don't pay MA tax at the FFL, you have to report it on your end of the year taxes. They are nice enough to provide you a box to fill in how much you spent on our of state merchandise.
Some FFLs do require sales tax.
Ritchie at Ritchie's in Wesport recently told me it came down from above...charge all transfers MA sales tax...
I just bought a complete lower receiver from NH. Transfered in to Mass FFL.
Do I have to pay sale tax on receiver.
Well that's the definitive word; "above".
Actually it wouldn't surprise me if the revenue department is searching for every source at this time.
Paying on the transfer fee is illegal, violates MGL on sales tax as there is no sales tax (yet) on "labor". I've had a jerk in DOR once tell me to charge sales tax on labor . . . still didn't make it legal to do so.
Tax on cost of a product is valid, but the MA FFL accepting a gun for you shouldn't know what you paid for it (you paid out of state dealer/person) and thus has no legal basis to charge the sale tax. [You might have paid $300 for a gun and the dealer says "it's worth $500, so I'm charging you $25 sales tax + transfer fee".] I'd be real leery of any dealer who did this, I would suspect that they were pocketing the "tax" money as extra profit.
It is up to the buyer to pay "use tax" directly to the state for any out of state purchases.
And yet another reason to use another dealer. Ritchie also claims that the Massachusetts State Police are in Parking Lots at gun dealers in New Hampshire taking down plate numbers. Then stopping people when they return to Mass and seizing their ammunition and imposing a $2000.00 fine for illegal interstate transportation of ammunition.
"Services'', a commodity consisting of activities engaged in by a person for another person for a consideration; provided, however, that the term "services'' shall not include activities performed by a person who is not in a regular trade or business offering his services to the public, and shall not include services rendered to a member of an affiliated group, as defined by section 1504 of the Internal Revenue Code, by another member of the same affiliated group that does not sell to the public the type of service provided to its affiliate; and provided, further, that the term services shall be limited to the following item: telecommunications services. Nothing herein shall exempt from tax sales of tangible personal property subject to tax under this chapter.
After reading "The Doctor" attack on my old post, I tried to re-read the MGL on Sales Tax to see if perhaps I was indeed wrong.
MGLs Ch. 64H and 64I both do refer to "services" as being taxable. Ch. 64I states that the "definitions" are the same as in 64H. BUT, the true answer is in the state's definition of what is "services" wrt MA Sales Tax law.
Here's the definition of "services" from Ch. 64H S. 1.
http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/64h-1.htm
Now I'll make an assumption as to why the confusion:
- At a point in the past, MGLs were modified to include Sales Tax on ALL SERVICES (hairdresser, CPA, computer consulting, legal services, real estate agent fees, ad nauseum).
- Just before this extension of the sales tax law was to go into effect, it was repealed due to the hue and outcry of many service providers.
- Speculation on my part . . . but it appears to me that they left the wording of "services" in MGL . . . but then RESTRICTED it to "telecommunication services" only. Thus the confusion if you don't read the definition very, very carefully.
I suggest that each of us read it for themselves and see who is right here. If The Doctor is correct, then lawyers, CPAs, hairdressers, real estate agents, etc. are all breaking the law in not charging everyone sales tax.
The readers can decide for themselves.
MGL 6H Sec 1
"Sales price'', the total amount paid by a purchaser to a vendor as consideration for a retail sale, valued in money or otherwise. In determining the sales price, the following shall apply: (a) no deduction shall be taken on account of (i) the cost of property sold; (ii) the cost of materials used, labor or service cost, interest charges, losses or other expenses; (iii) the cost of transportation of the property prior to its sale at retail; (b) there shall be included (i) any amount paid for any services that are a part of the sale; and (ii) any amount for which credit is given to the purchaser by the vendor; and (c) there shall be excluded (i) cash discounts allowed and taken on sales; (ii) the amount charged for property returned by purchasers to vendors upon rescission of contracts of sale when the entire amounts charged therefor, less the vendors' established handling fees, if any, for such return of property, are refunded either in cash or credit, and when the property is returned within ninety days from the date of sale, and the entire sales tax paid is returned to the purchaser; provided, however, that where a motor vehicle is returned pursuant to a rescission of contract such motor vehicle must be returned within one hundred and eighty days of the date of sale; (iii) the amount charged for labor or services rendered in installing or applying the property sold; (iv) the amount of reimbursement of tax paid by the purchaser to the vendor under this chapter; (v) transportation charges separately stated, if the transportation occurs after the sale of the property is made; (vi) the amount of the manufacturers' excise tax levied upon motor vehicles under section 4061(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 of the United States, as amended ; and (vii) a "service charge'' or "tip'' that is distributed by a vendor to service employees, wait staff employees or service bartenders as provided in section 152A of chapter 149.
MGL 64I sec 4
Every vendor engaged in business in the commonwealth and making sales of tangible personal property or services for storage, use or other consumption in the commonwealth not exempted under this chapter, shall at the time of making the sales, or, if the storage, use or other consumption of the tangible personal property or services is not then taxable hereunder, at the time the storage, use or other consumption becomes taxable, collect the tax from the purchaser and give the purchaser a receipt therefor in the manner and form prescribed by the commissioner. The tax required to be collected by the vendor shall constitute a debt owed by the vendor to the commonwealth. Such vendor shall collect from the purchaser the full amount of the tax imposed by this chapter, or an amount equal as nearly as possible or practicable to the average equivalent thereof; and such tax shall be a debt from the purchaser to the vendor, when so added to the sales price, and shall be recoverable at law in the same manner as other debts.
It is not a service. It is a transfer of legal property. In fact the consumer had not taken possession. The consumer has not completed the federal transfer documents. Has title really passed? It does not matter. Mere transfer of possession results in a taxable sale.
Front page to all MGLs on line.Anyone have a link to MGL 64I sec 4 as to where the terms are defined ?
Exactly. When it comes to law, words only mean what the law says they mean.IMO Without definitions one cannot in reality figure out if the section applies to them.
The problem here lies in this mentality.
They define the statutes in a law dictionary but you fine ma**h***s define the words they use in the "Law" in your Websters dictionary.
Apples and Oranges people.
I think that you should refrain from posting on this subject. You are clearly misguided on the topic. You accused someone of theft. You are cherry picking sections and are not reading the entire thing.
Nor does it seem to matter that GOAL has stated that you are wrong in the newsletter.
It is not a service. It is a transfer of legal property. In fact the consumer had not taken possession. The consumer has not completed the federal transfer documents. Has title really passed? It does not matter. Mere transfer of possession results in a taxable sale.
If you think that sales tax does not apply then USE tax surely does.
You can ignore the realty that this has been the law since the late 1960's.
If you don't pay MA tax at the FFL, you have to report it on your end of the year taxes. They are nice enough to provide you a box to fill in how much you spent on our of state merchandise.
Yep. It's called a use tax, which coincidentally is the same rate as the sales tax.so if i went to NH and decided while i was there to buy an ipod. theres no freakin way in hell MA can touch that. just because im a MA resident doesnt mean my mass tax laws follow me everywhere i go. if i took a vacation to FL and paid their state tax, that means i need to come home and get TAXED again on things i already PAID TAX on!! give me a break. Unconstitutional. kiss my ass massachusetts.
Yep. It's called a use tax, which coincidentally is the same rate as the sales tax.
But the store doing the transfer didnt sell it to anyone.
I'm happy to post about something I know nothing about.
Sales tax on a transfer fee? Thats just silly. The product being sold is the firearm. THAT's what garners the sales tax. The FFL may never even have OWNED the product being sold.
I have no doubt that in this god forsaken hell hole of disgustingly and openly dishonest/criminal/murderous politicians, what you say is legally correct.
It is NOT ethical, moral, probably not even consitutional. But HERE, sure, I'll believe it.
Why would it bother their collective braincell to tax that. It is probably the least harmful of the despicable acts the violate us with each day.
SOMEBODY GET ME ANOTHER DAMNED COFFEE
so if i went to NH and decided while i was there to buy an ipod. theres no freakin way in hell MA can touch that. just because im a MA resident doesnt mean my mass tax laws follow me everywhere i go. if i took a vacation to FL and paid their state tax, that means i need to come home and get TAXED again on things i already PAID TAX on!! give me a break. Unconstitutional. kiss my ass massachusetts.
Again, I am keeping subjects separate in order to eliminate confusion.
64I does indeed tax your purchase. You also receive a credit for tax properly paid to affiliated jurisdictions which had charged a sales tax against your liability.
You might not be aware of this...The Commonwealth's sales tax rate is the next to lowest in the whole country. Basically, it means that in general you owe no tax if you paid sales tax in another state. Only if you went to West Virginia would you have to fork an additional 1 percent to the Commonwealth.
I should also mention that in some cases Maine has taxed residents of the Commonwealth under the Maine Use Tax statutes due to the use of such items and as some items such as gun safes are exempt from taxation in the Commonwealth.
I suggest not voting for things and complaining as the subjects of the Commonwealth voted for the rate hike and permanent taxation before the 1980's.
. . . However, the reality is that all sales to a final consumer within the Commonwealth are to be taxed in order to prevent a privilege developing to sellers located outside of the Commonwealth. There was a sense of equity involved when writing 64I. I think that you can manifest this as the intent of the General Court at time. . . .