Import taxes

[Xenophon]

Fellow coin collectors,

 

I won a VAuction lot about a year ago. It was a European sale, shipped from Spain I believe. Worth $2100. I had to pay import taxes to get the coin in the country.

 

Now, a year later, I was sent a letter from the state tax comissioner, being asked to pay state and local sales tax for importing "an antique older than a hundred years". Is that something you have experienced, is it common? Any advice to fight it or should I, once more, succumb to the absurdity of the tax man?

 

Thank you for your replies.

 

Xenophon

[ccg]

Items imported to the U.S. as "antique older than a hundred years" enter duty free.

 

However, the importer would still be subject to use tax.

 

Use tax basically means that if you buy something from out of state (be it another state, or from another country) and bring it into your state, you are expected to self-declare the value of the item(s) brought in that sales tax would normally apply to in your state and remit the applicable taxes to your state gov't.

 

The idea is to put a legal discouragement from people buying things from places with lower taxes (e.g. those from Vancouver, WA, where there is a 8.20% sales tax, buying goods in Portland, OR, where there is no sales tax)

 

(Note: I'm not an accountant or lawyer and this comment should not be construed as legal advice of any kind)

[ccg]

I should add that usually anything entering the US <$200 is automatically duty free, but anything >$200 is potentially dutiable, so it's likely that the details of the package were logged by CBP upon entry, and your state tax authorities noticed that you had not declared and paid sales tax on it over the past year, and so sent you a bill for it.

[Scottishmoney]

Wow, I have bought much more significant purchases in British auctions and had them shipped to USA and never encountered anything like tax bill. Maybe because VCoins is USA based, but has shared auctions with venues in Europe is the reason you had that issue.

[KoRnholio]

Sometimes you just get dinged, it is hit and miss. I'd say the majority of the time when I get a package from outside of Canada, there's no customs sticker on it when I pick it up.

 

Still, a year later seems rather absurd. I wouldn't pay them. If they wanted you to pay tax on it, they should have been on the ball when you bought it/brought it into the country. This just sounds like a cash grab.

 

(I am also no tax lawyer, don't listen to me!)

[ccg]

Still, a year later seems rather absurd. I wouldn't pay them. If they wanted you to pay tax on it, they should have been on the ball when you bought it/brought it into the country.

 

In Canada, if someone from BC (12% sales tax) purchased goods in AB (5% sales tax), it's pretty much just that - you saved on taxes. Same as a Canadian going to the US to buy goods - either the border guard asks you to pay the taxes and/or duties, or they wave you on.

 

However, in the US, the use tax laws put the onus on paying sales tax on the consumer. So even if you were not taxed at point of purchase, there would be an expectation to, as noted, self declare and pay applicable sales tax, as if the purchase had been made in-state.

 

The only "out" I see for the OP is if their state, like WA, considered coins to be sales tax exempt. In which case s/he could simply say that they should had been classified as coins rather than antiques, and that as such they are exempt from state sales tax. If their state, like NY, considers coins to be sale-taxable, then they're pretty much out of luck and should pay the amount due.

 

(again, this is not legal advice)

[Scottishmoney]

Curiously since you bring up Washington state I hear that lots of Canadians are travelling over the border and shopping in the Costcos there and hoarding all the cheap milk and food items so much so that people are campaigning for Costco to have "American only" shopping hours. What a joke. I think Canadians spending their Canadian monies in the USA is a wonderful idea - and I encourage them to do much much more.

[Xenophon]

Update: After a bit of research I figured out that in my state there is no sales or use tax on coin purchases (bullion and other). I contacted the state tax office and had a pleasant conversation with the gentleman that answered the call. After I explained the situation, he told me that all I needed to do was right a letter back to them explaining it. He said all the tax commissioner office receives is a list from customs with generic descriptions such as "antiques of age over one hundred years" and then they start sending letters out. I cannot believe that if I had been a bit more passive or gullible I would have paid an extra $160 for my coins. Thank you all for your help and advice. I'll update this post if there are any unforeseen developments in the future...