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A question about the iPhone 4 tax.

S

Slash59

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 21, 2010
2
0
First of all hi, new member here hoping you guys can help me with some questions I have.

I live in California and want to get an iPhone 4, but I dont want to pay the ridiculous tax. If I was to buy my phone in Nevada, would I still have to pay the tax? Thanks.
 
Depends on your local laws.

Most states that have sales tax also have a use tax for goods you buy as a resident while out of the state. It's not very well enforced though.

If the retailer will charge tax in Nevada, that's up to if Nevada has sales tax, and/or if they have an agreement with California to collect sales tax from California residents.
 
Slash59 said:
First of all hi, new member here hoping you guys can help me with some questions I have.

I live in California and want to get an iPhone 4, but I dont want to pay the ridiculous tax. If I was to buy my phone in Nevada, would I still have to pay the tax? Thanks.
Click to expand...

You can buy your iPhone from Walmart. They don't charge the CA luxury tax on the $500 price of the phone. You only pay tax on the $199.

I will never buy from AT&T or Apple in CA again. Walmart also get's them in stock everyday!
 
If you were to be in Nevada, you could buy it there at nevada tax. Oregon has no tax what so ever, so if you happen to be by there, thats the best place to buy the phone :p
 
Loves2spoon said:
You can buy your iPhone from Walmart. They don't charge the CA luxury tax on the $500 price of the phone. You only pay tax on the $199.

I will never buy from AT&T or Apple in CA again. Walmart also get's them in stock everyday!
Click to expand...

It's not $500, it's $699 sir. I paid about $190 in taxes for my three phones >.>
 
I did not get charged any taxes, I ordered through att premier delivered to Sacramento CA $199 out the door.
 
Loves2spoon said:
You can buy your iPhone from Walmart. They don't charge the CA luxury tax on the $500 price of the phone. You only pay tax on the $199.

I will never buy from AT&T or Apple in CA again. Walmart also get's them in stock everyday!
Click to expand...

Does California charge a tax on phones over and above regular sales tax? A Luxury Tax?? WTF, why do you guys keep voting for these people that do this crap to you?

Edit:
I just Googled and found this:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/5/21/868429/-Sales-Tax-on-Full-Retail-Price-in-California
 
Well, you are lucky with your taxes. Throughout the states it varies from 0 to 8%. Over here in The Netherlands we have to pay 19% tax everytime we buy something!
 
ddavid said:
Does California charge a tax on phones over and above regular sales tax? A Luxury Tax?? WTF, why do you guys keep voting for these people that do this crap to you?
Click to expand...

We pay taxes on the un subsidized price. So you'll pay $599 worth of taxes on the 16GB iPhone, and $699 worth of taxes on the 32GB. Fun.
 
Goldinboy17 said:
We pay taxes on the un subsidized price. So you'll pay $599 worth of taxes on the 16GB iPhone, and $699 worth of taxes on the 32GB. Fun.
Click to expand...
We too. Over here we just have to pay 19% extra to our government. And with everything I mean everything. Even food (although I believe with food it's a bit lower, but still between 5-10%).
 
California isn't the only state that charges tax on the full, unsubsidized cost of a cell phone and it's not new. Been around for at least 10 years, probably more.
 
Loves2spoon said:
You can buy your iPhone from Walmart. They don't charge the CA luxury tax on the $500 price of the phone. You only pay tax on the $199.

I will never buy from AT&T or Apple in CA again. Walmart also get's them in stock everyday!
Click to expand...

I got mine at Walmart also and did not even notice the lower sales tax until I got home and thought about it. I wonder if Walmart is doing this on purpose or if it is a mistake.
 
For the California folks

Do you have to pay taxes on phones if you order from Amazon?

I live in Texas and often, even if I can find something at the same price locally, I will buy from Amazon to save the 8.25% (includes city tax) it would cost me here. But I've never ordered a phone from them.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. We called some of the stores in Carson City and Reno, but they still said we would get charged the tax. We ended up just buying from the Apple store online and paying the tax. Guess the state needs the money to give Arnold some English lessons.:p
 
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