Local sales tax question

I have a question about collecting local sales tax for sales within the state. If you use a printing lab in your own state and it wants to charge you sales tax, are you supposed to get an exemption because you will be selling the prints to the end user and collecting tax at time of sale. I got this idea when I saw someone mention that when they sell their prints thru display at restaurants and other venues - it is the venue that charges sales tax, not you as the photographer.

I want to make my life as easy as possible with taxes. I am curious how others manage it.

Check with a local tax professional. This is very situationally dependent. In many cases the answer is yes; you must provide a copy of your retailer sales tax certificate to the merchant in that case so he can properly report the sale as exempt.

Be aware that WHEN (not if) HE gets audited you probably will be as well; that's how they "follow the chain" to try to find people who are misusing sales tax exemption certificates. Therefore, knowing exactly what you have to do in order to be legal is important, as you will almost-certainly, within a few years, get to prove it up to the local tax authorities.

Consult your legal/accounting advisor, instead of asking the internet. I see it as paying for a service to get the print and you selling it again is selling a product.

You have to pay tax on components you need in order to create your product. You don't get off tax-free because you are selling products.

dkizzle wrote in post #15772146
I have a question about collecting local sales tax for sales within the state. If you use a printing lab in your own state and it wants to charge you sales tax, are you supposed to get an exemption because you will be selling the prints to the end user and collecting tax at time of sale.

In Florida, you can file with the vendor a sales tax exemption, which will include your Florida sales tax number, then the vendor will not charge you sales tax.

However...

In Florida, once you file for a sales tax number, you must file quarterly reports to the Department of Revenue, even if you do not have any sales within that quarter and if you fail to file, the DOR will assess a penalty, even if you don’t owe any taxes.

If you are a small business, you may be much better off paying the sales tax yourself and flying under the RADAR.

Wayne

It's really dependent on the situation.........unle​ss you're selling wholesale (and having the establishment re-sell your work while using their tax ID), you're ultimately responsible for collecting and reporting sales tax....at least that's my understanding. I would also urge you to contact either a tax rep or your states tax office to clarify how the sales taxes should be collected in your circumstance.

You can become sales tax exempts where the vendor does not charge you tax but you charge your clients tax. That way the government doesn't double dip. Make sense?

"You have to pay tax on components you need in order to create your product."

In New Jersey, you don't pay tax on components used to create your work, as long as tax is being collected on the finished product (unless the buyer is tax exempt.) You don't charge your buyer sales tax if they are in turn selling the product and collecting the tax, and have provided you with the proper resale exemption certificate. This is generally true in other states, but as others have said, laws do vary from state to state and you do need to check with your accountant.