How to Avoid Paying Sales Tax (Results may vary by your State)

jaredseiders · 2013-10-25T12:39:34.000Z

Being a new member here, I've been reading a lot of the older forum posts trying to glean any information I can, and I've come across something that maybe I could lend a bit of advice to regarding sales tax. In my state (Pennsylvania) a person is exempt from paying sales tax on an item that they are purchasing for Resale. All a person has to do is file for a sales tax remittance/exemption form. Which means you pay no sales tax on the items you purchase for resale, however when you sell them you have to pay the sales tax you collected. Now, here's the kicker. Most states only make you collect sales tax on purchases from within the state. Since almost all of us sell online, any sales from people outside your state means you don't have to collect and pay sales tax on those sales. I have been selling on Amazon since last October, I sell all sorts of toys mostly, and at times other items I can make a buck on (Halloween cereals are through the roof!). I have sold 2680 units for a total sales of $61,025 in sales. And on that $61k I only paid $70 in remitted sales tax on sales sold to residents of Pennsylvania. (Of course that isn't $61000 in profit, I wish). Now, I understand that this practice cannot be done at the Lego Store, because they don't allow you to purchase for resale. But Target, Walmart, Kmart, TRU, are all places that you can exploit this if your state allows. Online orders are difficult to swing, but I've been successful on getting the sales tax removed by going back to the store with my items and sales invoice. No one has ever given me a hard time about sales tax exemption, and most stores its a simple process of filling out a small form with your sales tax exemption information. I haven't been able to get Amazon to exempt my sales taxes though, however. Even though I sell on Amazon. I guess I'm a little fish in their huge ocean.