Kobobooks - sales tax for U. S. residents now?

[SeaBookGuy]

I've bought a few books from them in the past, no tax. However, for the past couple of weeks they've been showing that I'd be charged the full WA state (nearly 10%) sales tax in the net price.

[wallcraft]

It is now usual to pay sales tax on "Agency" ebooks in the US. This is because it is then the publishers who are responsible for the sales tax, and I guess they have a presence in all states (perhaps due to paying authors in that state).

On Amazon, it is easy to see the Agency ebooks because they are listed in the "New from" rather than the "Amazon Price" column and they explicitly say "This price was set by the publisher". I don't know if you can tell on Kobo.

As a check, The Confession by John Grisham is not an Agency ebook (it is discountable) and Cross Fire by James Patterson is "Sold by: Hachette Book Group This price was set by the publisher". On Kobo, the former has a list price and a sale price, the latter just has a price.

[SeaBookGuy]

At kobo non-Agency books are largely discounted, showing two prices.

[issybird]

No sales tax in my state!

[Catlady]

I've been surprised that I haven't been charged sales tax for any e-book purchases, Agency or non-Agency, at BN, Kobo, or Amazon. BN and Amazon both charge me sales tax on physical books.

[Blossom]

Anytime I buy Agency books from Kobo or B.O.B. I am charged Sales Tax. Same with Amazon. The only difference is Kobo will show it before you hit buy but Amazon shows it after you purchase the total amount.

[taming]

Canadian sales tax (national and provincial) has always been collected on every book.

[John F]

I'm getting charged a sales tax. I think I'm also getting charged an exchange fee from my credit card company when I use Kobo. I live in the USA.

[koland]

Originally Posted by John F

I think I'm also getting charged an exchange fee from my credit card company when I use Kobo. I live in the USA.

That fee is up to the CC company (I checked, mine does not appear to be charging one). Banks are often worse about such fees.

To minimize the fees (which are often both a percentage plus a transaction fee), you can get a gift certificate at Kobo and buy against it.

[sbtx99]

I've only bought non-agency ebooks from Kobo and have never been charged for sales tax. Amazon doesn't charge me sales tax on non-agency ebooks, either.

BooksOnBoard, B&N and Sony all have a business presence in my state, so I get charged sales tax on all purchases, agency and non-agency alike.

Strangely, they don't all charge the same tax rate. Amazon and Sony only charge the state portion, but B&N and BoB charge both state and local sales tax.

[doreenjoy]

I'm speaking from the perspective of tax law, just to set the stage for my comment. In the USA, companies are not required to collect sales tax of any kind on products that are 100% digital. If there is an accompanying CD, booklet, or *any* physical item that will be shipped to the customer, then sales tax is required in states where the company has a physical presence.

[koland]

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

I'm speaking from the perspective of tax law, just to set the stage for my comment. In the USA, companies are not required to collect sales tax of any kind on products that are 100% digital. If there is an accompanying CD, booklet, or *any* physical item that will be shipped to the customer, then sales tax is required in states where the company has a physical presence.

Whether or not digital goods are taxed is state dependent.

[taming]

When you buy internationally there are also trade agreements in place that may spell out how this has to be done.

[Purple Lady]

I just saw an interesting article - Tax Spikes on Cell Plans; e-Books Next
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-bud...lphones-ebooks

This says you could be charged tax by multiple states and municipalities - I wouldn't think they would be allowed to charge you tax from two different states.

e-Books

Taxes on e-book downloads to an e-reader, like the iPad, Kindle or Nook, could add up to 21% of the total price, assuming multiple states apply taxes to the same transaction, according to MyWireless.org, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group.

Roughly 9 million e-reader users download books. (On average, that's three e-books a month at an average of $9 per book, according to Marketing and Research Resources and CEA, respectively.) These consumers are increasingly at risk of being taxed on those purchases by their home state and by the state where the book is published, says a CTIA spokeswoman.

The number of times a consumer is taxed could be even higher. For example, a county may decide to impose its own tax on downloadable e-commerce products. These taxes typically pop up at checkout. These additional taxes could make buying an e-book much more costly than buying a hard copy of the book at a local retail store, where only the sales taxes would apply.

[screwballl]

I have been starting to see more and more things sold online are having tax added since I live in FL and they passed some new tax laws a year or so ago.