Virginia Sales Tax

[TAXMAN]

I just noticed that ATX put an error on checking and Efile if you skip the sales tax question. A lot of my clients don't remember if they did or did not pay the tax. How do we respond when even the client doesn't know?

[Possi]

Call me a maverick, but I answer "no" every single time. It's a dumb question. But that's just me. Don't tell....

[Gail in Virginia]

North Carolina has the same requirement.  I am not willing to certify for my clients that they don't owe consumer use tax, so I ask them and explain some of the circumstances where they might have purchased something and not paid sales tax.  So far, I have had only one customer who said they had purchased something and not paid tax through a catalog order.  They pulled the amount off my ceiling and we went with it. 

[Christian]

I have often wondered why the state even bothered asking. After all many folks order online to avoid the Virginia sales tax. 

[michaelmars]

in NY you can elect to pay an amount based on your income, range is like $10-$250.  Using this makes you audit proof even if you have thousands of dollars of out of state purchases. Its called sales and use tax so if you buy something out of state but use it in NY then you pay the tax.  My staff knows I consider it malpractice not to elect this unless the client is 90 years old and doesn't have a computer.