EA Forums - Banner

Tax when buying donuts?

It's taxed.

Replies

  • anaquarind
    1495 posts Member
    edited January 2016
    It is probably country-specific?
    I like routine!
  • mystery2mi
    2359 posts Member
    edited January 2016
    It depends where you live. If you live in the US and there is sales tax in your state, you will pay it. I live in New Hampshire which doesn't have a sales tax. Not sure about other countries.
  • ForumNerds
    2455 posts Member
    edited January 2016
    mystery2mi wrote:
    It depends where you live. If you live in the US and there is sales tax in your state, you will pay it. I live in New Hampshire which doesn't have a sales tax. Not sure about other countries.

    I'm in California and we have 7.5% state sales tax. Yet, I'm not charged sales tax for my donuts. (Bank shows $4.99, $9.99, etc. )

    Legally, a seller must charge state sales tax on internet purchases IF the seller has "physical presence" in California.

    But here's what's weird. EA and Google are both headquartered in California. And I don't pay sales tax on my donuts.

    I also don't pay sales tax when I stream a movie from amazon, nor when I buy a kindle book. (Amazon has a huge warehouse right here in L.A. County.)

    But when I buy a tangible item from amazon (like, an actual book shipped to my home), I pay state sales tax.

    Only explanation I can think of is that I do not actually "OWN" the kindle book, the amazon streamed movie, and the donuts. That is, if amazon goes under, I can't download my kindle books or stream my movies. (I have too many books to store on my devices.) If EA goes under, I won't have access to my town -- premium or otherwise.

    That's all I can think of.
  • epolng
    298 posts Member
    edited January 2016
    Amazon charges me tax when I buy donuts here in Washington. However, that may be because their headquarters are just a few miles down the road. *smile* I never tried buying donuts on my phone so I can't say what happens on an Android.
  • mystery2mi
    2359 posts Member
    edited January 2016
    ForumNerds wrote:
    mystery2mi wrote:
    It depends where you live. If you live in the US and there is sales tax in your state, you will pay it. I live in New Hampshire which doesn't have a sales tax. Not sure about other countries.

    I'm in California and we have 7.5% state sales tax. Yet, I'm not charged sales tax for my donuts. (Bank shows $4.99, $9.99, etc. )

    Legally, a seller must charge state sales tax on internet purchases IF the seller has "physical presence" in California.

    But here's what's weird. EA and Google are both headquartered in California. And I don't pay sales tax on my donuts.

    I also don't pay sales tax when I stream a movie from amazon, nor when I buy a kindle book. (Amazon has a huge warehouse right here in L.A. County.)

    But when I buy a tangible item from amazon (like, an actual book shipped to my home), I pay state sales tax.

    Only explanation I can think of is that I do not actually "OWN" the kindle book, the amazon streamed movie, and the donuts. That is, if amazon goes under, I can't download my kindle books or stream my movies. (I have too many books to store on my devices.) If EA goes under, I won't have access to my town -- premium or otherwise.

    That's all I can think of.
    Thanks for the clarification. It sounds like sales tax is only paid if it's something you can physically touch. I left California in 1992 before the internet took off so I wouldn't have known.
  • johncolombo
    11654 posts Senior Moderator
    edited January 2016
    ForumNerds wrote:
    mystery2mi wrote:
    It depends where you live. If you live in the US and there is sales tax in your state, you will pay it. I live in New Hampshire which doesn't have a sales tax. Not sure about other countries.

    I'm in California and we have 7.5% state sales tax. Yet, I'm not charged sales tax for my donuts. (Bank shows $4.99, $9.99, etc. )

    Legally, a seller must charge state sales tax on internet purchases IF the seller has "physical presence" in California.

    But here's what's weird. EA and Google are both headquartered in California. And I don't pay sales tax on my donuts.

    I also don't pay sales tax when I stream a movie from amazon, nor when I buy a kindle book. (Amazon has a huge warehouse right here in L.A. County.)

    But when I buy a tangible item from amazon (like, an actual book shipped to my home), I pay state sales tax.

    Only explanation I can think of is that I do not actually "OWN" the kindle book, the amazon streamed movie, and the donuts. That is, if amazon goes under, I can't download my kindle books or stream my movies. (I have too many books to store on my devices.) If EA goes under, I won't have access to my town -- premium or otherwise.

    That's all I can think of.

    If I sell a wedding album or a print, I have to charge tax, if I use the cloud to distribute my digital images I do not have to charge tax. Probably same thing? I can't remember if I get taxed on my donut purchases.
    Volunteer EA Forum Senior Moderator/Hero EA Answers HQ
  • PipebombHooligan
    191 posts Member
    edited January 2016
    I was taxed from the google play store yesterday on $10 worth of donuts. However I wasn't taxed when I spent a hundred dollars on another game last month, so I was confused. Always taxed when I use the apple App Store though. I just thought all game in app purchases were the same when bought from the google play store. So I'm glad I still had left over gift card fund if 80 cents because I wouldn't have been able to buy them otherwise, I used a 10 visa reward card.
This discussion has been closed.

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.