Originally Posted By: DieselTech
That maybe Johnny. I have asked this same question elsewhwere and seem to never get a true answere and dealer don't seem to know. Maybe beancounter will be able to shed some light on this
Originally Posted By: o2man98
Most, if not, all states require you to file all unpaid sales taxes each year. This would include all your online purchases you have made and not already paid sales tax on.
Yes, I believe this is under the Use Tax form one would file.
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Does not matter where the dealer is located. Does not matter where Amsoil is located. Amsoil has as significant sales in your state. The Uniform Sales Tax Code and your state say that sale of retail products must be taxed, unless of course you have an exemption for pass through sales.
This is the most conservative route for companies who want to avoid any issues, and I would agree that this is legally binding.
The problem is the lack of enforcement, or even lack of the ability to enforce. Use to, back before the interweb was such a huge sales hub, you required sales tax if you had a purchase from someone in a state where you had significant presence (office, employees, etc.). This was, in general, as simple as it got -- barring some odd scenarios here and there.
Nowadays, there has been quite a legal battle going on the past couple of years over e-business sales taxes. The intricacies of the legality can be quite convoluted. Some big firms (with a presence in a state of sale) can still get around the sales tax, for the time being, but that is with the creation of a "separate entity" to handle internet sales solely.
I would have to dig a little deeper to get into the specifics, which would likely bore everyone, but with a MLM system, and dealers likely to exist in every state, Amsoil may be going ahead an avoiding any legal issues by assessing the sales tax and/or collecting and paying for the consumer in advance. The complexities of the dealer/MLM setup likely plays a big part in this, but, to be fair, if you look at your states individual tax laws, you are almost going to be guaranteed to see the necessity to file for unpaid sales tax (use/excise tax on the return, likely), except for those 5 or so states that have no sales tax.
Here are some examples/info:
http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/business-operations/internet/internet-taxes.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23351894/