sales tax on out of state guns?

canuck1911

New member
I live in California, and bought a gun from out of state. My FFL transfer dealer tells me he still has to charge me sales tax on the gun. I recall reading somewhere that this is
not the case. Does anyone know about this?
 
Canuck, I've had similar experiences with an FFL here, so I switched to another licensed dealer. _Technically_ in Wisconsin and other states you're supposed to pay a sales or use tax on anything that you buy from out of state: mail order, catalog, online shopping, even the $19.95 slicer dicers that are only sold on TV. Of course, nobody ever does that (except businesses).

The short answer is to find another dealer who'll charge you a reasonable fee ($20) for the transfer and not try to sock you with a sales tax.

Dick
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Thats what I went out and did. Evidently the first FFL was worried that if they got audited by the state they'd get dinged for the sales tax.

Thanx
 
One thing that might hold you to the tax is how it is processed. If FFL1 transfers to FFL2 and transfers to you, you are actually purchasing it in your state.
 
I`m not sure about guns but the cars I`ve bought out of state have the sales tax paid in the state it gets registered in. I`m ordering a gun out of state today so I guess I`ll find out soon enough.
 
I am an FFL dealer, so I'll comment.
If you pay the other dealer direct, and no money went through the local dealers hands, then it's an out-of-state sale. The local dealer is still supposed to tax you for the transfer fee, at least in my state, because sales tax is a tax on goods and services, and a transfer is a service.
If the dealer orders in the gun, say on his 30 day net account, on your instructions, and the money goes from you to the local dealer, it is an in-state sale, regardless of where the gun came from!
Hope this helps you.
 
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