Does WA State get the sales tax on purchase of new during an "out of state" transfer?

[ATCclears]

I was starting to get excited about saving big $ purchasing a new pistol from Buds, but it appears that WA State will collect the tax (on a new pistol) during the transfer process.
West Coast Armory

Can anyone confirm?

Thx,
Peter

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[SonicBlue03]

Yep. As of January 2011 FFLs doing transfers started collecting WA state sales tax.

 

[ATCclears]

Thx for the quick responses!

Peter

 

[Unka-Boo]

Not just guns: Mattress World closing its doors after 15 years | OregonLive.com

Hiner said she was dinged by the state of Washington for selling and delivering mattresses to Washington residents without collecting sales taxes.

 

[deen_ad]

Yep. As of January 2011 FFLs doing transfers started collecting WA state sales tax.

Actually it's a "use" tax and it's been in effect for about 10 years but the DOR wasn't monitoring it. Several years ago they started auditing FFL's. Mike at Brightwater got audited some years ago and had to pony up the taxes he should have collected over the years although some people did pay him when they found out.

 

[deen_ad]

Not just guns: Mattress World closing its doors after 15 years | OregonLive.com

She claims she didn't know she was supposed to collect sales/use tax on items delivered in WA. I find that hard to believe!!

 

[ATCclears]

Years ago we used a guy a couple of times for pumping our septic tank. Then we got a letter from the WA State Department of Revenue wanting to know the details of our business with him (our name appeared on WA State "dump" logs for his septic truck). I think he went to jail for a year for collecting but not paying sales tax. It was too bad since I liked the guy, he always seemed honest to deal with, and he had a young family.

Peter

 

[deen_ad]

Years ago we used a guy a couple of times for pumping our septic tank. Then we got a letter from the WA State Department of Revenue wanting to know the details of our business with him (our name appeared on WA State "dump" logs for his septic truck). I think he went to jail for a year for collecting but not paying sales tax. It was too bad since I liked the guy, he always seemed honest to deal with, and he had a young family.

Peter

That's a little different from not collecting tax and owing it. The tax money collected is state property and held for the state and must be accounted for. It's all in the rules/laws and updates since then. We got our WA business license some 20 years ago.

 

[Capn Jack]

The state is scrounging for anything they can get their hands on.

 

[deen_ad]

The state is scrounging for anything they can get their hands on.

With so many FFL's not following the law I'm not surprised at all.

 

[optiontrigger]

Be aware that the sales tax is calculated on the total amount spent, which includes any shipping and insurance that you tack onto the price of the firearm. A cheaper gun can end up costing you more overall if the shipping cost is higher.

 

[deen_ad]

BTW: A WA resident buying ANYTHING in another state owes "use" tax on the item unless it's not taxed in WA like food. So it you buy a washer and dryer at Costco in Portland, put it in your truck or trailer and bring it into WA you're supposed to go the the DOR office, declare the value and pay the taxes owed.

Some years ago WA stationed people at some big outlets, they noted the license plates and the State Patrol stopped them when they entered WA and fined them for not paying the taxes. This was clear back when the Interstate bridge still had toll booths so it's been a few years!

 

[ATCclears]

I found this link too from the WA State Department of Revenue.

<broken link removed>

 

[deen_ad]

I found this link too from the WA State Department of Revenue.

<broken link removed>

Yep, that's it. Unfortunately when they changed to the new site they removed the old posting date which was about 2005 as I remember.

 

[mjbskwim]

As an FFL holder who does a lot of out of state transfers, the answer is YES.
The Washington State Pistol Application that you will have to fill out actually has a box where we, the transfering agent has to write in their Washington State Business License # called a State UBI#
This allows the DOR and DOL to do a very easy cross-match of records, and find out when we are not sending in sales tax on those State pistol applications
No FFL holder I know wants to be audited.
I've been collecting the sales tax for a few years now. It's been a law for quite some time but they just started enforcing it last year.

Doing the transfers your neighbor won't do?LOL

Unless I am buying a gun that the local shop can't find (my G20 ) at their distributors ,I can't see worrying about the $20 savings buying online.
Now with the FN I bought ,they wanted to charge over $100 more than I found it online,so of course I bought it online.But usually if I order a gun I can get a good enough price thru my local dealers

 

[Redcap]

BTW: A WA resident buying ANYTHING in another state owes "use" tax on the item unless it's not taxed in WA like food. So it you buy a washer and dryer at Costco in Portland, put it in your truck or trailer and bring it into WA you're supposed to go the the DOR office, declare the value and pay the taxes owed.

Some years ago WA stationed people at some big outlets, they noted the license plates and the State Patrol stopped them when they entered WA and fined them for not paying the taxes. This was clear back when the Interstate bridge still had toll booths so it's been a few years!

Ridiculous.

 

[enjr4]

Not trying to make WA a good guy; but, try registering a 10 year old out of state can in Illinois. If you can't prove you paid sales tax on it, you get to do it again.

 

[optiontrigger]

Not to derail the thread, but to add information about the use tax, according to the WA DOR, it's due even if you already paid taxes in a state that has a lower tax rate - you don't just pay the difference. Also, if you moved here from a different state, you should pay the depreciated value for use tax for everything you brought. Isn't that crazy?

Use tax

 

[Redcap]

Not to derail the thread, but to add information about the use tax, according to the WA DOR, it's due even if you already paid taxes in a state that has a lower tax rate - you don't just pay the difference. Also, if you moved here from a different state, you should pay the depreciated value for use tax for everything you brought. Isn't that crazy?

Use tax

It is completely asinine.

 

[deen_ad]

Ridiculous.

Might be but it is the law! And the fine can be very heavy if caught.