Buck Knives Sales Tax

sawgrass

sawgrass

Joined
Mar 27, 2014
Messages
406
I have been buying Buck 110 custom knives from the Buck Company for some time and reselling them online at a small profit. I have bought and sold maybe 35 or so this way, many to international buyers. I have run out of the Asian Buffalo knives and was placing an order for 5 Custom knives, ant at the end of my order, a sales tax was added. I can't pay a sales tax on the purchase and sell them, so I called Buck. She told me it was required by the State of Florida. I buy knives for resale from several other large mfgs. around the U.S. and none of them charge a sales tax. I checked with the State of Florida's and they told me they do not require a sales tax for online purchases, so it isn't them requiring it. Nobody would talk with me about it from Buck with the exception of the person that answered the phone. Nobody else would come on the line to explain this to me. I have been a good customer and nobody was willing to explain this to me. I did not place the order. I can't sell them for enough to pay the sales tax. If this sales tax required by Buck is not required by either Idaho or Florida, why charge it? Where is this money going, to Buck? Not to Florida. I apologize for ranting, but I am upset that nobody from Buck would even bother to talk with me. I will not be buying these anymore. I am sad about that.
 
Thank you for the input. I have been charges sales tax on occasion from Buck before, but not for a long time. What upset me was that I buy knives from 4 other large knife makers and they have never charged sales tax. Also, it is upsetting when you can't talk with anyone in the company about it, even when she said that someone would call me, they didn't. Not a good way to run a company. It is baffling when a company decides they don't care enough about repeat customers to even return a call or talk with them. I have lost a lot of respect for Buck.
 
From what I understand, Florida will collect sales tax on internet sales if a company has a physical presence in the state. This includes a sales rep. The sales rep for Buck is H&G Marketing which has a rep stationed in Florida.

Make what you will of this information.
 
You don't say how much time has passed but has it been a couple of working days? I'd call them back again. Other than that I can't offer any further suggestions other than I hope your other sources don't start doing the same thing. It won't be long before we all start getting taxed on Internet sales the way the greed in government is going.
 
Here is some information from the Florida Department of Revenue.

"Have you bought or received merchandise from out of state or through the internet?
You Might Owe Florida Tax

Many Florida citizens are not aware that this state has a "use tax." Use tax normally applies to items purchased outside Florida, including another country, which are brought or delivered into this state and would have been taxed if purchased in Florida. The use tax rate is the same as the sales tax rate, 6%.
Examples include:

Purchases made through the Internet.
Mail-order catalog purchases.
Purchases made in another country.
Furniture purchased from dealers located in another state.
Computer equipment ordered from out-of-state vendors advertising in magazines.
If an out-of-state seller fails to collect sales tax, it is your responsibility to comply with Florida law. You must submit payment directly to the Florida Department of Revenue. This payment is required by section 212.06(8), Florida Statutes. You can file and pay use tax online or complete an Out-of-State Purchase Return (Form DR-15MO). If the tax owed is less than one dollar, you do not have to file a return."
 
Hating on Buck for following the law of your home state seems like a bit much. It sounds like they've been enabling your side business, which most likely undercuts their retailers and sales reps. As for not returning your call, perhaps there's more to the story. Also, coming to Buck's forum and dumping on them may not be the best strategy; there is a feedback forum here at bladeforums where you might get more mileage out of your concern.
 
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I don't like paying tax either. However, I think your issue should be with Florida and not Buck.
 
I wasn't happy about it either, I pay tax on everything here in California :-(
 
bertl said:
From what I understand, Florida will collect sales tax on internet sales if a company has a physical presence in the state. This includes a sales rep. The sales rep for Buck is H&G Marketing which has a rep stationed in Florida.

Make what you will of this information.
Click to expand...

bertl, that sound like it is probably the reason. Funny though that they didn't know that at Buck. Oh well, the world goes on. I'll get over my funk. Thanks for the information.
 
trestle said:
Hating on Buck for following the law of your home state seems like a bit much. It sounds like they've been enabling your side business, which most likely undercuts their retailers and sales reps. As for not returning your call, perhaps there's more to the story. Also, coming to Buck's forum and dumping on them may not be the best strategy; there is a feedback forum here at bladeforums where you might get more mileage out of your concern.
Click to expand...

Thank you. You are right, of course. Got a little overheated. Mostly, I think because nobody would talk with me about it. I will calm down and life goes on.
 
I really do appreciate all of your comments. You are all right and I overreacted. I don't undercut Bucks dealers because the Custom knives don't go to the dealers and if they did, they did, I couldn't compete anyway. Thanks again for the comments. I will hold my peace next time.
 
It may be worth it for you to get a resale license in your state, to avoid having to pay sales tax. It will open up other manufacturers and wholesales to you, as well.

Or find someone in a non-sales tax state to work with you. I did that in college, living in a non-sales tax state, I worked for a couple out of state online resellers, their orders were shipped to me and I shipped them out, in exchange for a cut of the sales, I made a pretty decent sum over a couple years of that.
 
The reply regarding havinf a prescense in Fl is most likely correct.
It is my understanding that the FL use tax is the purchaser's responsibility and not the seller.
If you use a tax exempt # then you are required to collect tax when you sell it.

I understand the rub about not being able to speak to someone with an answer but but the accountants probably told them it was reqd and that may be all they know.
 
This state has the use tax non-sense on the income tax form and has really been pushing it for the last five years or so---no one ever claims it and good luck trying to collect it
 
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