Legal Question in Tax Law in New Jersey
I recieved a tax bill yesterday for unpaid taxes on online cigarette purchases. My question is, are we the consumers responsible for tax collection? isn't tax collection the responsibilty of the seller? I purchased cigarettes from these online vendors with the understanding that they sold cigarettes cheaper, not that they weren't collecting taxes for those cigarettes. Do we as consumers have any recourse?
1 Answer from Attorneys
The tax you owe is known as the "sales and use" tax. When an out-of-state seller does not collect sales tax, you have an obligation to report the purchase on your New Jersey income tax return and pay sales tax on the item. This sales tax is officially known as the "use" tax because you as the user must pay.
The state of New Jersey is bankrupt. They are doing anything they can to squeeze tax dollars out of citizens. This is unfortunate but true. My suggestion is that you move from the state like New Jersey that has high income, sales and use and property taxes.
I hope this helps!
Ron Cappuccio
http://www.TaxEsq.com