US - VAT when buying a product ?
cgidesign
Posts: 442
in The Commons
Wondering how the VAT in the US works.
Example RTX 4090 FE:
MSRT in the US is: 1599$
in Germany it is: 1949$ (exchange rate $ to € is nearly 1:1 at the moment)
But I read that the US 1599$ are without tax. Does that mean you don't get it for that price but have to add whatever your state is asking as VAT?
If yes, how much % do the states want to have?
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There is no VAT in the US. There is a sales tax rate set by the state/county (or not, as in states like Oregon that have no sales tax). As a foreign customer, you shouldn't have to pay sales tax, but I assume there would be VAT added once it arrives in Europe.
I googled a bit more. As I understand it now, you have state sales tax and local sales tax.
The most high one is Tennessee with 9.47%.
So in Tennessee you would pay 1754$, right? (1599$ plus 155$ tax)
In Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon you pay 1599$ because there are no state or local taxes, right?
In most cases VAT (customer country rate) is charged by seller during checkout when customer is in EU. I think DAZ is supposed to also, and probably will at some point as they are working on coordinating these things globally which probably mean stricter local rules.
When we (in EU) sell stuff outside EU, we don't charge VAT or any other tax the client is paying when buying locally. It's the same when we are buying stuff from suppliers outside EU, they don't charge the EU VAT or their local taxes, but when the stuff comes to us, the Customs charges us the EU VAT.
I don't think that is going to change as it would require a major change in rules concerning international trade.
Yep, VAT is always added once the product comes into EU (same for services like DAZ - they do it automatically via their shop system). For physical goods there are additional charges like custom's service payments etc.
If I take the 1599$ and add the 19% German VAT on top I get 1902$ which is nearly the MSRT here. So, the difference is not by Nvida but by the Geman tax.
Tennessee definitely isn't the highest, because Washington is 10.5%.
Maybe the page I found was not up to date.
I've been charged VAT when checking out a poser store, smaller one, can't remember which.
In the UK some things are zero rated for VAT. It would nice if Nvidia would declare the 4090 to be food or children's clothes.
From what I know (since I'm thinking about expanding my business, I do some general research regarding selling goods online), any company outside of EU selling to the EU customers (B2B is a bit different since it's always the end customer who is hit with the tax) has to charge VAT (EU had put that in place so that sellers outside of EU can't offer lower price just because EU price has VAT added to it). Some sellers might not do that, but technically and legally they should. So the price might look lower, but you might be charged VAT upon checkout. You also might be charged customs duty (for importing something outside of the EU) upon the item arriving to your country (from what I know, the duty-free value of the item is around 100 dollars/euro, and anything above that can be taxed). So, basically, if you are based in EU and you will buy anything anywhere, you will likely be charged applicaple VAT rate.
As for the US sales tax, as far as I know, it's charged like VAT, based on where the customer is based. If you're located in a specific state, you pay their tax (some states have no sales taxes). If you're outside of the US, you don't pay it.
Ontario/Canada sals tax is 13% harmonized on everything except basic food. There is close to 50% taxes on alcohol/tobacco/gasoline
Well there are different rules for selling to companies versus selling to private customers. I believe the changes I talked about are for private customers only, where online sellers globally (e.g. DAZ) are supposed to charge EU VAT for EU customers during checkout. For what I know it has been that way for a long time, but more like an international agreement which hasn't really been enforced very much by countries like the US. If you're a company you can give seller your VAT registration number, then they won't charge you, but then you have to pay the VAT to your local tax authorities yourself, instead.
In any case, it's a ridiculous bureaucracy, even people working with these things professionally often have problems figuring out all the rules, and they keep changing them all the time.
At least when talking about physical items, customs will handle collecting the VAT for private customers as well. I know because customs contacted me when receiving computer hardware from canada.
Yes, if seller hasn't charged it already they do. If they discover it that is, I've had packages from outside EU slip through several times in the past, without being charged customs fee or VAT. That was before internet commerce was as common though, these days they probably check everything, not least because it's become a cash cow for the carriers which are handling this - here in DK they charge a $20+ fee just for handling VAT and custom fees, no matter the value of the goods. You can handle the customs papers yourself if you want to avoid the $20 fee, but it's complex and troublesome, as you have to fill in and deliver the papers in person at a customs center, or something like that.
I was once double charged btw, had ordered some software on DVD from Smith Micro which charged VAT on checkout, then carrier charged VAT too, turned out it was S&M that had charged VAT by mistake, they normally only did that with digital content, not physical goods like DVDs, so they had to refund me.
For physical goods, express delivery may be the magic word, because they do the customs and tax handling (always check specifics for your case).
Concerning 3d-licenses, as a German, AFAIK ~ annual tax declaration. What exactly to declare, and how not to despair... due to the amount of investment i'm going with professional advice there.
If you want to be on the safe side from start, you might ask at the "Finanzamt".