Sales tax and coupons

[flyvanguard]

I'm posting in this forum so that all couponers can read it ...

If you live in a state that does NOT charge tax on coupons but you shop at a store that is doing it anyway ... report it!

Courthouse News Service I shop at Home Depot with coupons sometimes and they ALWAYS charge tax on the coupons even though the state of MO says they are not suppose to. I've written them letters and even written to the MO Attorney General. Now there is a class action suit ... maybe they'll listen and STOP charging tax. Email me if you'd like to chat about it. Especially if you live in CT, MA, PA, or TX and have shopped there and they have charged you tax!

Thanks ~ Sandy

[434Teresa]

My store dont charge tax on the coupon. They charge tax on the item before the coupon amount comes off.. Since we pay tax on food and non food items I would think they are doing the right thing plus the coupons say that the user has to pay any tax.

The coupons are a discount from the maker which means that the store will only get the coupon amount back not the tax amount. The store still made the same amount on the item so the tax is the same they just get part of the money from me and part from the maker of the item. It dont change the tax amounts at all that they have to turn into the state.

Sandra Barber says Missouri law allows businesses to tax only the sale price paid by the final purchaser, and does not apply to any discounts negotiated between manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers.


Since you are the final purshaser and not a manufacturer, retailers and wholesalers I would think that the stores is right. The stores asking price is the sale price you the purchaser is paying the maker is just helping you pay for it and they do say you have to pay any tax right there on the coupon.

[vickib50]

Here in Tennessee, we pay tax on food. I've noticed lately, though, that it has been hit-or-miss when the total shows a lesser amount of tax than before the coupons. I don't know if there's a glitch in the computer system where I've shopped or what the explanation might be. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. Even if it's a savings of a few cents, remember, what ol' Ben Franklin said. "If you take care of your pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves." (Something like that.)

[CW&M Mom]

My store dont charge tax on the coupon. They charge tax on the item before the coupon amount comes off.. Since we pay tax on food and non food items I would think they are doing the right thing plus the coupons say that the user has to pay any tax.

The coupons are a discount from the maker which means that the store will only get the coupon amount back not the tax amount. The store still made the same amount on the item so the tax is the same they just get part of the money from me and part from the maker of the item. It dont change the tax amounts at all that they have to turn into the state.

Sandra Barber says Missouri law allows businesses to tax only the sale price paid by the final purchaser, and does not apply to any discounts negotiated between manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers.


Since you are the final purshaser and not a manufacturer, retailers and wholesalers I would think that the stores is right. The stores asking price is the sale price you the purchaser is paying the maker is just helping you pay for it and they do say you have to pay any tax right there on the coupon.

Missouri taxes post coupon. So after all discounts, coupons ect have come off then they tax..so you can literally get things completely free...done it many many times.

Here is a link to the full quote (it helps to see the full quote: taxes before coupons/ against the law if retailers does this - Topix I tried to just copy and paste but it comes over kind of crazy..so I'll just do it this way.


Consumers in Missouri have filed a class action lawsuit against Home Depot alleging, among other things, that Home Depot violates state law by collecting sales tax on purchases that involve coupons, imposing a sales tax based on the full retail price of the item purchased, even when the price paid by consumer may be substantially less than the full retail price.

According to the Home Depot sales tax class action lawsuit, Missouri law mandates that the “tax shall only apply to the sale price paid by the final purchaser and not to any off-invoice discounts or other pricing discounts or mechanisms negotiated between manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.”

Coupon sales qualify as “pricing discounts,” and therefore sales tax should not be collected by retailers for the amount discounted by the coupon and not paid by the consumer, the Home Depot sales tax class action lawsuit states.

“Home Depot charges this excess sales tax unlawfully and in violation of the express statutory prohibition against the applicability of sales tax to discounts,” the class action lawsuit continues.

The Home Depot sales tax class action lawsuit is brought on behalf of all persons and entities who, between August 28, 2007 and the present, made a purchase from any Home Depot located in Missouri, where a coupon or other pricing discount was part of the transaction, and who were assessed sales tax upon the discounted portion of the purchase price.

It is seeking class certification; damages in the amount of monies paid as unlawfully collected sales taxes; actual damages, statutory damages, and other such relief; pre- and post-judgment interest; restitution, and more.

[flyvanguard]

Thanks for the replies ... 434 ~ The amount of tax in my state (MO) is only on the amount paid. So, if I start off with $10 and have $5 in coupons I (AND the store) only pay tax on $5 (total minus coupons). It's very clear in the MO statues. Home Depot, however, was AND STILL IS charging on the original total amount. If you originally get $4 of Mr. Clean products and have $4 in coupons Home Depot is charging .30 - TAX. The amount is very low and certainly not going to break me but if our state's tax law says to ONLY charge on the amount paid then that's the amount I want to pay. For them to continue to charge the tax when the statute says otherwise and even after the MO AGO sent a letter makes them totally in the wrong! Sandy