What happens if I purchase online from a company with a corporate presence in my state on tax-free weekend?

Question

What happens if I purchase online from a company with a corporate presence in my state on tax-free weekend?

Answer 1

You will have to place the order by calling and talking to a representative and having them manually override the sales tax.  Make sure you have a copy of your state's rules on which types of products qualify on hand when you call so that if the company argues with you, you will have the correct information to give them.

Most of the sales free weekends do apply to purchases made from online vendors as long as the product qualifies under your state's tax free rules and the transaction takes place on the correct dates.  However, the online vendors (particularly the smaller ones) aren't going to bother reprogramming all of their systems to identify which states and which weekends and which products.  If you want the tax exemption, it will be your responsibility to call and ask for it.

Answer 2

We went through this last year when we made a purchase online from Best Buy . . . they charged the 5% tax that I would usually pay in MA and then I received a credit back for it a few weeks later . . .

I would contact the customer service people for the retailer and ask.