Horizon Charging Sales Tax

[Hugh Wiedman]

Has anybody noticed that Horizon has been charging sales tax on their orders these days, or is it just me. I live in Florida and up until March of this year, no sales tax. Then starting in April they began charging sales tax. No big deal but with their uncooperative attitude with Motion on Spektrum receivers and transmitters has added another nail in the coffin for me regarding Horizon.

[eawings]

Yes and its kiling me being a frequent customer. Tower Hobbies has done the same thing being one company with Horizon. AMAIN Hobbies is doing it too...So that really deters me from putting in an order and finding other resources.

[xviper]

I think the Feds have caught up with them. Takes the onus off the post office or courier to collect the tax. I'll bet there are many times that the post office just let's it go - too much effort to collect it each time. If you live in a state (or outside the USA) that don't have a state tax, I don't think they'll charge it. Where I live, I get all my Horizon stuff through the local hobby shop.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Called them and asked about it and was told this was a new law that went into affect earlier this year that requires them to charge sales tax on internet/online purchases and they're "a little ahead of the game in charging it now".

Supposedly to help the local hobby shops to fairly compete with the big internet sales companies. Have to admit that I'll buy stuff on line to save sales tax so that definitely hurt the local shops in the past, but man, spending another $35 to $40 (7% sales tax) on a new plane ain't something I'm looking forward too. Just bought from Motion last night the F-16 ARF along with the upgraded in-runner and ESC along with some spare parts. Fortunately, no sales tax which saved me $65 bucks.

But it sounds like it's probably coming soon from every on-line major store so maybe I should just buy about 20 new planes right now and save thousands of dollars in tax-at least this is the way my wife would think!

[AirHead]

I think the Feds have caught up with them. Takes the onus off the post office or courier to collect the tax. I'll bet there are many times that the post office just let's it go - too much effort to collect it each time. If you live in a state (or outside the USA) that don't have a state tax, I don't think they'll charge it. Where I live, I get all my Horizon stuff through the local hobby shop.

You're lucky. Alberta has no sales tax. 5% GST. I pay 13% on everything and that's what you get when you live in the city everyone loves to hate....

[markthomps]

Amazon has been charging sales tax for about two years now. Eventually all the shopping sites will be doing it.

[rifleman_btx]

Sales tax seems to be determined on what you buy from Amazon, if the product is in a local warehouse they charge it, at least that has been my experience.

[Skyboom]

May have not done the right thing. I bought an $89.00 rc plane from Banana Hobby, sorry Motion, and all finalized the bill came in just under $200.00. Wow. But being hit with import fees and delivery is costly. Maybe because I live in Canada.

[xviper]

May have not done the right thing. I bought an $89.00 rc plane from Banana Hobby, sorry Motion, and all finalized the bill came in just under $200.00. Wow. But being hit with import fees and delivery is costly. Maybe because I live in Canada.

No maybe about it. I’ve purchased a couple of planes from Banana. No need to be apologetic about it. I buy from where a product appeals to me and where the price is not over the top. I shop around but sometimes, a certain model is only available from a specific seller.
Converting $89.00US to CAN$ is already a 35% penalty. Throw in what your CC charges extra for doing the conversion (+0.25%), you’re already at ~$120.00. Shipping, depending on the size and weight of the box can run another $60.00US or so. Now convert that and if it’s sent via FedEx or UPS, you’ve got brokerage. You’re lucky you got away with under $200.00.
Those tariffs on almost anything arriving from China to a US port has put the brakes on a lot (but not all) of my cross border spending. Sometimes, I just have to have something that is more convenient and timely to get from a US seller.

[Ron1950]

think it was 27 states have sales tax on net sales but seems to be hit and miss with different companies

[akrebirdbe1991]

Guys, this is happening all over again right now, and I want to say it's complete bull****...

[akrebirdbe1991]

Guys, this is happening all over again right now, and I want to say it's complete bull****...

Damn, guys, I forgot to finish it . They take a lot of money signing it with taxes on the sale and it just makes me wonder why this is happening, because this did not happen in the fall. I usually count taxes on the online service for calculating taxes for small businesses , since I recently opened my business and I see on the figures that I am being charged a lot of money. I do not know how to fix it, my business is currently suffering small losses because of this and I hope that after a while it will start to go to zero and then to plus. If you have solved this problem, can you help me, or is it just up to Horizon?

[dahawk]

Not sure if Hobbyzone charges sales tax. I believe they are owned by HH ?

[Gravythe clown]

It’s about to get worse as minimum wage goes up to $15/ hr too. I’m not sure if all employees at LHS get paid $15 or over currently, but any increase there will increase other items as well. I know I have all but stopped eating out (fast food or delivery) because of this. Last night I stopped to get my son something for diner as me and the wife were making something I knew he would not eat. 12” chilly dog, medium tattor totts and drink..... $10.
so yeah since my pay isn’t going up while minimum wage went up, I’ll be making different spending decisions for now on.

Gravy

[MeyerVW]

It's new laws. In california it was nice. As long as I ordered from out of state, no taxes. A few states then decided that all internet orders pay taxes. No matter where the goods are going. This also has happened with ebay.

[juligrat]

Yes. and this is a real theft of our money! Not to say that the amount is large. but it's still unpleasant. At first they promise that there will be no taxes, and then they cheat like this. A nightmare! The payment system is also very complex and incomprehensible. in addition, it is constantly buggy. There are always some mistakes. I'm already tired of paying taxes online! I want the quarantine to end as soon as possible. And this is also taking into account the fact that I was very lucky. I found a website that helped me deal with all the online payments, receipts and other bureaucracy. The name of this site is ThePayStubs. maybe it will be useful to you.

[xviper]

Please enlighten me about why it's considered "theft" or "cheat". Does Horizon keep the money? Or do they send it along to the government? Wouldn't this tax eventually have to be paid to the government anyway?
When I get something imported to me from outside of Canada, either the Post Office or FedEx or UPS collects the federal tax from me AND they charge me a fee for doing it, FedEx and UPS being the highest fees. Post Office, at least, is reasonable with much lower fees. Does Horizon charge you a fee for collecting the tax? If not, can't it be considered a "freebee"? If I buy something online from any vendor within Canada, federal tax is automatically added at check out and becomes part of the total payable. It's been this way for a very long time, ever since the GST was introduced. For those provinces that have their own tax in addition, that becomes yet another line in the check out (unless it's "harmonized"). The real "thief" here is the government, not the vendor. They are and have always been, required by law, to collect it.

[Hugh Wiedman]

When I started this thread back in August 2019, I was just pointing out that HH/Tower were now finally collecting sales tax and expected that MRC would have to follow suit at some point. HH and other internet companies collecting the tax don't get to keep this money for themselves and it goes directly to our incredibly efficient government to use as they see fit stuffing politicians bank accounts, so not blaming HH or other companies.

I am surprised that over 2 years later, MRC has yet to institute the same policy, not that I'm complaining one bit. In those 2 years I've saved more than $500 in sales tax by purchasing MRC products instead of HH, although I still have to purchase some of their stuff (RX/TX mostly). Additionally, the batteries I purchase from SMC/HRB/Roaring Top have yet to charge sales tax as well so that's been a positive. A-Main charges sales tax and so does Amazon, but only on items they get from companies like HH that do charge sales tax, so I've been very rarely charged sales tax with Amazon. If I look at the HH Viper at $600, with tax pushing it to $642 for those of us in the US (and more elsewhere), that's more expensive than the Freewing F-14 (although no RX) or almost as much as the A-10! I like to buy stuff by the price per pound, and that puts the Viper at a cost similar to Filet vs the A10 like ground chuck. And the A-10 ain't ground chuck! I'm just curious how MRC (and many other internet companies I get stuff from) have yet to charge sales tax and they're virtually just down the street from HH/Tower. So whatever MRC is doing or not doing, keep it up as long as possible!

[xviper]

@Hugh Wiedman Hugh, in those cases where you are not charged the tax by the vendor, do you "never" pay the tax at all? Meaning, the shipping company doesn't collect it at the time of delivery? I'm surprised that the "government" allows this income to get away from them. This is the same for me when cross border shopping. If the shipment comes via Post Office, occasionally (but not always), they "rubber stamp" it and it bypasses Canada Customs and no tax or brokerage occurs. This usually depends upon the declared value of the merchandise. In such cases, I consider myself lucky due to having gotten a "freebee". In those cases where they do broker it and it goes through Canada Customs, I don't look at it as "theft" or being cheated. It's just the natural way of things but once in a while, the Customs gods take a nap and they don't see my package go through.

[Hugh Wiedman]

@Hugh Wiedman Hugh, in those cases where you are not charged the tax by the vendor, do you "never" pay the tax at all? Meaning, the shipping company doesn't collect it at the time of delivery? I'm surprised that the "government" allows this income to get away from them.

xviper I actually never pay any tax at all with anything shipped to me from MRC (almost always with free shipping to boot). I do not get charged any tax even from the shipping company, usually FedEx. With batteries that I buy, no taxes collected by anyone from me. And believe me when I buy stuff from Amazon, always free shipping and the majority of stuff I buy, no tax. The only exception with Amazon is stuff that comes from Horizon and a couple other vendors that show they charge tax, but I almost always buy that directly from Horizon and pay them the tax and then get free shipping (on anything over $100 which it always is). And my wife has deliveries from Amazon virtually every day and she almost never pays any tax on her orders. No tax on graphics from Callie or AB's from RC Geek. I did pay $18 in shipping from Hong Kong for the 2 80mm FMS fans for the SU-30 I bought from RC Castle, and possibly some of that went for taxes, but I can't say if any did. I even bought a channel expander on line from Light Systems in the UK and only paid shipping, but who knows if there was any tax collected in there. So I guess I've been unusually lucky so far to date not having to pay for sales tax and duties like a lot of you guys get hit with from other countries. I need to just shut up and count my blessings!