Starting September 15 Californians and Pennsylvanians will have to start paying sales tax on Amazon purchases

Listen up Amazon junkies. Starting September 15, Amazon purchases are about to get a whole lot more expensive for customers living in California and Pennsylvania. That’s because Amazon has agreed to start collecting sales tax for these two states.

This means that you better bulk up on online goods now if you want to save money.

For shoppers in these states, sales tax amounts to no inconsiderable sum. Californians pay somewhere in the neighborhood of 7.25% – 9.75% of sales tax on purchases. Pennsylvania residents, in contrast pay about 8% in sales tax.

One of Amazon’s great advantages over its brick and mortar competitors used to be its lack of sales tax, which made its goods considerably cheaper. It used to pay sales tax only in the states where it had a physical presence, such as a distribution warehouse. But over the last few years, the trend has been a new willingness on the part of Amazon to cut deals with states and start collecting sales tax. Continue reading “Amazon to Collect California Sales Tax”

The IRS, in a shockingly forward facing-move, began the switch from paper forms to e-file years ago. This move is incredibly savvy on their part–it makes sure that people who aren’t inclined to do forms can still file their taxes (thus increasing the money they get) and it makes processing a lot easier for them. Win-win. Unfortunately, it’s a lot harder to file state income taxes online.

Harder, but not impossible, of course. Here are some ways you can do it: Continue reading “Can I File State Income Taxes Online?”