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Non-Tech : CompUSA (CPU) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: McNabb Brothers who wrote (921)	12/28/1998 11:08:00 PM
From: Scotsman	Respond to of 3187

This tax issue is really a problem. The federal government has been wrestling with legislation on and off to require all state taxes to be paid regardless of where the product is shipped from. I know that when I bought my Dell, I had to pay SC sales tax. They even provided a table for me to use to estimate it. However, some off-brand companies don't charge it. I don't know if I would order a computer if I had a CPU nearby. When I lived in Texas, I lived in the middle of nowhere. So I ordered my first computer. When it arrived, the video card failed. I had to send it back and wait until the new one arrived, not to mention I didn't know jack about computers than and didn't like having to open it up and plug it in. I would have much preferred to go to a store where I could see what I was buying and talk to someone, even if I had to pay a little more. I can't help thinking that with this proliferation of cheap PC's, this still holds for the novice purchaser.

To: McNabb Brothers who wrote (921)	12/29/1998 12:40:00 AM
From: Doug Fowler	Respond to of 3187

They are not required to collect the tax unless they have employees working in the state into which the computer is sold. Gateway is large enough that I would imagine they have employees in every state. If you go to the PC Connection site, you will see that they charge sales tax only on Ohio. They also operate in New Hampshire, but there is no sales tax in New Hampshire. On the other hand, as a buyer, you are supposed to claim it on your state tax return, but a very small percentage of people make the claim.