No one likes to pay taxes. I most certainly don’t.
A few days ago I was shopping for a new Macbook Pro; right now is a great time to buy because both Apple and its resellers are running back to school specials. The 2019 edition 15-inch Macbook Pro I’m currently typing on is being discounted by $200 dollars everywhere, which is quite significant. Be that as it may, it’s still an over two thousand dollar machine, so to maximize the possible savings, I looked to avoid paying the relatively hefty sales tax on top of it.
B&H is my go-to for this sort of thing: it’s the place to purchase high-dollar electronics and not have to pay tax. I’ve bought nearly 10 grand worth of items from them over the years, which amounts to plenty of savings (or dodging, if you’re the IRS). So it was to my utter surprise when I was all ready to click ‘buy’ on the Macbook Pro at B&H a few days ago and saw that CA tax is now being collected. Apparently some recent Supreme Court decision is forcing the company’s hand.
Which is a shame because now that B&H no longer carries a no sales tax advantage, I almost have no reason to buy from them over the king of online retailing: Amazon. Indeed, Jeff Bezos’ company charges sales tax as well (though I’m old enough to remember a time when Amazon didn’t; truly the good old days), but compared to B&H, it offers faster shipping (free two day shipping with my Prime account), and more importantly I get 5% cash-back using the Chase Amazon card. The combination of least expensive and quickest shipping is too difficult to ignore, even though B&H is a small business I really would like to support.
But, I would say I’ve already paid enough taxes this year: the tax bill on the Porsche GT3 was immense indeed. You’re welcome, San Francisco.
Together we’ll go far.