How much is Blue Nile sales tax for its diamonds and other jewelries? Do you really have to pay the tax? Find out about this and much more in the article that follows.
Are you wondering if you will be asked to part with some money in the name of sales tax if you buy your favorite jewelry from Blue Nile?
Read on, we have the answer.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to save money when buying jewelry from Blue Nile. We’ll also let you in on:
- Does Blue Nile charge sales tax on their jewelry?
- If Blue Nile charges sales tax, how much will you pay?
- The easiest way to by-pass sales tax when buying jewelry from Blue Nile
- Is it legal to avoid paying sales tax?
All these questions are answered in this guide.
Does Blue Nile Charge Sales Tax?
Blue Nile charges sales tax on most of the jewelry in its collection. The amount of tax collected depends on the state where the customer is located.
This being the case, it is possible that your friends or family may pay a completely different amount of sales tax for the same piece of jewelry bought from Blue Nile if they live in a different state.
States charge different sales tax rates. This explains why Blue Nile sales tax is not uniform for all customers.
For instance, if you live in Washington, D.C., your sales tax will be 6% of your order. For a similar order made from New Hampshire, the customer will not pay any sales tax on the order.
Blue Nile is a jewelry store that runs its operations online. Sales taxes are usually decided upon based on the place where the order is being made from rather than the location of a store selling jewelry.
Calculating Blue Nile Sales Tax on Jewelry
Blue Nile calculates sales tax based on the state where a customer is when placing an order. This is why the tax charges may vary from one state to another.
At the time of writing, Blue Nile charges taxes for jewelry ordered from the following states:
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During check out, you can estimate the amount you are likely to be charged as sales tax. For example, if you enter a 20001 ZIP code, Washington DC, you will be charged 6% of the total cost of the items in the cart. On the other hand, if you enter a ZIP code in Arkansas, the sales tax will be 6.5%.
To know the specific amount you will pay, or to calculate the sales tax for your state, you can use the sales tax estimator s found at the checkout area of the shopping cart. If you wish to calculate that amount manually, you need to know your state’s tax rate.
Let’s use a tax rate of 6% to make a sales tax approximation.
If we order items worth $400, we shall take the 6% tax rate and multiply by the total cost ($400), which is 6% x 400.00. In this case, the tax rate would be $24.
Another easier way of calculating sales tax is by using $100.
While still using a cart that totals $400 and the same tax rate of 6%, it means you will pay $6 for every $100 that you spend. This method is used to calculate different sales tax quickly.
For example, for $400, the sales tax is $24. If your cart was $1000, the charge would be $60. A total of $1500 would attract $90 in tax sales, and so on.
Can You By-Pass Sales Tax at Blue Nile?
Most probably you can.
While more states are implementing legislation to impose sales tax on jewelry, it is still possible to buy jewelry from Blue Nile tax-free.
One great way to avoid paying sales tax is to move to a state that does not currently require Blue Nile to charge taxes for jewelry. The following states do not charge taxes on jewelry. However, keep in mind that the list can change at any time:
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If you do not live in any of these states, you can contact a family member or friend that lives in one of the states to place the order on your behalf. Once the jewelry reaches them, they can ship it to you.
If you do not reside in any of the tax-free states nor don’t you have family or friends in those states, consider setting up a temporary mailing address in one of the states. You can then have the jewelry shipped to you, provided the billing address is in one of the states listed above.
One of the companies that offers temporary mailing addresses is dash. (with imaege).
However, you need to look at the savings you are likely to make. This is very important if you are buying expensive jewelry. The savings may be more than the cost of setting up a billing address in another state.
You can also use services that order and ship jewelry for you. However, you will need to pay for shipping. If you decide to go this route, be wary of the company you choose. Most of such services have been proven to be scams. Therefore, we don’t recommend this option.
Can You Avoid Sales Taxes Legally?
There is no law that compels customers to pay sales taxes on jewelry items. The laws apply to jewelry stores and vendors.
In this case, Blue Nile is legally required to collect taxes for jewelry bought from them by customers located in any of the states that charge jewelry duty.
Sometimes, Blue Nile is required by law to remit taxes later on if, for some reason, a customer who is part of tax regulation is found to have made a lot of purchases that avoided sales taxes. This means that Blue Nile will take up the responsibility of passing the said charges to other customers.
The truth is: laws keep changing. Therefore, jewelry customers should stop trying all means to avoid the law in a bid to save some bucks. In most cases, avoiding tax sales to save some money ends up being costly than the amount saved.
Tax Collection Laws Still Under Discussion
The regulations in use today in the states that charge sales tax came as a result of a decision that was made by the Supreme Court in June, 2018. This decision required that online jewelry sellers collect sales duties from the people that buy jewelry from them.
However, it is imperative to understand why the tax rate is different in various states and why the laws are subject to changes in the future.
After the Supreme Court decision, most states revised their regulations to require online jewelry retailers to collect sales taxes on the orders they get from the said states. Regardless of this, major online retailers moved to court to challenge the Supreme Court ruling.
Blue Nile is one of the large online jewelry sellers that were among the first to implement the sales tax collection requirement of various states. The company has since continued to add states to their list of tax-compulsory states. This is viewed in two ways: as good business practice on their part or as a blow to their customers.
The issue of sales taxes involves not only collecting sales taxes but also remitting the collected amounts to the relevant states. These amounts vary state from state and are often remitted at different times. This seems more like too much bookkeeping activities for online stores, especially large retailers. Blue Nile and other online jewelry stores should be applauded for stepping forward to comply with the new regulations.
Final Say
The information in this guide is up to date at the time of publishing. However, it is good to appreciate that these regulations are currently being reviewed in some states and that some jewelry stores are challenging the Supreme Court ruling. Therefore, the information is likely to change at any time.
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