Additional taxes and fees for GP items sold at SARALAND AL

[Trailboss]

Just bought a shelter at GP in Saraland AL (my first GP purchase in AL) and was surprised at the additional taxes incurred.

Buyers transaction fee - 10%
State sales tax - 4%
County sales tax - 1.5%
City sales tax - 4.5%
New credit card fee - 2.95%

So the item you bid on for $1000 will cost an additional 23 % or $230.

Not much we can do about it, just be aware of the true total cost before you bid.

 

[FloridaAKM]

The credit card fee showed it ugly head a few months ago & is across the board for all GP sites. Another way to get more money from us. The GP site here has quit offering anything but junque for the last few months, so I am saving a lot of cash lately.

 

[Green Mountain Boys]

I have owned my own business for nearly 30 years and make monthly sales tax payments so I have some experience with sales tax.
Prior to bidding I carefully read all of the information on GP's website about the fees and taxes.

I purchased a truck from GP 18 months ago. It was my first and only purchase from GP. The invoice I received from GP showed an overcharge for sales tax. I attempted to get GP to correct their invoice to reflect the correct sales tax. I made many phone calls to GP and to a couple to the Department of Revenue in the state where the sale was taking place. The man from the Department of Revenue was even willing to talk to GP's tax department but GP declined. Even though I could show GP in writing the sales tax I was being charged was wrong and excessive they would not correct it. They did offer to void the sale and put the item back up for auction or I could pay the invoice with the excess sales tax, and after the vehicle was registered, and I showed them that I paid less sales tax to register the truck, would they refund the excess amount. I chose to complete the sale, pay the full invoice from GP and then register the truck (paying the correct sales tax in full) then send in the proof of correct tax payment to GP. Then wait.... about a month or maybe a little more. Only then did I get a check for a full refund from GP for the sales tax I paid to them. It is possible to not pay the sales tax in full a second time to your state Department of Motor Vehicles if you request the "proof of sales tax paid form" from GP. I forget what the form is called officially. You must request this from GP because they do not send it automatically.
What I learned from this (and what GP never was willing to admit) is that GP will charge you every possible tax that could possibly be applied to the sale so that they could never be found to have failed to collect sufficient sales tax. If they failed to collect the sufficient sales tax then they would owe not only the balance due, but also fees and interest. So they seem to be excessively cautious and charge any and every conceivable tax weather it applies or not. If you buy a vehicle and pay the GP invoice and then register the vehicle you can jump through the hoops and get back any excess payment. However, if you do not register the vehicle or you purchase merchandise from GP then I am not sure how you can get back any excess payment of taxes. I wonder what happens to all that excess tax revenue that is collected by GP but not refunded?

 

[simp5782]

You just simply need to supply a bill of lading to govplanet to show that the item was shipped out of state to you if you are an individual to get the state sales tax back. On a vehicle it was happening alot on the trucks out of Texas as they had a high sales tax compared to some states. With a bill of lading supplied it was altered and they paid the sales tax in their respective state when they applied for tags/etc. If their sales tax is lower than your state and you get your tags done they will simply credit it for you at your DMV and pay the difference.

It is the worst of two evils.

if you pick the product/vehicle up yourself. Just simply write up a short form Bill of lading and have the rep sign it at pickup. include the pickup location and your location you live at.

 

[Green Mountain Boys]

I should have added in my post that I was picking up a running vehicle and driving it out of the state it was purchased in (Indiana) and registering it in my state. So there was no bill of lading in this case. Both the folks in the Tax department at GP and the Indiana Department of Revenue (as well as myself) agreed that if the vehicle was picked up and driven out of state then the sale takes place in Indiana. That was not in dispute. Indiana has a very specific tax exemption for vehicles purchased in Indiana and immediately taken out of state to be registered in another state. Indiana only collects the sales tax on the vehicle sale that is due in the registering state provided you remove the vehicle from Indiana within the specified period of time after the sale ( I think it is 30 days). GP told me because I was picking up the vehicle and driving it there was no bill of lading. They did not offer, nor was I aware, of the short form referred to by Simp5782. If this was a viable option I would have thought that one of the many folks I spoke with at GP would have mentioned it because we tried to explore every possible way to get the invoice correct prior to paying it. Or maybe I should say I tried to explore every option. GP was not helpful.

I am sure if I were to charge my customers excess sales tax and then tell them to file some form(s) to get the excess refunded I would be at least heavily fined, sued or worse.