Overcharge Sales Tax

[bigefrom84]

I recently bought some golf balls for exactly $20.00 at one of the championship course, the sales tax came to $1.41 instead of the $1.40 it should have been. I checked a couple of other charges and they also were 1 cent over what they should be. Now if they do 1,000,000 transactions a year, that would be $10,000 dollars of extra sales tax they are collecting. I would be interested in other peoples experience in this manner, before i take this matter to the state.

[Jayhawk]

I recently bought some golf balls for exactly $20.00 at one of the championship course, the sales tax came to $1.41 instead of the $1.40 it should have been. I checked a couple of other charges and they also were 1 cent over what they should be. Now if they do 1,000,000 transactions a year, that would be $10,000 dollars of extra sales tax they are collecting. I would be interested in other peoples experience in this manner, before i take this matter to the state.


1 million transactions in a year would be 1 sale rung up every 12 seconds, all day long, 365 days in a row.

Not the best use of your time to chase this down, in my opinion.

[BogeyBoy]

Okay, try this one. Sales tax in Marion County is 6%, Sumter and Lake Counties are 7%. So if you bought the golf balls at Havana they should cost more than at Lopez.

[Warren Kiefer]

1 million transactions in a year would be 1 sale rung up every 12 seconds, all day long, 365 days in a row.

Not the best use of your time to chase this down, in my opinion.

You are assuming only limited cash registers, how about a thousand businesses with two cash registers each. I wouldn't be surprised if a single WalMart does a million sales a year.

[Carl in Tampa]

In the past the State has been very active in trying to assure that people making retail purchases are protected from overcharges of this sort.

It may involve a minor glitch in the software of the cash register, or it could be deliberate with the overcharge not going to the State but into the pocket of the retailer.

I doubt that it involves great sums of money, but there is no reason to neglect correcting the problem.

I would point it out to the retailer, not to get the penny but to see if he corrects the problem. If subsequent purchases show that it is not corrected I would report it to the state.

[Ron1Z]

I live in a state that has no sales tax. It is very odd for me when visiting other states and paying exact amount and then finding out it costs more because of the tax.

[mulligan]

What did the golf shop manager say about it ?

[BogeyBoy]

This got me to thinking so I checked some old receipts -

When I played golf at Havana the receipt shows a sales tax of 7%.

When I played golf at Lopez the receipt shows a sales tax of 6.05%. (I also rented a cart that day which may have confused the issue. The receipt shows golf 33.00, cart 9.43, sales tax 2.57.)

In both of these cases the bottom line always comes out to even money.

Here is the more interesting part. Different courses have different rates. All of the sales receipts come out even money, $29.00, $36.00, $34.00, etc. But if you take the base amount and multiply by .07 the tax is off by a penny or two.

Hacienda Hills 27.09, tax should be 1.90, receipt shows 1.91

Mallory Hills 31.76, tax should be 2.22, receipt shows 2.24

Havana 33.63, tax should be 2.35, receipt shows 2.37

Glenview 32.69, tax should be 2.29, receipt shows 2.31

I'm not going to dig through any more receipts but you get the idea.

I will be interested to see what the OP finds when he goes to the state. Do they submit the excess they charge or pocket the money?

[BarryRX]

When I first read this post I just assumed that the "real" sales tax was probably something like 7.125 instead of 7, but it isn't. Florida charges 6% and Sumter charges 1% for a total of exactly 7%. Now I'm curious as to what the explanation will turn out to be.

[JP]

When I first read this post I just assumed that the "real" sales tax was probably something like 7.125 instead of 7, but it isn't. Florida charges 6% and Sumter charges 1% for a total of exactly 7%. Now I'm curious as to what the explanation will turn out to be.

Me too. Something's up.

Of course, this is illegal and should be stopped.

The money is going somewhere, either to the golf shop owner(TV) or the state of Florida.

[buggyone]

Why even take the time and electrons to quibble about a penny? Most people do not bend down to pick up a penny on the ground. The penny is going to sales tax so that will benefit Florida residents in some manner.

Those extra pennies you would not stoop to pick up may help a needy person have food or housing.

[BogeyBoy]

Why even take the time and electrons to quibble about a penny? Most people do not bend down to pick up a penny on the ground. The penny is going to sales tax so that will benefit Florida residents in some manner.

Those extra pennies you would not stoop to pick up may help a needy person have food or housing.

How could you possibly know that the money is going to the state? Companies are supposed to report gross sales and pay tax on that amount, which in this case would be the lower amount. (The examples cited show more collected than owed.)

In 2010 (figure I could find easily) there were over 700,000 rounds of championship golf played here. At 1 or 2 cents per round that is not just pennies on the ground, it is thousands of dollars.

[theorem painter]

Why even take the time and electrons to quibble about a penny? Most people do not bend down to pick up a penny on the ground. The penny is going to sales tax so that will benefit Florida residents in some manner.



I know when I fill out my sales tax forms in New York the amount I pay is based on my sales, not the exact amount I collected in sales tax. If a merchant is rounding up, even by a penny or two, it would be going in their pocket, not to the state.

[buggyone]

How could you possibly know that the money is going to the state? Companies are supposed to report gross sales and pay tax on that amount, which in this case would be the lower amount. (The examples cited show more collected than owed.)

In 2010 (figure I could find easily) there were over 700,000 rounds of championship golf played here. At 1 or 2 cents per round that is not just pennies on the ground, it is thousands of dollars.

The amount of sales tax is shown on your receipt and that is what is shown on the books and what is collected by the state.

I have wasted more than a penny worth of electrons here. Have fun finding out where your penny went.

[BogeyBoy]

The amount of sales tax is shown on your receipt and that is what is shown on the books and what is collected by the state.

I have wasted more than a penny worth of electrons here. Have fun finding out where your penny went.

I have owned a company in Florida that collected sales tax. I paid tax on the gross amount of sales - not on what was collected. If I sold $100,000 worth of goods the state honestly does not care what tax I collected, I owe tax on the $100,000 of sold goods.

Take it one step further - if I only collected 3% and that is what is on the books do you think the state would be happy?

[Bogie Shooter]

This thread gets better every day. The Developer is now stealing tax money from you and me and the state of Florida.
If the OP would have just asked the manager of the pro shop about the tax issue...................would there even have been a posting on TOTV?
Most likely the same software is being used at all the CC, so one fix would fix all.
Say the manager just didn't respond. Call Golf Club Administration. No response.........call the State sales tax office.
Sometimes we have to take the initiative ourselves rather that seeking someone else to handle the issue.

Reading post #5 would also be helpful to OP.

[ilovetv]

This thread gets better every day. The Developer is now stealing tax money from you and me and the state of Florida.
If the OP would have just asked the manager of the pro shop about the tax issue...................would there even have been a posting on TOTV?
Most likely the same software is being used at all the CC, so one fix would fix all.
Say the manager just didn't respond. Call Golf Club Administration. No response.........call the State sales tax office.
Sometimes we have to take the initiative ourselves rather that seeking someone else to handle the issue.
Reading post #5 would also be helpful to OP.

And that, in bold/yellow above, is the heart of the accusations.

[Bogie Shooter]

[quote=ilovetv;868448]And that, in bold/yellow above, is the heart of the accusations.[/quot

Thats my point...............accusations.

[dbussone]

I live in a state that has no sales tax. It is very odd for me when visiting other states and paying exact amount and then finding out it costs more because of the tax.


Does your state have an income tax? Many states have both.

[skyguy79]

Personally, I don't care if the merchant makes an extra penny or two on a transaction. Why you ask? Well, IIRC the merchant needs to undergo the expense of collecting the taxes and filing the reports to the taxing authorities. In addition, who knows just how much they lose in sales when they must collect taxes and are disadvantaged by the ability of the consumer to make purchases through the mail or online where no tax is due! You may say that they make up any losses by raising the prices of the goods to compensate for any loss, but that's not necessarily true if they need to hold back to remain competitive. So as I said, I don't care if they get a penny or two from me!

[ilovetv]

personally, i don't care if the merchant makes an extra penny or two on a transaction. Why you ask? Well, iirc the merchant needs to undergo the expense of collecting the taxes and filing the reports to the taxing authorities. In addition, who knows just how much they lose in sales when they must collect taxes and are disadvantaged by the ability of the consumer to make purchases through the mail or online where no tax is due! you may say that they make up any losses by raising the prices of the goods to compensate for any loss, but that's not necessarily true if they need to hold back to remain competitive. So as i said, i don't care if they get a penny or two from me!

bravo!!!

[cliffj]

Did this get resolved?