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Rock Auto online purchase in Colorado

ramack

ramack

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Last night I added to my cart a few misc. windshield wiper fluid tank parts. I got all the way to the end of the check out and the order was denied. Never had that happen, ended up getting the pieces from Summit.

The message that popped up was that Rock Auto doesn't have a physical present in Colorado and they don't have the means to pay the state and/or local taxes for my purchase.

What's this?????
 
Sounds like some local law in Colorado that prevents online purchases from companies that don't have a physical presence and therefore don't pay state taxes. Probably some half hearted attempt from the state government to make folks buy local and in state. I'm just guessing here though.
 
I am able to buy parts in WY. They have no presence here. Neither does amazon but WY charges sales tax for online purchases without issue. It shouldn't be a problem for rock auto to charge tax and pay the state. Weird.
 
ramack said:
Last night I added to my cart a few misc. windshield wiper fluid tank parts. I got all the way to the end of the check out and the order was denied. Never had that happen, ended up getting the pieces from Summit.

The message that popped up was that Rock Auto doesn't have a physical present in Colorado and they don't have the means to pay the state and/or local taxes for my purchase.

What's this?????
Click to expand...
Communist BS. Thank your recent governors and house...
 
Ebay and Amazon charge me tax now in Texas. Pretty irritated but I knew it was coming. Lots of money left on the table.
 
I'm getting charged taxes for most of my online purchases elsewhere on the web, but this is the first time I've been denied a sale. BS is right!
 
Just had a thought...

During the shipping part of the purchase, I entered my Centennial zip code, the website asked me if I wanted to use Littleton instead of Centennial. I'm wondering if I changed it to Littleton the sale would have gone through. After 20 yrs of Centennial being a municipality, I'm still getting this question for some purchases. Are area was unincorporated Arapahoe County prior to Centennial being formed. Maybe Rock Auto's site just doesn't recognize Centennial as a legitimate municipality?
 
obijuank5 said:
Ebay and Amazon charge me tax now in Texas. Pretty irritated but I knew it was coming. Lots of money left on the table.
Click to expand...

If it’s third party on amazon it’s up to the seller to charge for the tax. For the last couple years the state has started auditing us to make sure we’re paying sales tax for goods bought out of state and online.
 
I believe that the problem could be that some cities have sent notices to online companies, but not all zip codes get caught or something. I tried to order some parts and have them sent to my work in Grand Junction, it was denied like yours. I entered my home address which is a different town and zip code and got the order no problem.

But I still blame the governor and the others in government over in the capital.
 
6872xtc said:
I believe that the problem could be that some cities have sent notices to online companies, but not all zip codes get caught or something. I tried to order some parts and have them sent to my work in Grand Junction, it was denied like yours. I entered my home address which is a different town and zip code and got the order no problem.
Click to expand...

Probably veering off topic, but is there consensus forming that now the individual towns/cities/counties are trying to extract their percentage of a penny tax on each sale, on top of the state level sales tax?
 
dyeager535 said:
Probably veering off topic, but is there consensus forming that now the individual towns/cities/counties are trying to extract their percentage of a penny tax on each sale, on top of the state level sales tax?
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I am not positive if it's that, or Rockauto missed my zip code when they programmed the automated messages. My zip is only different from work by the last 2 digits.
 
I ordered from them a few years ago, no problem. Just tried again a week ago and got your error. This was their response:

Colorado currently has approximately 72 "home rule" jurisdictions. Each one of these has their own tax rates and rules in addition to the state tax. We simply cannot file 73 separate tax returns every month for a single state. We are communicating with your state government to try and work out a solution. RockAuto is in the business of selling parts, but we do not want to knowingly break any tax laws while doing so.

They said I could send it to a friend in a nearby area, outside of my specific location. I'm in the Springs.....but I think areas they could ship to were like: Fountain, Manitou Springs, etc.

Sure is a bummer for sure!
 
Last edited:
In response to the Supreme Court decision (South Dakota v. Wayfair), Colorado now requires online retailers, like RockAuto, to collect sales tax on orders shipped to that state. Your state forbids us to ship orders to some cities (but not all) because we do not have enough accountants to comply with their complicated tax rules.

However, we can still ship your order to any Colorado city that relies on the state to collect its sales tax. Cities that we can ship to are listed on the state website. (Hint: the list of cities with "State-Collected City Sales Tax" starts on page 4). Please consider shipping your order to an alternative address in one of these cities, such as your mechanic, your work, or a friend's house.

Thank you,

Bryan R.
RockAuto Customer Service
 
Utter BS. I figured that was what it was...this state is the same way. That Wayfair decision was horrid.
 
dyeager535 said:
Utter BS. I figured that was what it was...this state is the same way. That Wayfair decision was horrid.
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I'll get a P.O. box in Creede, I don't get there enough.

Sounds like the decision back-fired on the bureaucrats. I don't blame Rock Auto, too much of a PITA.
 
dyeager535 said:
Probably veering off topic, but is there consensus forming that now the individual towns/cities/counties are trying to extract their percentage of a penny tax on each sale, on top of the state level sales tax?
Click to expand...

My in laws own a small business in the mountains west of Colorado Springs. The business is the kind that does work at a person's house, and since they're in a rural area, it isn't uncommon for them to drive 2 or 3 hours and multiple counties away for a job. I remember talking with them some months back about how they were going to have to start collecting tax for the locality they perform the work in, instead of just taxing everything at the rate where their shop is. Sounds like a real pain in the ass for a small business.
 
bigred88 said:
Sounds like a real pain in the ass for a small business.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a pain in the ass for everyone. Who will pay for it? Us as the consumer. "Sure, we'll sell to you/do the job, here is your share of the cost of our additional tax personnel we had to hire to accomplish that".

I'm not sure how this is going to end, if there is a list of zip codes that charge X tax, there is no reason such a list couldn't be used to ensure products banned in that locale can't be sold there via online order, either. And/or, prosecute those who have acquired those products in violation of such local bans.
 
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