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A local FFL has told me that, if I purchase a new firearm from an on-line dealer in another state and have it shipped to him for the paperwork, that he must charge sales tax on the purchase price of the firearm. This contradicts everything I have ever heard. I must admit, though, that this is the first time I've ever gotten any opinion on this from an FFL.

Any sources for relevant law would be much appreciated.

I have bought 2 gun online and had shipped to a FFL here and did not pay sales tax. Although I am not FFL.

I have only paid sales tax on the transfer charge, which seems reasonable to me.

My FFL doesn't not charge tax on guns bought out of state.

Chas.

The purchase price is not part of the dealer's business, nor is it any of his business what you paid.

I pay a transfer fee, and that's it. Since your FFL wouldn't have these transfers listed as purchases and sales in his business accounting system, I suspect he doesn't intend to send to Austin any "sales tax" he might collect.

Sounds like a handy way to charge you a backdoor commission of 8.25%, right into his pocket.

Kevin

My FFL told me to pay for the gun over the phone with a credit card, because if he ordered it and paid for it - and I paid him for it - he would have to charge me tax, since he would actually be the one selling it to me.

As long as I paid the out-of-state seller, and my FFL just did the transfer, he only charged for the transfer, and no sales tax.

Regards,
Andrew

KB is correct. A business can only collect sales tax on his sales or services, not those of others.

If he tried that, I would report him to the State Comptroller.

txinvestigator wrote:KB is correct. A business can only collect sales tax on his sales or services, not those of others.

If he tried that, I would report him to the State Comptroller.

This is how I understood the law, but I don't know where to begin looking to prove it.

Heck, maybe I shouldn't even bother. There are other FFL's to deal with. Even if I pay $20-25 more for the transfer itself somewhere else, I'll be saving $25+ overall by not having to tack on the sales tax afterward. And I have a good relationship with this FFL for other things, so I don't want to screw that up over whether or not I owe him sales tax.

I voted. I like to keep everthing as simple as possible.

txinvestigator wrote:KB is correct. A business can only collect sales tax on his sales or services, not those of others.

If he tried that, I would report him to the State Comptroller.