Tax-free shopping. Sounds great right? But how can you enjoy the benefits of this?
It’s not as if you can just go online and order products and expect the tax to be taken out of the equation, is it?
Well, yes, it can be as easy as that. If you know how to go about it.
In this article, we will look at how all your online shopping can be sales-tax-free from now on.
So if you are ready, let’s jump to it.
How to access Tax-Free Shopping Online
It all starts with your virtual address.
There are several states within the USA that do require that sales tax be added to products when sold.
These are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.
Essentially, if you purchase a product or service within these states, a sales tax will not be added.
If you have a virtual address in one of these states, you will not be charged sales tax.
So what is sales tax?
Essentially, sales tax is a tax charged by the government on the sales of any products and services.
In states that collect sales tax, you can expect to have between 4% and 10.25% to be added to the sales price of the product or service.
This all goes into the government’s coffers and is an extra expense for you.
How Much Can You Save?
Is it worth jumping through the hoops in order to not pay sales tax?
Definitely. And the benefits go up the more you spend as the tax is based on a percentage.
For example, in a State where sales tax applies, you may have to pay up to 10.25% tax on the product.
That’s over $100 on a $1000 item. Buy a high ticket item in one of the 5 states listed above and you could save hundreds of dollars on sales tax.
- Related Content: Amazon Package Delayed in Transit – Complete Guide 2022
And the virtual address?
The virtual address is what you can obtain if you sign up for a package fowarding company.
Most forwarders know that customers want to leverage tax-free shopping.
To cater to this, they provide a virtual address in the 5 key states: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.
We have written extensively about how to use package forwarders here, and the assisted shopping options here.
However, in short, once you have registered with a package forwarder and obtained a virtual address in a non-sales-tax charging state, you can begin ordering online.
It doesn’t matter where you live. India, England, Germany, Australia, as long as your forwarder is happy to ship to your location, you can start shopping.
Once you find a product you would like to buy from your favorite US eCommerce store, (eBay, Amazon, etc), you go through the ordering process and use your virtual address that the forwarder gave you as the destination address.
This will be sent to the forwarder, they then repackage for international forwarding (if necessary), and will send you the item as per your request with them.
(You do that part from within your package forwarding account, selecting options such as insurance, the carrier to be used and other requirements of the international shipment).
Depending on your location, the item should be with you in a matter of days.
Not only are you gaining access to the larger selection of US online stores, you are also benefiting from tax-free shopping from the relevant state.
How to sign up for a package forwarding service?
Your best course of action is to head to our service reviews section for in-depth information on a number of leading package fowarding services.
Once you find a service that looks to meet your requirements, head to the website and signup.
Many are very easy to use and will even allow you to sign up for free. You only start paying after you begin to forward items via the service.
Final Words
Have fun with it.
Essentially, to begin enjoying sales tax-free shopping you only need a virtual address in an applicable state.
Armed with that through your forwarding company, and you can begin ordering products online and benefiting from those reduced prices.
I’m a 25 year veteran of USPS. I’m retired now, but as the editor of Mailbox Master, I can’t quite remove myself from the carrier industry just yet. 🙂
