Tax Obligations for Antminer S9 Owners

Hey everyone, I need some help! Last spring, I bought 10 Antminer S9s and paid the import duties, but now I just got a notice from my state tax office saying I owe a 6% use tax. I'm in Pennsylvania, US. Has anyone else dealt with this? Do I really have to pay it? What should I do about this situation? Any suggestions would be awesome. Thanks!

Maxwell34 the 6% is Pennsylvania state sale tax. Pennsylvania law requires the payment of use tax by any person who purchases taxable goods or services delivered into or used in Pennsylvania if sales tax is not collected by the vendor. Use tax is the counterpart of the state and local sales taxes. After the latest Supreme Court ruling regarding "Internet Sales Tax" in June 2018, a number of states tax authorities are trying to get their hand in the cookie jar ahead of their congress to ratifying or amending state law. You can try to appeal the ruling from the state tax office by using the "Manufacturing and Processing Equipment" clause dealing with items and services would remain exempt from Pennsylvania's sales tax law under Gov. Tom Wolf's 2015 budget. Note: We had to appeal a similar tax order in Kentucky and won. http://www.revenue.pa.gov/generaltaxinformation/tax%20types%20and%20information/sut/usetax/pages/default.aspx I hope this helps,   /s TuffToad

Pay it. If your state requires sales tax on out-of-state purchases and the vendor does not collect it when you paid then you are supposed to declare it come tax time. What nailed you was the import duty collection. All imports are duty free up to $2500, after that CBP collects Duty -- and reports to your state what was imported and the value of it. MI got me twice before I found what the Duty-free limit is.

"6% is Pennsylvania state sale tax" That is VERY LOW....Canada is 15% and most of western Europe is 20-25%

Yes  they can go after  you as  it is taxable under  their state sales tax law.

Is is true still that under $2,500 is duty free?  Or is the De Minimis now $800?  Thinking of getting some AntMiner S9 units now that the price came down, but if the limit is $800, I'll just get two of the September delivery at $310 each, rather than either higher quantity or the more expensive one week delivery ones. Also, is there a minimum time I would need to wait to order two more?  (assuming keeping it under $800 is a worthwhile goal)  Or I could just do another order the day after, and as long as they ship separately, I'm good?  (or do they accumulate your 30-day, etc., import history, and tax for all of it on the second shipment in 30 or x number days?) This seemed like the best thread with previous respondents to ask this in.  Will also probably ship to PA, as the one person mentioned.  If I will have to pay 28% + 6% no matter what, I might reconsider.

Only way to handle it now is by only paying the taxes of course. It's either settle with them with a price or outright pay the originally stated tax obligation either way you need to pay in both scenarios. You are also lucky that it's only 6% and not only that it's not like your income tax where you pay annually on a regular basis it's just one time after you have bought it. I know that these kinds of tax obligations gives you a certain time to reply and if I were you I wont let the time to run out.

Thanks... However... are you in the U.S.?  The only kinds of taxes (on goods) here that are recurring are property taxes or perhaps luxury taxes in some states. From what I read, there is the "De Minimis" threshold of $800.  There is also the $2,500 threshold where you need to provide tax id number.  I am just not understanding if neither of those apply anymore?  So even a $100 overseas shipment incurs import tax? I've read on other gear forums when people import, that, when FedEx sends the broker's fee for import, they simply never pay it, and never hear anything else on the matter.  (I.e., they probably don't go to bat on collecting unless it's high dollar amounts.)  So maybe this is a moot point on a smaller purchase.  But if it incurs the China tax, that's a big one, of course.  (and makes the purchase not worthwhile at all) @philipma1957 - I see you were active in this thread - you seem to do this on a regular basis and probably did so recently - I summon thee!

That's weird I have seen a more recent case here in this section and he only had taxes when he sold his imported miners to others but not for the use of it. The sales tax involved in the state was not necessary when he was just using it and it only came when he resold it. Are you missing something with your story or are you talking about a different tax involve? Because taxes on imported goods should be only paid by the seller and not by the user. I know this is an old thread but I hope the OP updates us about his current situation.

I ended up going used, still had to pay sales tax but at least not the 30% import tax.  Pretty sure with Trump tax that they'd be sure to collect on China imports.  (no chance of getting lucky and not getting a bill for it) And by the way, you're not correct - taxes on imported goods are ALWAYS paid by the recipient/buyer.  It's only if it's a return item or something like that you can get around it, like someone is returning something you sold and shipped out of country (or if you're licensed as a repair shop and someone is sending you something to get fixed, and you're sending it back). Same goes for sales tax - you owe it even if it's not collected, unfortunately.  It's the opposite - you owe it if it's for personal use; if you're a wholesaler, then you can get around it if you show the chain of custody to another wholesaler.  (Varies state by state probably on the exact implementation... since it is "state" sales tax after all... )