3 Points:
1. Internet sales companies that have an arm of their organization set up in another state are required to collect sales tax in that state. Perhaps HSN has some part of their organization operating in New York.
2. Some organizations that have grown very large (like Dell computers), charge sales tax in all 50 states. This seems to only apply to very large organizations, and perhaps HSN may come under that ruling too.
3. In all truthfulness --- everyone is "supposed" to pay sales tax on every purchase they make that would be taxable, regardless of whether the merchant charged it or not. So for example, if you purchased a product from another state, technically you're supposed to set aside and pay that sales tax to your state. Now we all know that most folks don't do this. But if your state was to ever perform a tax audit on you, you would be obligated to pay that tax plus penalties. I know someone this happened to once.
At this point in time, Excellent Supply, as well as most other small e-commerce companies, are not required to charge sales tax in states outside of the state where they're located. Of course legislators lay awake at night trying to dream up new ways to extract taxes, so anything can change with the drop of a hat. And I imagine that the time may come when a tax code may be implemented that would apply to all merchants for internet sales in all states. But for now at least, nothing has changed.
Rick Gelinas
