unfair taxing

[Karpo_Diem]

its pretty messed up that in order to buy a $44.99 game i got a $50 steam card which was taxed about $5 at the store. then i go to use it and apparently im .39cents short which means they want another $5 for digital taxes. how is it fair to tax someone $10 for a $45 game.

[Aachen]

Your jurisdiction applies sales tax at POS for gift cards?

[Karpo_Diem]

i guess so i live in BC in Canada

[Aachen]

Regardless, taxes are government policy, so lobby yours if they’re an issue.

Casual google search yields https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/2019/03/do-i-pay-tax-on-a-gift-card/ fWiW.

[Callahan420]

From what i read you are not supposed to being paying tax at purchase, But they can charge an activation fee apparently.

[JVC]

If you think your sales tax is too high, it's 25% in my jurisdiction for pretty much everything except rent. Wanna swap?

[Washell]

Correct, it's messed up, because the store should not have taxed you. Still got the receipt?

[♥♥tutor♥♥tαrα♥♥]

Publicado originalmente por Karpo_Diem:

unfair taxing

its pretty messed up that in order to buy a $44.99 game i got a $50 steam card which was taxed about $5 at the store. then i go to use it and apparently im .39cents short which means they want another $5 for digital taxes. how is it fair to tax someone $10 for a $45 game.

Publicado originalmente por Aachen:

Your jurisdiction applies sales tax at POS for gift cards?

Publicado originalmente por Karpo_Diem:

i guess so i live in BC in Canada

Best Buy was penalized for not charging Provincial Sales Tax on video game gift card sales https://biv.com/article/2021/09/lawsuit-week-bc-governments-reversal-pst-video-game-gift-cards-created-untenable

A few months after that article was published, I saw this post about a Steam user who was not able to find any Steam gift cards in British Columbia https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/4739473745777594969/ and another post about a Steam user in British Columbia who was complaining about being charged PST twice https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/3203748716329770958/

This earlier reddit post complains about being charged PST twice for using a Netflix gift card https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/o29xxt/double_charged_pst_for_netflix_when_using_gift/ and it shows the responses from the Ministry and from Netflix.

The BC government Provincial Sales Tax (PST) Bulletin says,

Prepaid Gift Cards and Gift Certificates

Purchases of prepaid gift cards or gift certificates are not subject to PST as they are
a purchase of store credit a customer may redeem later at a store or online. When
a customer redeems the credit, PST applies to the purchase as if the credit was
cash. PST will apply if the item purchased is subject to PST.

Effective February 23, 2022, the above also applies to prepaid gift cards or gift
certificates used to purchase software or telecommunication services.

If you pay PST on the purchase of a prepaid gift card or gift certificate on or after
February 23, 2022, and then pay PST again at the time you redeem that prepaid
card, you may be eligible for a refund of the PST paid on the purchase of the gift
card or gift certificate. To apply for a refund, complete an Application for Refund –
General (FIN 355) and provide documentation that supports your claim.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/taxes/sales-taxes/publications/pst-105-software.pdf

And here is the included link to the Application for Refund - General (FIN 355) https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/taxes/sales-taxes/forms/fin-355-refund-general.pdf and note that it says,

Generally, a refund application must be received by the ministry within four years from the date the tax was paid. The ministry cannot issue a refund of less than $10.

[Brian9824]

Publicado originalmente por Karpo_Diem:

its pretty messed up that in order to buy a $44.99 game i got a $50 steam card which was taxed about $5 at the store.

Then that store broke the law, as gift cards for Steam should not be taxed when purchased

Publicado originalmente por Karpo_Diem:

then i go to use it and apparently im .39cents short which means they want another $5 for digital taxes.

No, that means that the game cost $50.39 after taxes, so if your only funding method is another $5 gift card then the remaining $4.61 would be in your steam wallet as a remaining balance to use on your next purchase.

[Satoru]

Publicado originalmente por brian9824:

Publicado originalmente por Karpo_Diem:

its pretty messed up that in order to buy a $44.99 game i got a $50 steam card which was taxed about $5 at the store.

Then that store broke the law, as gift cards for Steam should not be taxed when purchased

Publicado originalmente por Karpo_Diem:

then i go to use it and apparently im .39cents short which means they want another $5 for digital taxes.

No, that means that the game cost $50.39 after taxes, so if your only funding method is another $5 gift card then the remaining $4.61 would be in your steam wallet as a remaining balance to use on your next purchase.

Technically the law was weirdly interpreted as Steam cards needing to be taxed in addition to other online services. Meaning you were “correctly” taxes twice as far as the BC govt was concerned . The BC govt even sued BestBuy to make that happen

I “think” the idea was that things like Roblox or Fortnite you could buy their equivalent currency directly as a gift card. Meaning you’d spend say $20 for 1000 Fortnite vbucks but you’d never be taxed on that conversion. Cuz the gift card was not taxed and when redeemed it was viewed as a redemption of vbucks and not taxable

The BC govt somehow decided the way around this was to tax EVERYTHING and let vendors sort it out. That plan went about as well as you’d expect, which is it was a giant cluster that made the consumer responsible for reporting being double taxed

The govt has effectively made double taxation legal by making the process of a refund basically impossible because they won’t issue refunds for less than $10

[TEKnowledgy]

it's our states that pulled the e-taxing 5-6 years ago didn't exist bill was passed when was it 2017 i think it was i can't recall precisely. All 50 states started taxing internet purchases if you buy something buy from European stores i never get taxed or have to pay international fee lol. That international fee maybe a per-bank basis i just know my bank doesn't charge me for international fee. So in other words only way and place you should raise a ruckus is at your state capitol because this is outside of steam/valve's hands. Taxation is theft never forget that.

[my new friend]

Publicado originalmente por TEKnowledgy:

it's our states that pulled the e-taxing 5-6 years ago didn't exist bill was passed when was it 2017 i think it was i can't recall precisely.

Close. 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/us/politics/supreme-court-sales-taxes-internet-merchants.html

[Your Mom's Oshi]

Change your lawmakers or protest double taxation on the same product. The people of BC are to blame for this since they allowed greedy people to have positions of power.

[Ivar]

Its not right to tax someone 10 or 5 $ for a game that cost 45$ I have been ripped of before like that for fall guys and it did not work so I hope steam can fix this problem soon because thats not fair at all

[Spawn of Totoro]

Publicado originalmente por AllhailKingBoo:

Its not right to tax someone 10 or 5 $ for a game that cost 45$ I have been ripped of before like that for fall guys and it did not work so I hope steam can fix this problem soon because thats not fair at all

Nothing Valve/Steam can do. They are required to charge tax on check-out. If the store is also required to charge taxes when purchasing a Steam Gift Card from the store, then that is something that the government needs to work out.

Both businesses are fulfilling their legal requirements. If those requirements are unclear, incorrectly written or being enforced by the government incorrectly, that is for said government to correct.

BetBuy is already going to court over it, I think, and that is what needs to happen to correct the issue.

[Ivar]

Publicado originalmente por Spawn of Totoro:

Publicado originalmente por AllhailKingBoo:

Its not right to tax someone 10 or 5 $ for a game that cost 45$ I have been ripped of before like that for fall guys and it did not work so I hope steam can fix this problem soon because thats not fair at all

Nothing Valve/Steam can do. They are required to charge tax on check-out. If the store is also required to charge taxes when purchasing a Steam Gift Card from the store, then that is something that the government needs to work out.

Both businesses are fulfilling their legal requirements. If those requirements are unclear, incorrectly written or being enforced by the government incorrectly, that is for said government to correct.

BetBuy is already going to court over it, I think, and that is what needs to happen to correct the issue.

Ok that was a long paragraph lol anyways yeah thinks for letting me know that :)