"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

The law is simple and straightforward. You owe the tax. If not a sales
tax,
it is called a use tax on out of state purchases. If the seller does not
charge the tax, you are obligated to remit the tax to the state. Here in
CT you can do that when you submit your income tax forms with a simple
declaration.

If a business has a physical presence in your state, such as a sales
office, service facility, or anything else, they are obligated to collect
the tax for the state. Some sellers that do not have a physical presence
collect the tax anyway to avoid hassles from 45 or so different tax
collectors.

If the seller is out of state to you, he may not care and is not obligated
to do the collection. Then you have to decide what to do after. I'm sure
everyone here declares the purchase as a "use tax" and pay what is due.
If you physically go across the state lines, you pay the tax due in that
state at the time of purchase.

Correct!

And if you go to another state, pay sales tax on an item that is less than
you would in your own state, technically you owe the difference to your
state.