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Q: I live in Maryland but purchased a sofa in Delaware. Why was I charged sales tax?

Written on: April 23rd, 2010 by: in Blog Posts, Q & A's

Q: I live in Maryland and purchased a sofa from a furniture store in Delaware.  Since I had the sofa delivered they charged me both sales tax and a delivery fee.  But, they said if I picked it up I wouldn’t be charged tax.  How can they tax us when the item is purchased in a non-sales tax state (DE).  Thank you.

A: I checked with both the Delaware tax office and the Comptroller of Maryland regarding your question.

You were charged sales tax because tax is owed in the state where you will take possession of the item, Maryland.  In the case of out-of-state purchases it is called a use tax, not sales tax.  The retailer charged you 6% tax since that is the amount of tax owed in MD.

If you had purchased the item in Delaware without having it delivered to avoid paying the tax, you are supposed to file tax form ST-118A.

This form is used by consumers to report and pay the use tax on taxable tangible goods that were purchased tax-free out of state and are used in Maryland and subject to Maryland’s 6 percent sales and use tax.

Learn more about the Maryland Use Tax here.

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