I know that residents of Oregon, New Hampshire, Delaware, Montana & Alaska have 0% sales tax for goods and services and can apply to have it rescinded when they're out of their states upon them visiting one that has ST (with valid ID to prove residence). But does that privilege carry over for international purchases, in this case, all goods are priced in ¥ from the seller as they're based in Japan.

For example, when buying a new video game console & physical game combined is ¥71,960 ($455) which heads to a warehouse first (owned by a forwarding agent in Japan, since the seller doesn't ship across borders) then shipping costs are calculated separately (like would it cost $40 to ship from Yokohama to Oregon). The thing is, can you still pay 0% ST since the item is not only out of state, but abroad?

The same counterpart in US (even 0% ST) is $590 MSRP via a official retailer (it's more expensive when paying ST) if you've bought the console and game (you've saved ~$135 when buying either from out of state). Shipping across borders always costs money but the item itself costs less than buying within state just because of region pricing. Although, would that alone guarantee that you're not paying any ST?

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[–] 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It's true in part.

Oregonians looking to buy pseudoephedrine would cross the border into our Vancouver pharmacy so they don't need to get a prescription in Oregon (It's an OTC med in Washington, but kept behind the pharmacy counter).

For the longest time we were able to take off the sales tax when presented with Oregon ID, it's a normal part of the POS system. That exception changed a number of years ago for the border towns, but it definitely still exists.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    Thanks for sharing! (I love learning new things.)

    I think it's relevant to note that (part of) Canada choosing to exempt specific purchases of medicine is entirely different than some implicit right of Oregon residents to avoid sales taxes.

    Canada/US trade is international and has always had weirdness at the border, thanks to tariffs and "duty-free" shops and the like.

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