revans2140
Junior Member
I have just received an invoice from a law office requesting payment. Do I have to pay this? Can I ask them the take their product back. Listed below is main point of the letter. This was for items bought back in 2004.
"Between May 15 2004 and December 6 2004, you purchased $5,631.00 worth of merchandise from Furnitureland South. Your purchase was subject to a sales and use tax totaling $448.30, a sum which has been settled with the State of California by Furnitureland South to avoid lotigation, interest and penalties. This tax now constitutes a debt payable by you to Furnitureland and not to the state of california. My firm has been retained to assist in the collection of this debt.
Enclosed is an invoice which is due within the next 15 days. Please make check payable to Furnitureland South. If payment is not received by furnitureland within 15 days, my firm is prepared to prosecute a claim for payment of the tax plus attorney's fee and the applicable interest."
One of the reason why I'm so upset is because I knew that in California its a sales and use tax so even if Furnitureland South didn't collect it I was still liable. I talked to the sales rep before my wife caught a plane out there(you have to place an order in person) stating the use tax issue. The rep said don't worry because the price includes the tax "they'll pay the tax". In hind sight this was obviously just a push by the rep. So my wife caught a plane and stayed overnight and then went to make the purchase. She was only concerned about the bottom line agreeing to the quote, it was only when the invoice came that it didn't indicate tax had been paid that I became concerned. The problem was the furiture was on it way and there would be a cost to cancel and could loose the deposit. At the time I questioned it but I think you can imagine what they kept saying: don't worry the price includes the sales tax. I'd asked them for a modified invoice or a letter but that was when communication stopped. They said that they didn't have time to modify an invoice just for me or send out letters, The price I'd paid was the price agreed and it included the sales tax.
My tax advisor man didn't know what to do a he'd never heard of such a situation so we left it and as the years rolled by I just forgot about it.
If I'd known this would have happened I may have gone somewhere else, I don't have records anymore what the prices of the other competitors were but they had a 7.25% advantage if they weren't paying the sales tax. They may have gotten more business from people like myself because years later they decide to charge sales tax.
Some of you might be saying why I did so much. The reason was my wife and I had just got our green cards and the last thing we wanted was to fall foul of the law. The has been cases report where the government have taken away green cards. Looking back and being wiser I didn't have to worry but when you've been welcomed into another country you don't starting tax avoidance.
"Between May 15 2004 and December 6 2004, you purchased $5,631.00 worth of merchandise from Furnitureland South. Your purchase was subject to a sales and use tax totaling $448.30, a sum which has been settled with the State of California by Furnitureland South to avoid lotigation, interest and penalties. This tax now constitutes a debt payable by you to Furnitureland and not to the state of california. My firm has been retained to assist in the collection of this debt.
Enclosed is an invoice which is due within the next 15 days. Please make check payable to Furnitureland South. If payment is not received by furnitureland within 15 days, my firm is prepared to prosecute a claim for payment of the tax plus attorney's fee and the applicable interest."
One of the reason why I'm so upset is because I knew that in California its a sales and use tax so even if Furnitureland South didn't collect it I was still liable. I talked to the sales rep before my wife caught a plane out there(you have to place an order in person) stating the use tax issue. The rep said don't worry because the price includes the tax "they'll pay the tax". In hind sight this was obviously just a push by the rep. So my wife caught a plane and stayed overnight and then went to make the purchase. She was only concerned about the bottom line agreeing to the quote, it was only when the invoice came that it didn't indicate tax had been paid that I became concerned. The problem was the furiture was on it way and there would be a cost to cancel and could loose the deposit. At the time I questioned it but I think you can imagine what they kept saying: don't worry the price includes the sales tax. I'd asked them for a modified invoice or a letter but that was when communication stopped. They said that they didn't have time to modify an invoice just for me or send out letters, The price I'd paid was the price agreed and it included the sales tax.
My tax advisor man didn't know what to do a he'd never heard of such a situation so we left it and as the years rolled by I just forgot about it.
If I'd known this would have happened I may have gone somewhere else, I don't have records anymore what the prices of the other competitors were but they had a 7.25% advantage if they weren't paying the sales tax. They may have gotten more business from people like myself because years later they decide to charge sales tax.
Some of you might be saying why I did so much. The reason was my wife and I had just got our green cards and the last thing we wanted was to fall foul of the law. The has been cases report where the government have taken away green cards. Looking back and being wiser I didn't have to worry but when you've been welcomed into another country you don't starting tax avoidance.
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er the Statue of limitations (SOL) for North Carolina they say if it is a sale of personal property under seal it 10 years for the SOL. Each payment renews the SOL.