Comment on RoadTest Terms & Conditions: Tax Liability

My original post in regards to taxes of close to $2,000.00 on a less than $4,000.00 piece of test equipment was never to cry foul in regards to Element 14.  I did it with one intent:

1.  To get information from others on what their experiences have been with this and how they may have best dealt with it.

There are some interesting ideas in regards to dealing with the taxes and by keeping good records of many of your IT costs you may be able to offset a good part of this expense.  But even with applying every cost I "could" apply the taxes went from over 50% taxes to around 15% taxes.  This is by filling out everything online and not being concerned about an audit needing documentation later on.  :-)

It is interesting that so far I have not heard of any other members having dealt with this in the past for a Road Test.  As such it is a great opportunity for people to learn and plan for in the future.  The taxation system is a precarious and convoluted system, not something that can be fully addressed on a forum, but experiences can be shared and awareness made. 

The one line in the T&C, which I did read, does not really prepare someone for being taxed at over 50% the MSRP value of an item.  To give an example, recently I was at a computer store in Denver where I purchased close to $50.00 in parts and pieces.  The state charged me approximately $2.00 and the city another $1.75.  So approximately $3.75 of taxes from $50.00 of product.  Now if instead I was charged $25.00+ in taxes I would have been quite surprised.  Even though I understand I pay taxes on items.  The reality of paying a certain small amount of taxes and then coming across a very substantially larger amount of cost can be startling regardless of a single line in the T&C.  I often purchase small amounts of items and see taxes at that level.  This is a new level and due to it being applied as income and their special taxation levels, it is an eyeopening experience.

But by sharing the experience it can raise awareness and expectations and hopefully those of us that have to deal with these taxes might be able to share possible solutions that assist.

Other Countries have to deal with other difficulties in regards to "contests" and the various values of items that come from Element 14 and knowledge is a great way to assist each other in these incidents that take us away from the test bench.  :-)

But under NO circumstances have I intended to imply that Element 14, Mr. Randal Scasny rscasny or any other member/employee is doing something wrong or being disingenuous.  I have appreciated the efforts that Randal has put forth and I understand that this area is an ever-changing arena that can surprise people, confuse people and just generally frustrate people.  Death and Taxes.

My original post in regards to taxes of close to $2,000.00 on a less than $4,000.00 piece of test equipment was never to cry foul in regards to Element 14.  I did it with one intent:

1.  To get information from others on what their experiences have been with this and how they may have best dealt with it.

There are some interesting ideas in regards to dealing with the taxes and by keeping good records of many of your IT costs you may be able to offset a good part of this expense.  But even with applying every cost I "could" apply the taxes went from over 50% taxes to around 15% taxes.  This is by filling out everything online and not being concerned about an audit needing documentation later on.  :-)

It is interesting that so far I have not heard of any other members having dealt with this in the past for a Road Test.  As such it is a great opportunity for people to learn and plan for in the future.  The taxation system is a precarious and convoluted system, not something that can be fully addressed on a forum, but experiences can be shared and awareness made. 

The one line in the T&C, which I did read, does not really prepare someone for being taxed at over 50% the MSRP value of an item.  To give an example, recently I was at a computer store in Denver where I purchased close to $50.00 in parts and pieces.  The state charged me approximately $2.00 and the city another $1.75.  So approximately $3.75 of taxes from $50.00 of product.  Now if instead I was charged $25.00+ in taxes I would have been quite surprised.  Even though I understand I pay taxes on items.  The reality of paying a certain small amount of taxes and then coming across a very substantially larger amount of cost can be startling regardless of a single line in the T&C.  I often purchase small amounts of items and see taxes at that level.  This is a new level and due to it being applied as income and their special taxation levels, it is an eyeopening experience.

But by sharing the experience it can raise awareness and expectations and hopefully those of us that have to deal with these taxes might be able to share possible solutions that assist.

Other Countries have to deal with other difficulties in regards to "contests" and the various values of items that come from Element 14 and knowledge is a great way to assist each other in these incidents that take us away from the test bench.  :-)

But under NO circumstances have I intended to imply that Element 14, Mr. Randal Scasny rscasny or any other member/employee is doing something wrong or being disingenuous.  I have appreciated the efforts that Randal has put forth and I understand that this area is an ever-changing arena that can surprise people, confuse people and just generally frustrate people.  Death and Taxes.

I totally agree with you, John, and appreciate you bringing light to the potential income tax liability that comes with a prize. I wasn't aware of that before now.

I think E14 is already going above and beyond by taking care of the customs and brokerage fees, and I totally appreciate that too. I wouldn't expect them to deal with our income taxes too!

The income tax part is tricky business in general. I was once offered a large number of shares for repairing/updating software for a small dot-com, but thankfully just in time I realized that accepting those shares, at the value claimed by the owner of the corporation, would have cost me 10's, maybe 100's of thousands of dollars in income taxes! That company is pretty much defunct now, so I'm doubly glad I said no!

-Nico