Sales Tax On Whiteflash Jewelry!? (How To Save Money)

Last Updated on September 26, 2022 by Juli "Jewels" Church

Wondering if there's sales tax on jewelry sold by Whiteflash (and possibly a way to AVOID paying it)?

Perfect, you're in the right place!

In this Learning Jewelry guide you'll learn:

  • Is there sales tax charged on Whiteflash jewelry?
  • If so, how do you calculate it?
  • What's the best way to avoid it tax on your Whiteflash purchases?
  • Is all this legal?
save sales tax whiteflash jewelry

As an online retailer, Whiteflash serves in a kind of gray area where taxes are concerned. As of 2018, all online retailers are required to collect sales tax based on the state the purchaser is based in if that state so chooses.

For instance, if your bank account is based in North Carolina, then you will have to pay North Carolina sales tax when purchasing a ring from Whiteflash. 

With the amount of money involved in making a purchase for these kinds of products, the tax for doing so is going to be rather large, usually in the realm of $200 to $500 and possibly more so it is understandable that savvy shoppers might be looking out for a way to calculate this cost ahead of time and take it into consideration when making a purchase.

Is There Sales Tax On Whiteflash Rings And Jewelry?

Due to a supreme court ruling in the case of South Dakota vs. Wayfair online retailers are required to collect sales tax from consumers.

Whether or not you have to pay a sales tax on Whiteflash rings and jewelry is determined by the sales tax of the state your card is based in. 

south dakota v wayfair

If you are purchasing directly from Whiteflash's showroom, then you will have to pay the Texas sales tax, which is 8.25%, but online purchases depend on the state. If you live in a place like New Hampshire, then there is no sales tax and you are therefore not required to pay one.

If you just moved to Oregon from North Carolina and haven’t changed your credit or debit card information, then you will be required to pay North Carolina sales tax to all online retailers, not just WhiteFlash, until you get that information changed to reflect your new living situation.

This means that while before many consumers got away with not reporting online purchases and paying taxes on them you can no longer get away with not doing so as the retailer will now take care of it on their end.

If you live in a state that does require sales tax to be paid, it will be automatically calculated and displayed in your shopping cart on the site so that you can see it for yourself before making a purchase.

Read Also: Does Whiteflash offer financing?

As stated before, the sales tax that will be calculated is based on the billing address of the card you are using to make your online purchase. No matter where in the nation you are making the purchase from, your billing information will be used to automatically calculate the sales tax of your purchase and the only way to change that is to change the billing information itself.

You can check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) of the Education section of the Whiteflash site for a listing of all of the states that require Whiteflash to pay a sales tax, though this is subject to change as online shopping tax laws evolve and the Whiteflash site notes that these may not all be accurate.

They also have a section regarding international shipping and how that is handled in regard to VAT and GST fees which may be useful to international customers. If you are a resident of Australia you can find a large section devoted specifically to you regarding the AUSFTA and how that interacts with purchases from Whiteflash.

How To Calculate The Tax On Whiteflash Jewelry?

Whiteflash will calculate the sales tax for you when making a purchase from them. If you want to double-check that it is the right amount for yourself then you will first have to know what the sales tax is for your state. This usually takes the form of a percentage like 5%.

Once you know the state sales tax you must then convert it into a usable form, in this case, a decimal. This can be done by simply moving the decimal two spaces to the left, so 5% would become 0.05 and 4.75% would become 0.0475.

After you have converted the percentage you will multiply and add to find your answer. If you want to multiply and add then you will multiply the cost of the item by the converted sales tax decimal and then add the result to the original cost of the item for your new total.

So, if your product costs $4,800 and the sales tax is 5% you would first multiply 4,800 by 0.05 which is 240. You then add 240 to 4,800 for 5,040 and that is your new total. This method has the added benefit of telling you exactly how much you are paying for sales tax while doing the math.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to skip a step, you can simply add a 1 to the converted sales tax decimal before multiplying. In the previous example, this would mean you would multiply by 1.05 instead of 0.05.

Consider the state you’re in?

Sales tax is subject to change based on what state you live in and sometimes as specific as what city you live in. Some states don’t have a sales tax at all and some do.

Some states have sales tax only for specific items. Before making a purchase that involves as large of a sum of money as an engagement ring does, you should check your local state laws to see how much the sales tax is for jewelry in your location.

A quick google search will usually tell you the information you need to know, but if you would prefer a more official source you can find a downloadable PDF file on usa.gov that lists the sales tax rates of each state. This file can be found and downloaded from the Sales and Use Tax section of the State and Local Taxes page.

Inside you will find a listing of each state in alphabetical order followed by the sales tax of that state if applicable and any adjustments or exemptions based on the type of product if there are any that apply.

Is There A Way To Buy Whiteflash Rings And Jewelry Tax Free And Duty Free?

For Purchases in the USA?

Surprisingly yes, there is a way to buy Whiteflash jewelry WITHOUT paying sales tax here's how. 

DISCLAIMER: Attempt this tactic at your own risk. I am merely explaining a method of purchasing jewelry that would help you leverage states that have more favorable sales tax laws. 

Step 1. Know Which States Whiteflash Collects Sales Tax On

Step 1 in your quest to save money on the sales tax is to know which states Whiteflash won't collect sales tax on.

Those states are: New Hampshire, Delaware, or Oregon.

Step 2. Phone a friend in one of these states (no friend? move to step 3)

If you know someone who lives in these states, have them buy the jewelry FOR YOU, that's it. You're done, congrats you've now saved some money on your jewelry purchase.

Don't have a friend that lives there? Make one. Here's how.

(Optional) Step 3. Create a digital presence in these states by setting up a virtual mailbox.

This is where we start to get creative. I personally use iPostal1 to setup a digital mailbox when I need one.

ipostal

Just set one up in a state that doesn't collect sales tax and you're done.

It only costs a couple bucks a month but can save you 1,000s. 

Worth it in my opinion.

Step 4. Open up a debit card using that mailbox.

Next, you need to get some sort of payment method tied to that new address. A prepaid debit card should suffice for this.

There are dozens if not hundreds of options here. Doing a quick search, Movo.cash seems like a good choice.

movo

Step 5. Purchase and forward mail to your home

The last step is buying the jewelry from Whiteflash with your new postal address and debit card, then forwarding it to your home.

Done!

For International Purchases?

If you are purchasing internationally, things get more complicated.

You will still have to pay your country’s tax and duty fees unfortunately. 

Whiteflash will mark their package to ensure that customs recognizes that it is being shipped from the United States and they use FedEx for all of their shipping which also interacts with the customs department.

International purchases will have estimates of sales taxes included by Whiteflash, but these are not guaranteed to be accurate and any international shoppers should take the time to familiarize themselves with the tax laws of their country regarding international shipping before making a purchase.

It should be noted that there are special rules for shoppers in Australia due to the AUSFTA that includes the elimination of any customs duties from either nation, so if you live in Australia you won't have to pay any duty fees on a ring from Whiteflash. 

This is because the products sold by Whiteflash are customized and manufactured by them in the United States, so even though they receive supplies from other countries, and your diamond may not have come from the United States, they still qualify as far as the AUSFTA is concerned.

Because Whiteflash and FedEx handle all of the shipping documentation, customers in Australia shouldn't have to put in any extra work to receive their package completely free of any duty fees.

Now It's Your Turn

So that’s it for my review of Whiteflash's sales tax policy.

Now I’d like to hear from you:

Have you purchased a diamond from Whiteflash before and saved sales tax?

If so, what was your experience like? Good? Bad? Somewhere in between?

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

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