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We are all pretty familiar with sales taxes. If you live in a state with high sales taxes, you might be inclined to drive over to the state next door with lower sales taxes to make your purchase. State governments often pass laws to try and recover the lost sales tax revenue by levying a "Use Tax" (also known as "Usage Tax"), requiring you to pay the difference in tax rates between states to your own state government (and most citizens aren't so keen to do this!).

 

Being able to buy things on the internet has made the collection of sales taxes even more difficult. Many people (myself included) would like the internet to remain a tax-free zone. However state governments now recognize that they could be reaping a windfall if they could collect taxes from businesses that are buying their supplies and equipment from out-of-state online businesses. These are the so-called "Usage Taxes."

 

The State of Minnesota has recently gotten wise and discovered that tattoo shops and tattoo artists are buying most, if not all, of their supplies from out-of-state online companies. Several tattoo shops in Minneapolis have recently been audited by the state and required to pay back taxes for their unpaid usage taxes plus penalties!

 

One of the many reasons we hope artists in Minnesota will choose to buy from Imperial Tattoo Supply is that your shop will not owe any usage taxes on the products you buy from us. Not only is ordering from Imperial quick and easy, but at the end of the year you won't have to worry about tax issues on the items you purchased.

If you have any further questions about usage taxes as a tattoo artist or shop owner and you live in Minnesota, we recommend you consider working with Alyssa Fox at Fox Tax in Minneapolis. Alyssa specializes in tax issues related to tattoo shops and artists and has a unique insight into the impact of Sales and Use tax laws on the tattoo industry.

For more information, please see the Minnesota Sales and Use Tax Instruction Booklet.