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Comment by RightMillennial | Hacker News Reader

I thought with use taxes you owed the remaining difference in tax. Say I purchase a $100 widget in Kenosha, WI with a sales tax of 5.5%, and I live in MI with a sales and use tax of 6%. I would owe MI the 0.5% difference on the $100 which would be $0.50.

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No my understanding is that the state wants their full X% -- the whole point of the use tax is "you paid that guy but you're supposed to pay me." If you paid a higher tax rate in another state do you think your home state would be happy with 0% or even reimburse you the difference?

IIRC you're expected to get the out of state retailer to reimburse you at a later time and then when you're paying your income taxes you include any purchases subject to use tax.

It probably depends on the state.

In Massachusetts, oddly, if you paid less than the Mass sales tax rate of 6.25%, you owe 6.25% use tax. It's not the delta you owe, it's the full amount. But you don't owe it at all if you paid more than the Mass rate.

I think it depends on the state. At least in MI, you only have to pay the difference [1] [2]:

> Use Tax on the Difference

> If you paid at least 6 percent to another state on your purchase, you do not owe use tax to Michigan. If you paid less than 6 percent, you owe the difference.

> NOTE: The full 6 percent use tax is also owed on purchases made in a foreign country.

[1]: https://www.taxslayer.com/support/1153/michigan-use-tax

[2]: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/taxes/MI_1040_Instruction...

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