Business Tip Of The Week: What are sales & use taxes

The sales tax is imposed on retail transactions. It applies to all retail sales of tangible personal property, and in some states services, in the state. The use tax is imposed on consumers of tangible personal property that is used, consumed, or stored in this state. Consumer’s use tax applies to purchases from out-of-state vendors that are not required to collect tax on their sales. Sales and Use tax generally applies to most leases of tangible personal property. The sales tax and the use tax are “mutually exclusive”, which means either sales tax or use tax applies to a single transaction, but not both.