Train Shows

[Espeefan]

Sales tax at train shows? That's a mixed bag. I have sold at the DuPage show among others, and here's what I did. I had a combination of used items of my own & some friends, and new retail stock. If you bought used items, no tax. New retail stuff, like my airbrush equipment: tax charged. if you pay with a credit card, tax charged. If you are selling off your excess stuff or culling the herd, it's kind of like a yard sale, and you won't get messed with too much. Dealers selling new stock will generally charge tax. They might not itemize it on your bill, but trust me, they are going home and doing math, or it's calculated into the price they are charging you. I know several who do it this way. I'll be at a show in Madison WI next week and I had to give them my WI tax number when I paid for the tables.

I was also at the Springfield show, and let me tell you, those MA Dept of Revenue folks are serious! You must display a MA tax number in your booth, and you DON'T want to not have one They will shut you down and confiscate your stock. You won't get it back until you pay the fines, etc.

It's getting harder and harder to make any money in the train show biz. At Springfield, in addition to everything else, vendors had to file paperwork saying they did or did not have paid employees working in the booth, and if they did, they had to have workman's comp insurance for them that was valid in MA. With tax revenues down, states are looking everywhere for money, and one thing is constant: The Government gets their share baby, sooner or later! Only a very foolish man tries to cheat them out of it. I have had a few customers who grumble about sales tax but I tell them: Sorry, talk to your Governor, it's the law.

In general, it's getting more expensive and complicated to do shows every year, and this is at least part of the reason you may find fewer dealers who are willling to bargain. We mostly all know everyone's out looking for the best deal, and try to set pricing competitively (at least I do ) but at the end of the day, you have to cover expenses and make a few bucks. That's capitalism!

 

[D&J RailRoad]

At some of the shows that I would help one of my friends with, he was a full time vendor and he would rent 15-25 tables, we sometimes had to take the tax, and at other shows we didn't have to take the tax.

What's strange about this is that at one show where we had to take the tax, after the show when he sent the appropriate amount to the tax division, they sent it back! They told him in the letter he got with the "refund", they didn't know about the show, and they had no records concerning the show at all.

I have read the letter as well, and he decided to be on the safe side and keep the letter in case he was approached about the taxes in the future. That was almost 10 years ago, and to my knowledge that state hasn't come back for their taxes.

Hold onto that letter. Ignorance of the tax law is no excuse for not paying taxes, regardless of the source of information, including the taxing authority themselves. I learned this the hard way back in 1982 when I was transferred to Virginia while on active duty in the Marine Corps. I had heard about the personal property tax on automobiles and that somehow, active duty military was exempt. I went to the Stafford County office and was able to talk to the deputy director of the personal property tax office. I told her I had two vehicles in my and my wife's name. What is my tax liability? She told me to submit the question by letter and she would respond. I did so and she responded that I had no tax liability while on active duty. Well, two years later, I got a tax bill saying I was delinquent in paying my personal property tax. I took the letter and the bill to the personal property tax office but to my surprise I was told I had a liability because my wife's name was on the title of the vehicle too. I protested the bill but the ruling was ignorance of the tax law regardless of the source of information is no excuse. Pay up the fines, penalties and taxes.

 

[Cjcrescent]

Hold onto that letter. ...

He is holding on to the letter. My wife and I had a similar situation when we first got married. We filled out our income tax with the IRS and were due x amount in a refund. six weeks later, when the refund came in, it was almost double of what we figured. With the check was a letter explaining that we had made a mistake and we were entitled to this amount. A month later, another letter and check appeared explaining that they had made a mistake and we were actually entitled to another bigger amount! Overall, with the two checks, we actually got back more than twice our tax liability was originally.

That will be 40 years ago this year, and we have kept both letters.

 

[Richard]

There's not many shows that I know of around here. Appleton, Wisconsin. The once a year shows in Green Bay and Milwaukee are good for seeing layouts but there's no deals on what I need. The local club, Paper Valley Model RR., has a small swap meet that has some good deals and a lot of not worth it.
When I get better settled in the area I plan on joining the local club, if they'll have me. Then maybe I'll get some better leads.