Walmart charges sales tax on exempt gun safe

[Hum]

DANBURY -- With a six-generation family tradition of service in either the military or law enforcement, Sean Witoshynsky has been around firearms nearly his whole life.

So when he decided to purchase a gun safe to secure his weapons earlier this month, he went to the Walmart on Newtown Road in Danbury, where he plunked down nearly $500 for one that would do the job.

But after Witoshynsky returned to the store the next day to pick up the safe, he was surprised to find he'd been charged more than $33 in Connecticut sales tax. He knew that Connecticut state law specifically exempted gun safety devices from the levy.

"I said `You're not supposed to charge tax on that,' " said Witoshynsky, who knew the law well enough to have a copy of the statute at hand. "I showed them that exact website."

They charged him anyway and, it turns out, Witoshynsky may not have been the only one who was overcharged.

Hearst Connecticut Media last week conducted a telephone survey of all of the retail giant's 33 stores in the state. Employees at the 16 stores where gun safes were available said the sales tax is being applied.

None of Walmart's employees seemed aware that gun safety equipment is exempt from the state sales tax, and has been for nearly 15 years.

"Yes, there is a tax on everything," a worker at the Walmart in Waterbury said when asked if the gun safes being sold there were subject to the 6.35 percent sales tax.

 

Sarah Kauffman, a spokeswoman for Connecticut's Department of Revenue Services, said the agency will probe Walmart's apparent error and see that those who paid unnecessary sales tax will get refunds.

 

The department will notify Walmart that gun-safety product sales are tax exempt and advise that taxpayers claiming refunds are due the amount of tax paid, the Connecticut Post reported.

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[M_Lyons10]

This is really not uncommon.  Particularly with Walmart...  Some States do not require that the business return the overtax to the consumer, allowing the business to keep it.  I've often wondered if some companies do this for their own benefit...

 

One of our competitors charges sales tax on a lot of things that are not taxable in the state, resulting in sometimes hundereds of dollars in additional charges per customer...