Why is Sales Tax charged on TURBOTAX STATE RETURN MA TAX YEAR 2019 E-FILE fee?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
October 16, 2020
2 replies
39 views

This is the first tax year I've seen sales tax charged on top of the $24.99 MA state return e-file fee. Is this correct, or a TurboTax error?

Best answer by mesquitebean

This is mainly a user community forum. It's possible, but not likely, that a TurboTax employee will see your posting. You may wish to talk to the folks at TurboTax for anything definitive about their billing procedure in regards to sales tax and whether you were correctly charged or not.

You can use this contact form during business hours to get a phone number.
https://support.turbotax.intuit.com/contact

xmasbaby0

Level 15

No---TurboTax is required to honor the sales tax laws of your state. If you do not want to pay the $24.99 state e-filing fee + sales tax then you can print sign and mail your state return instead of e-filing it.

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

Maddog11Author

Level 2

Would you please be more specific, and reference the Massachusetts tax law that requires sales tax on an e-file fee? Because, according to https://www.mass.gov/guides/sales-and-use-tax#-tax-exempt-items-&-sales-

"Professional services such as accounting ..." are tax exempt in Massachusetts. I've been under the assumption that the e-file fee met the definition of a professional service, and not a product, and therefore should be tax exempt. Further, why has TurboTax NOT collected the tax in past years, but is now?

BTW, I'm already aware that printing and mailing is a way to avoid the fee, however since I've already e-filed (and paid the e-file fee) your point is moot, and does not address my original question

mesquitebeanAnswer

Level 15

You can use this contact form during business hours to get a phone number.
https://support.turbotax.intuit.com/contact

aossom

Level 2

I found this thread after calling TurboTax about this very issue. I was shocked to see a "sales tax" for Massachusetts residents using TurboTax online despite the fact that we do not have taxes for professional (accounting) services in our state.

The agent I spoke with informed me the policy is motivated by recent Massachusetts legislation which requires online retailers to charge customers the same sales taxes as they would be charged for brick and mortar stores.

However, we are not charged taxes for accounting services--even if they are provided by brick and mortar retailers--because most professional services (including accounting) are exempt from tax according to Massachusetts laws and regulations (see MASS. GEN. LAWS ch. 64H, §§ 1-6 and the MASS. CODE REGS. 64H (830)). Unless a tangible item is received by the customer, which is not the case for TurboTax online, the services are exempt from sales tax. The rules on this are very clear.

You can see the exemption for ‘personal or professional services’ on the official Commonwealth of Massachusetts' website here: https://www.mass.gov/guides/sales-and-use-tax#-tax-exempt-items-&-sales-

You can also look for ‘accounting and bookkeeping’ at Table 1 and the paragraph labeled ‘Massachusetts’ here: https://www.cga.ct.gov/2019/rpt/pdf/2019-R-0104.pdf