Can I claim sales tax deduction on jewelry purchased from another state (not home state)?

[superlyc]

Hi,

In 2020, I order a jewelry and shipped to me while I was in another state (A) (visiting). My home address is in state B. Can I claim this sales tax deduction on my tax return? I am using the turboTax desktop, it ask me the type of this item, e.g. aircraft. But jewelry is not in there. Can I still claim this deduction?

Thanks

[ColeenD3]

No. Jewelry is not an item for which you can claim a deduction as a major purchase.

Common major purchases include:

• Vehicles
• Off-road vehicle

You can also include:

• Aircraft
• Boats
• Mobile homes
• Manufactured housing
• Building materials for major home improvements

These items are not considered to be major purchases:

• Furniture
• Jewelry
• Computers
• Televisions or other electronic equipment
• Items purchased for your business or rental property

[superlyc]

Hi, Thanks for responding.

May I ask can I still deduct sale tax of jewelry purchase? If not, why is that? My understanding is if someone kept all the receipts (including the jewelry), he/she can enter it manually and the sale tax paid for the jewelry will be deducted, right? Now, turboTax ask me if there is any major purchase. I thought it is for me to enter any additional purchase on top of the estimates based on the normal situation. 

BTW, a turboTax representative on the phone (may not be a tax expert) told me I can deduct that. So I am confused. 

Thanks

[ColeenD3]

If you are deducting sales tax based on all your receipts instead of the auto-generated amount based on your income, then you can include every single penny of tax on every single thing you bought.

If you are trying to take sales tax for major purchases in addition to the auto-generated amount, you can only take tax on the items that IRS allows. Jewelry is not on the IRS approved list.

[superlyc]

I see. Thank you. But in this case, is there a way that I can add this jewelry purchase (I have receipt) on top or other normal purchases ( I don't have receipts).

In my case, I purchase this jewelry from another state during my Christmas visit. The turboTax allows me to list the states I lived in 2020. So, can I, for example, say I lived in A state from 01/01/2020 to 12/20/2020 and use the estimate tool to estimate the sales tax in A state . Then, report that I lived in B state from 12/21/2020 to 12/31/2020 and made the jewelry purchase in B state during this short stay. And for B state, I only self-report the sale tax and do not use the estimate tool from turbo tax. Would that be OK?

Thanks

[superlyc]

Hi, @JohnB5677 

But as @ColeenD3  mentioned, jewelry is not considered as major purchase. However, its value can be as much as a regular car. So, I am wondering how should report the sale tax of this purchase, which I have receipt. But I can not find all the receipts of the other purchases last year.

[BillM223]

Well, you have a choice:

1. Use the sales tax table for your state and locality and forget about the jewelry, or

2. Add up all the receipts you do have (including the jewelry) and see if this amount is larger than the calculated entry for your state and local sales tax.

You get to use whichever is larger. Of course, as you know, if you use actual receipts and are ever audited, the IRS auditor will expect to see the receipts.