That's Illegal I'm calling the COPS !!!!!!!!

[Teefies2]

I'm not sure what the sales tax rules are in this situation, but here goes ....

At my store, when you pay by food stamps (EBT, SNAP, whatever it's called in your area), you must pay tax on any value from a coupon or free item you get. I had a lady today take advantage of our "4 for $10 on 12 packs of Pepsi" deal that we have this week. She bought 4 12 packs of Pepsi, which involves using a coupon to get that price. She paid by EBT, so once she had slid her card and pushed all the right buttons, her total came to $0.01. Yes ONE CENT!

Cue much blarghering and huffiness. "Why do I owe you one cent??????" I explained (several times) that when you get an item free or with a coupon, you have to pay the sales tax on the value of the coupon or free item.

"Well that's illegal!!!!!! You can't charge tax on food stamps!!!! I'm calling the cops!!!!" .... as she slams one penny down on the counter, grabs her Pepsi 12 packs and storms out of the store.

So, I put it to you fellow CSers. Is my store wrong in this policy? No question she acted like an ass, but is my store doing something wrong?

[Slayer]

You do pay taxes on the full amount when you use a coupon.

And I think soft drinks are taxable.

As for food stamps, I can't help. Sorry. I did a quick google search and most sites say food stamps are not taxable / you don't pay taxes. But it might depend on the state? And I don't know about combining the two processes.

In short, I'm useless. Free bump for more intelligent answers, lol.

[Chanlin]

After some googling it looks like Soft Drinks are not tax exempt even when purchased with food stamps in NC. After that I have no idea. I do know taxes get really wonky when you start combining food stamps, coupons, and the like.

I would operate under the assumption that your store is doing things correctly as penalties for not handling food stamps correctly can be really harsh.

[KabeRinnaul]

My Krogers did it the same way. I think maybe because it counts the coupon as a payment, so you pay normal taxes on that? I never got a real explanation for it, just knew it to be the case.

Had plenty of arguments over paying extra on EBT after coupons, or when they got the milk with the cash deposit glass bottles...

[Nemesis44UK]

Umm,

IMHO, this lady paid ONE CENT for 48 cans of Pepsi!!!!

I doubt your store has it wrong about food stamps, but either way, that is a frickin' bargain.

Call the cops over one cent? Would love to see the responding officer's face upon picking up that call.

[Aethian]

In Michigan the cans don't have tax but we do have the deposit which I think they are trying to get not covered since the people will sometimes sell the pop for the price of the deposit to turn food stamp into cash.

[siead_lietrathua]

i know its diffrent up here, but usually dollar-off coupons you pay tax on but free item ones you dont. so if she was just using dollar-off ones she would have to pay the tax.

[MadMike]

This was roughly 25 years ago, so things may have changed, but when I was working at the supermarket, items that were normally taxable were not charged sales tax if purchased with food stamps. I believe this was a state law. This pretty much only affected sodas, because in PA, most food items are non-taxable. Well, except for prepared food, as in a restaurant, and you can't use food stamps for those.

[Lovecats]

I work in NC and if the customer uses cpns with an EBT cd they do end up paying the tax. Most of them know this and are fine with it.

[BrenDAnn]

If I'm not mistaken, our EBT customers here don't pay taxes. We have a handy dandy button on our register that tells us how much to charge their EBT...we run it through the EBT card machine (yes, I do wish they'd integrate it into the main sysyem, thank you for asking), enter whatever amount it says on the button into the register, and if they owe anything it tells us so. Usually, if there's tax, to my knowledge, they don't pay it. EBT laws might be different in your state, though. Either way, a penny? Big effin' deal, lady! Get over it!

[notlovinit]

Pet peeve of mine: Why do people keep thinking police are the approriate people to call in ANY situation?

[PepperElf]

i'd like to see what the cops do when she calls 911 over it.

around here they're running adverts about only calling them for emergencies. they haven't specifically said "stop calling us over your retail whines" but we all know that's what they really mean

[emax4]

With any luck they'll fine her for misuse of 911.

Cops: "You mean we had the siren going and rushed thru traffic over a friggin' penny?!?!! Shuddafuckup and get in the car.."

[Slayer]

I don't really think its the issue of the one cent.

If she feels that she got charged taxes where she wasn't supposed, then it's possible she thinks that more than one cent in taxes was charged, but her card covered it.

Like I give you 10 bucks. It's supposed to cost $8. But taxes/fees make the total $10.01. So you pay one cent instead of getting back $2. Exaggerating with tax amounts, of course.

Surprised the stamps even cover junk food.

[Raveni]

I'll write very carefully to avoid fratching...

In FL, tax is charged for many food items like soda. EBT will still pay for the whole amount, including the tax. If there is a coupon for a free item, and tax is still owed, the EBT should cover it, and deduct it from their account. There should be no part of this transaction that requires a cash payment unless buying merchandise that isn't covered by EBT.