Went to Gun Broker and printed out the recommended FFL list they had on file. I am going to call two of them tomorrow. One showed $25.00 per transaction, plus $10.00 for a second tranaction at the same date of pick-up and the second one showed $30.00 per transaction. I had one knuckle head try and tell me he is charging FL sales tax based up your purchase price from the on-line auction in addition to a $40.00 transfer fee and another $10.00 NICS phone call fee. I asked if he was just making up new sales tax laws on his own and explained that out of state purchases do not require payment of a state sales tax, it's federal law. He tried to tell me that the FL Department of Revenue is requiring sales tax payment. What an idiot. I think it was the very small gun shop located on S. Dale Mabry near Home Depot. Won't be dealing with them on anything.
Florida actually has a USAGE TAX for guns purchased on-line from out of state. Just happens to be the same percentage as the state sales tax. go figure. But it is a usage tax. That gun shop you mentioned in South Tampa is a good friend of mine and he will do you right. What does a call-in cost now $5.00 ? Actually against state law to make a profit off of gun call-ins.
Florida actually has a USAGE TAX for guns purchased on-line from out of state. Just happens to be the same percentage as the state sales tax. go figure. But it is a usage tax. That
I didn't know that. That's absurd.
The gun shop closest to me is University Gun and Pawn, on Fletcher Avenue. They are expensive and you typically have to wait 20-30 minutes to talk to someone. They also make you wait 3 days on long guns, and make you wait 3 days if you trade a functional firearm in. They said Hillsborough County had enforced that law, but upon calling and writing the government, I received an "unofficial" answer stating that there is no law requiring such.
Florida actually has a USAGE TAX for guns purchased on-line from out of state. Just happens to be the same percentage as the state sales tax. go figure. But it is a usage tax. That
I didn't know that. That's absurd.
The gun shop closest to me is University Gun and Pawn, on Fletcher Avenue. They are expensive and you typically have to wait 20-30 minutes to talk to someone. They also make you wait 3 days on long guns, and make you wait 3 days if you trade a functional firearm in. They said Hillsborough County had enforced that law, but upon calling and writing the government, I received an "unofficial" answer stating that there is no law requiring such.
That place is a rip-off. He tried to sell me a used M&P for more than Shoot Straight was selling them new for. I walked in there a couple weeks back looking at rifles and walked out laughing
Usage Tax? A usage tax by whom, the gun shop or me? I purchased the weapon out of state, whether on the internet, newpaper, magazine or telephone no financial transaction has taken place in the state of FL. I want to have it TRANSFERRED to FL, I am not purchasing anything. I might never even use it in FL. What if I have a family member that wants to transfer a weapon I own to me via an FFL from Missouri? You are telling me the state is going to charge me a usage tax for a weapon I already own?
The usage tax you are talking about sounds like Ad Valorum taxes in the great state of GA on cars and boats (anything with a registration) which you pay annually based upon the value and depreciation of the registered item. If we had to pay a usage tax on guns, we gun owners would have to pay an annual usage tax to keep, own and USE our firearms. The state would require our serial numbers to collect tax, that gets into an area that sounds more like registration to me, which has been fought extensively by our NRA lobby.
Secondly, why aren't any of the other FFL's, three I have used over the three year in Central Florida-Orlando and made 10 or more transfers charging a usage tax? It appears to me someone has misinterperted a usage tax law. I'm not a tax attorney but last time I checked interstate commerce was governed by the federal government not the State of Florida. Maybe I'll pay the usage tax and then hire an attorney and sue the state for unlawful taxation.
Most of these knuckle heads in the Gun business in FL know less about gun values, gun laws, legal paper work, taxation, and the second ammendment than the educated outdoorsman. It's really sad that I even had to make this post initially, since it is so hit or miss to find an FFL anywhere in the state to do a transfer for a decent rate. The only thing they have to do is receive the gun via the postal handler, log the gun into there ATF required log book, call the person to pick up the gun, have the ATF form filled out properly by the transferee, call NICS to check on tranferee's background, complete the ATF form, log gun out of ATF required log book, file the AFT form in there local file, and say good bye.
It really isn't a big deal.
