CA sales tax

You paid AT&T's fully subsidized price. The non subsidized price is $599, which is the total amount that Apple recieves - $199 from you, and $400 from AT&T. The sales tax is based on the full price that Apple recieves for the sale. 8.75% x $599 = $52.41.

That doesn't sound right. I bought a 32G in NY and I only paid $25.79 on tax which is 8.625% on $299, not on non-subsidized price. I will be surprised if CA tax is so dramatically different.

He can call the Apple store where his iPhone was purchased to confirm, but I venture to say what is considered the taxable amount in CA is different.

sidssp wrote:
That doesn't sound right. I bought a 32G in NY and I only paid $25.79 on tax which is 8.625% on $299, not on non-subsidized price. I will be surprised if CA tax is so dramatically different.

Then you should consider yourself surprised. State tax laws vary widely. In CA, sales tax is applied to the full (unsubsidized) price. Same here in MA. Apparently not in NY. In CA and NY, wine and beer are taxed. In MA, they are not. In CA, there is no tax exemption for clothing. In MA, clothing up to $175 per item is not taxed. Moved here from CA 5 years ago - still surprises me to buy a bottle of wine or a pair of slacks and pay just the price on the tag.

MA also charges sales tax on the full price rather than the subsidized price.