Can I purchase an item without sales tax if I am a foreigner and plan to use the device outside from the US?

No, the scheme you described is for Value-Added-Tax countries, the US does not yet have a VAT.

In the US, sales tax is collected on a State-by-State basis. Occasionally, if you buy from a company that does not have presence in the State where the goods are delivered, you would not have to pay sales tax. But most phones are sold by companies that have a presence in every state, and collect the state sales tax in every state that has a sales tax, so that does not work very well for phones.

If you are a US company purchasing goods for resale under certain conditions, you can use your resale identification number to not be charged sales tax. But I expect this would not work for most Apple products.

Idris Seabright is correct that some states do not have a state sales tax. New Hampshire is another state that does not have a sales tax. In some cases, the goods sold by national companies are priced higher in non-sales tax states to keep customers from cheating.

"cheating" was not the word I chose originally, but on re-read, I simplified it to be sure the Original poster (who is likely not from the US) would understand.

I think I may have written "driving sales to lower taxed venues, and distorting the true demand for those goods in nearby markets".

What i was thinking about was that Home Depot prices it refrigerators higher in New Hampshire, to discourage folks from driving across the border from Massachusetts to save the cost of Sales Tax.

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Avoiding sales tax in the US is not a major crime, and no one ever goes to jail for it. The worst thing that can happen is they send you a bill for the tax you did not pay. But there is probably no way for another state to force you to pay. And no one pays any bribes for any part of this -- ever.

If you are buying it in the USA from an Apple Store or any retail store (i.e. Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc.), then you must pay taxes. You would have to contact a third party company or someone who is selling their own device in order to buy something without tax. Taxes are mandatory in the USA and the only way to decrease the tax rate is by having a special discount like Military.

Another point to be aware of, is the only place to purchase an unlocked iPhone in the US is directly from Apple. Do not be fooled by many of the big box retail electronics stores, such as Best Buy saying you can purchase an unlocked device, because it isn't true. Their devices are on a flex resale policy, and will lock to the first carrier used to activate them in the US, and will not activate with a SIM from outside of the US.

Cheating on what? I live a non sales tax state and I have never heard of cheating with respect to the cost of goods. I do know that people close by from another state may buy a car from my state but they find out on registration in their own state that they have to pay the tax. People who work in my state but live in a tax state often shop in my state for the tax cost saving. I don't know but maybe these shoppers are supposed to report the purchases to their own tax department. But I never heard of raised prices in my state because we don't pay sales tax.

BobTheFisherman wrote:

Cheating on what? I live a non sales tax state and I have never heard of cheating with respect to the cost of goods. I do know that people close by from another state may buy a car from my state but they find out on registration in their own state that they have to pay the tax. People who work in my state but live in a tax state often shop in my state for the tax cost saving. I don't know but maybe these shoppers are supposed to report the purchases to their own tax department. But I never heard of raised prices in my state because we don't pay sales tax.

If I drive to Delaware and buy a MacBook Pro, the Apple Store will not charge me sales tax, however, I still owe sales tax to my home state. However, I'm somewhat on the honor system to report and pay that tax. Many people don't.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

If I drive to Delaware and buy a MacBook Pro, the Apple Store will not charge me sales tax, however, I still owe sales tax to my home state. However, I'm somewhat on the honor system to report and pay that tax. Many people don't.

It's only "somewhat." It doesn't work for cars, planes or boats which have to be registered in the state where the owner resides. And tax authorities from other states (New York, in particular) send agents to parking lots at major retailers in New Jersey to scan license plates for NY plates so they can track the purchases NY'ers make out of state. OTOH, it IS legal to avoid NY or NJ State Income Tax by living in Florida (which has no income tax) for 183 or more days a year. The people who do this are called "snowbirds."

IdrisSeabright wrote:

It certainly doesn't make sense to me to spend the time and the money to drive to Delaware. I'm way to lazy to be a good criminal.

Good example. But lots of New Yorkers drive to New Jersey because there is no tax on clothing. So a planned shopping trip to update your wardrobe can be quite cost effective. And fill the gas tank on your way back, because NJ gas is among the cheapest in the nation.

You can only get the phone without sales tax if you buy it some place that doesn't have sales tax. The state of Delaware is one such place.

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

In some cases, the goods sold by national companies are priced higher in non-sales tax states to keep customers from cheating.

I was unaware of that. Useful information.

It certainly doesn't make sense to me to spend the time and the money to drive to Delaware. I'm way to lazy to be a good criminal.

I did use to drive through New Jersey about twice a month. Always made sure to fill up there.