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Just shy of a year ago, the United States Supreme Court ruled that out-of-state retailers are required to collect sales tax on internet sales. B&H has long been known for the absence of sales tax outside the state of New York and to account for the ruling, it’s decided to take a unique approach to effectively cancelling out the sales tax for B&H customers.
It’s called Payboo, and it’s a credit card B&H has created in partnership with Synchrony Bank that will automatically reward you, instantly, with the amount sales tax would effectively cost at checkout. As explained on B&H’s FAQ page about the new Payboo card, ‘B&H issues instant Payboo Card Savings on all non-tax-exempt purchases shipped to eligible states paid for with the Payboo Card in the form of a reward concurrently issued and redeemed directly on your order during checkout.’
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B&H further explains the process under the question ‘How does the Payboo Card benefit really work?’
‘When you pay for B&H purchases with the Payboo Credit Card, B&H will charge the total of merchandise plus applicable fees and taxes; but we instantly issue and apply a reward on orders made in our SuperStore or shipped to eligible states right in checkout as a form of customer payment. Then, the amount charged to the Payboo Card is net of the benefit applied.’
In other words, consumers won’t notice any difference in the cost, as B&H effectively takes on the cost of the sales tax. Better yet, since B&H collects and disburses state sales tax in accordance with state sales tax laws and regulations, nothing needs to be done on the consumer’s end come tax season.
B&H says there will be no upper-limit on how much you can save using this benefit and notes that the savings will vary based on the zipcode products are being shipped to. To apply for the B&H Payboo Card, which doesn’t require an annual fee, you must have a valid Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) and a U.S. billing address. Of course, applying doesn’t guarantee a card, which is subject to credit approval.
B&H addresses further questions on its Payboo page and has a dedicated page for signing up.
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