Question

Mr. and Mrs. Underhill operate a hardware store in a jurisdiction that levies both a sales tax on retail sales of tangible personalty and an annual personal property tax on business tangibles. The personal property tax is based on book value as of December 31. This year, Mr. and Mrs. Underhill purchased $840,000 of inventory for their store.a. Are Mr. and Mrs. CS required to pay sales tax on the purchase of the inventory?b. How can Mr. and Mrs. CS minimize their personal property tax by controlling the timing of their inventory purchases?A. Minimize inventory on hand as of December 31.

B. Minimize inventory on hand as of March 31.
C. Minimize inventory on hand as of December 1.
D. Minimize inventory on hand as of April 30.

Answer 1

a). No.

b). Minimize inventory on hand as of December 31.

Step-by-step explanation:

As per the details provided, the Underhill couple is not eligible to pay any kind of sales tax while purchasing the inventories for their business. This is because the inventories are not purchased for resale. The sales tax that is levied on the final good(sold to the consumer) includes the tax on inventories indirectly as well. Therefore, charging sales tax on inventories when bought would lead to double tax on a single good. Thus, the answer would be 'No' i.e. option a.

As per the second question, in order to minimize the property taxes the couple requires to 'decrease their purchases associated with inventory on approaching December 31st.' This is due to the rule of 'First In and First Out.' If the inventories on 31st December is restricted, the taxes would be applied on property accordingly but if there's a huge stock, the higher amount of taxes would be levied depending on the property that is being used for the business. Thus, option b is the correct answer.