Dunkin Donuts Sales Tax Ripoff Pequannock New Jersey

I recently encountered the same thing at a Starbucks. I was being charged the meals tax rate for items that were non taxable. Every time I brought it to the attention of the clerk, they aknowledged that it was wrong, but that they had no way of doing anything about it, always refusing to escalate it and just charging the tax. After being charged an extra 80 cents a few times on a product that is non taxable, I finally had it. I contacted the State Revenue Dept  ( I am sure New Jersey also has one) and spoke to an auditor in the revenue department (they handle all state tax revenue issues) and I explained the situation. They were very interested in getting this resolved and are sending an auditor into the store to audit them and put a stop to it. Good for you for standing up when most consumers are too meek and cowardly to say anything while they are ripped off. Regardless of whether or not its an honest mistake or something done intentionally, it is wrong and should be corrected.  I recommend contacting the state of NJ revenue dept as I did for my state and get this corrected- think of the thousands of dollars this establishment is unlawfully collecting.

This report is not about prepared coffee. It is about the bags of coffee for sale. If you applied some logic to the report why would Dunkin Donuts web sales offer prepared coffee?

This report does not involve prepared coffee. It is specifically for the bags of coffee.

NJ charges 7% sales tax on all prepared food. A cup of coffee is considered "prepared". If you buy a bag of beans or grinds, you will not be charged any sales tax as it is NOT prepared. Same as if you buy a sub or sandwich at a NJ deli or even at WAWA. You are charged tax. If you buy the cold cuts, cheese and bread so you can make your own, you will not be charged tax. Hope this helps.

Of course it's a scam. The owners had the sales tax programmed into the registars even though the products are tax free. What a dishonest way to make a few extra pennies off each customer !

Of course it's a scam. The owners had the sales tax programmed into the registars even though the products are tax free. What a dishonest way to make a few extra pennies off each customer !

Specifically from the worksheet you reference:

PREPARED FOOD:
Sales of prepared food are subject to sales tax.
Prepared food, WHICH INCLUDES BEVERAGES, means:

-Food sold in a heated state or heated by the seller; or

-Two or more food ingredients combined by the seller and sold as a single item: or

-Food sold with eating utensils provided by the seller.

The following are NOT treated as prepared food UNLESS the SELLER PROVIDES eating utensils with the items:

-EATING UTENSILS include plates, knives, forks, spoons, glasses, cups, napkins, or straws.

So, DD does provide all the above making them a prepared food establishment. I certainly don't think they deserve to be lead to not pay their sales tax then possibly have to pay the penalty for not doing so just because you don't want to pay it.

If they're charging sales tax on a non-taxable item, the sales tax just goes to the state. I guarantee they're not "breaking it out" under taxable and non-taxable goods and pocketing the difference. It wouldn't make any sense on the peanuts they're collecting v the hugh penalty they'd get socked with by the state if they got caught. It's just not worth the trouble to program the register to ring up non-taxable items. Why should the state care? They're getting the extra dollar or two because someone is charging tax on a bag of coffee. Do you relly think the state is goona go after someone for charging too much tax? If NJ is the same as TX, the tax office has a form that you can fill out that you can request a refund of tax that was charged in error or if you were overcharged. I have my own store. One dipstick I USE to do business with, use to charge ME sales tax even though I was the end user and would charge the customer sales tax. I could have submitted the paperwork and they would have deducted the couple of dollars sales tax I paid him from his sales tax account. Do you actually think I would be dumb enough to submit the paperwork, draw aganist his account and raise red flags on both our accounts FOR A COUPLE OF DOLLARS? Hell no. He was just too lazy to program his register and fill out the proper paperwork. I stopped doing business with him. I guess you could always fill out the paperwork and request a refund on the overcharged tax. What are we talking about? Two or three dollars. Good luck.