JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A St. Johns County woman said she’s overpaid hundreds of dollars in sales tax on Amazon orders because the company is charging the wrong rate.
That consumer, Marianne Hatcher, said it’s a confusion of county lines.
She lives in the Julington Creek area, which is in unincorporated St. Johns County, but Amazon has been charging her the Duval County sales tax rate, which is higher.
The area has been considered “Jacksonville,” even though it is located in St. Johns County, because of its unincorporated status.
The tax rate between the two counties is just one percent — 7.5% in Duval County compared to 6.5% in St. Johns County. That might seem like a small difference, but it can add up over time.
Amazon is the primary shopping source for Hatcher.
“It’s so easy...so easy to find things,” she said.
But she said it took thousands of orders before she noticed extra costs hiding in plain sight.
She found table legs she ordered cost less when they were being shipped to her daughter in Orlando, Fl rather than when she ordered the same thing to her home in Julington Creek. She started looking into why.
She was shocked to find out that going back about a decade, the company had been charging her Duval County’s sales tax rate, despite her St. Johns County address.
“[I am] just shocked that as far back as I went on my account, it was wrong,” Hatcher said.
She estimated she’s overpaid $300 or $400 due to inaccurate sales tax charges.
“I think Amazon should be held accountable,” she said.
Amazon’s website says the amount of tax charged to your order depends on many factors, including:
- The type of item or service purchased
- The time and location of fulfillment
- The shipment or delivery address of your order
Through a neighbor on Nextdoor.com, Hatcher discovered that simply manually changing her delivery address city from “Jacksonville” to “St. Johns” solved the problem. In placing an order to her house, the estimated sales tax changed with the city name even though everything else remained the same.
Hatcher heard from others who were experiencing the same problem. She said her biggest concern isn’t her money, it’s everyone else’s.
A spokesperson from Amazon said it is continuing to look into the issue, telling the News4JAX I-TEAM it has apologized to Hatcher and will work directly with her to make this right.