Huh? Pretty sure no one in this thread is under the illusion that Poland is in the USA. I can't find anything to suggest such. If they are, then sales tax concerns are the least of their problems.

ADDED: I did think of another possibility as to why they charge sales tax for users in some states but not others. In some states, they have laws that place the burden of reporting on paying on the consumer, not the selling company. Most do this through their income tax system, where it is up to the individual to report on his/her income taxes the purchases they made online without paying sales taxes, and then add that to their income tax liability. I have seen this when doing taxes from certain states. So maybe it's possible that some states emphatically put the responsibility on the seller (gog) so they collect the tax from that state while other states put the responsibility on the individual and they don't collect it in those states? I dunno, but it seems at least a logical possibility.

Here's one example: https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/taxforms/individual-income-tax/2022/760-2022.pdf

Screenshot shows the specific line.

Yeah, it sometimes happens that ISPs will assign your traffic and the traffic of a whole county though one routing box or another; for example I sometimes happen to end up marked as being in Virginia. I'm sure the state is lovely, but I don't live there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UweHX1Vpv90#t=95

US states have been charging digital sales tax as a result of the South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc (2018) case:
- https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/17-494_j4el.pdf
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Dakota_v._Wayfair,_Inc.

If you have any complaints, bring it up to your state's tax department. GOG must abide by these national-state tax laws in order to sell products there even if they operate remotely. Otherwise they legally cannot operate there and will be fined heavily.

EDIT: Thank you OldFatGuy below for the link correction.

I don't know that it matters, but your wiki link is missing the period after the "Inc" in "Dakota_v_Wayfair,_Inc". You can still get there from the link as is though by pressing another link so it may not matter.

Screenshot shows what I mean I think.

Haven’t heard a thing on my ticket, but I’ve verified it’s using IP geolocation and misidentifying my location by using a VPN and having it want to charge NY taxes instead. I’m guessing the IP pool my ISP is using is shared across state lines.

Everybody knows that California isn't the United States anymore. lol Only weridos and homeless folks. Just kidding! maybe. That being said, with that provision for California being there in the GOG documentation, I have never once paid sales tax on this site in over 3 years. I'd be curious to know which States are trying to collect from Gog. I'm in WV...so, they don't do that here.

I think people are ignorant of the law, because we have 51 different sets of regional laws. Each state is an autonomous nation in theory with its own laws, then there is the federal law. States have even ignored the Federal law on numerous issues. It's not like in Europe where there is one tiny little set of laws for each country. We also have districts where the federal law is even different because federal district judges interpret it differently. You try learning 20,000 plus legal books of info, smart guy. Gotta remember the United States is not technically a country, but a Republic of Autonomous States

Refer to economic nexus maps regarding remote sellers - https://www.avalara.com/us/en/learn/guides/state-by-state-guide-economic-nexus-laws.html

According to the above, Oregon, Montana, Delaware, and New Hamsphire do not require digital sales tax on remote companies. Every other state has their own conditions of when remote companies are required to charge and remit sales tax.

The only reason why GOG might not charge state sales tax in West Virgina is if they qualify as a small seller. In other words, they need to make less than $100k USD AND < 200 transactions in your state so you don't get charged taxes.

EDIT: forgot Delaware.

Works a bit differently. When I buy from itch.io, italian taxes get added to the price, even if itch is not even in the EU.

I don't know all the details, but generally speaking: digital sales get taxed in the country where the buyer lives, not where the company is.

Thanks so much for the info. I would have had no idea where to look. I can almost guarantee you that the only purchases made in WV are probably me. Almost definitely me. lol I mean...WV is almost a third-world nation by itself. lol

Regarding this part of your message, I am getting the same issue - I live in NE Wisconsin, but GOG is trying to charge me Chicago sales tax (which sucks because their sales tax is almost twice what my local tax rate is). GOG's system charges tax on where your IP address is located. Unfortunately I have Starlink, which mean my IP address is attached to the nearest POP (point of presence) which for me is Chicago. This same thing can occur with other providers that use dynamic IP addresses. You may be able to get away with this by using a VPN service, but I'm not paying for that...especially since it might not even help :)

You can contact support (like I did) but they will give you steps to take which fix nothing because it doesn't change my POP. Hopefully they will add a section on their website where you can enter your physical address..until then, i won't be buying anything from GOG. Its bad enough to have to pay sales tax to a foreign company for a digital product, but to pay Chicago sales tax (which is over 10% FFS) is just too big a pill to swallow.

Same issue in SW New Hampshire. Using cable, I'd get charged Vermont sales tax. Using cell service, Massachusetts sales tax. So for sure it's based on IP geolocation. I guess if I want to buy anything from GOG I need to put it on my grocery list for when I'm in Keene now. I have orders from this July that didn't have sales tax, so this is a new issue since then.

There's a slight problem in that it has become legally imperative. I feel that at this point, the punt is to GOG to actually bother.

Legally imperative?

Not sure what you mean.