William LipovskyLuLaRoe is one of the country’s largest multi-level marketing companies, selling women’s clothing through social media and “pop-up” home parties. Consultants purchase inventory directly from LuLaRoe, and then sell it through an online platform with the intention of making anywhere between 100% to 110% profit margin on each sale, depending on each product’s markup.
There has been some confusion among both consultants and customers about the LuLaRoe sales tax policy. In short, consultants are responsible for charging sales tax to their customers in accordance with the tax rate of the state in which the customer lives. Customers will see the sales tax, if any, added to their total purchase price before approving payment through the LuLaRoe vendor system. Keep reading for more specific information regarding the LuLaRoe sales tax policy.
When LuLaRoe customers purchase a product, they will be charged the sales tax applicable to their state of residence. The sales tax is added to the amount of the purchase price and charged immediately, so it’s not something customers should need to worry about when they’re making a purchase.
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LuLaRoe’s Sales Tax Policy
When a consultant sells a product, he or she uses LuLaRoe’s portal site, Audrey, to collect the funds. When the funds are collected, a small credit card processing fee is charged, as well as a sales tax (see more below). The remainder is deposited into the consultant’s checking account after approximately 2 – 3 days of processing time.
While the process may seem simple enough, there has been some confusion as to how a consultant should charge sales tax. Because sales tax is dependent on the state where the customer lives (not on where the consultant lives), it can be cumbersome to research sales tax policy for consultants who have orders coming in from many different states. For that reason, LuLaRoe uses the Audrey software to conduct its transactions. The software is programmed with sales tax rates for each state. The final sales tax rate is assessed against the “ship to” address. The consultant will be able to input his or her customer’s information before finalizing payment, and the Audrey system will automatically calculate the appropriate tax.
Sales Tax, by State
For reference, in case you’d like to calculate the sales tax ahead of placing an order, below is each state’s sales tax rates for clothing, courtesy of TaxFoundation.org:
- Alabama: 4%
- Alaska: 0%
- Arizona: 5.6%
- Arkansas: 6.5%
- California: 7.25%
- Colorado: 2.9%
- Connecticut: 6.35%
- Delaware: 0%
- Florida: 6%
- Georgia: 4%
- Hawaii: 4%
- Idaho: 6%
- Illinois: 6.25%
- Indiana: 7%
- Iowa: 6%
- Kansas: 6.5%
- Kentucky: 6%
- Louisiana: 5%
- Maine: 5.5%
- Maryland: 6%
- Massachusetts: Exempt from state sales tax (up to $175 per item)
- Michigan: 6%
- Minnesota: Exempt from state sales tax
- Mississippi: 7%
- Missouri: 4.225%
- Montana: 0%
- Nebraska: 5.5%
- Nevada: 6.875%
- New Hampshire: 0%
- New Jersey: Exempt from state sales tax
- New Mexico: 5.125%
- New York: Exempt from state sales tax (up to $110 per item)
- North Carolina: 4.75%
- North Dakota: 5%
- Ohio: 5.75%
- Oklahoma: 4.5%
- Oregon: 0%
- Pennsylvania: Exempt from state sales tax
- Rhode Island: Exempt from state sales tax (up to $250 per item)
- South Carolina: 6%
- South Dakota: 4.5%
- Tennessee: 7%
- Texas: 6.25%
- Utah: 5.95%
- Vermont: Exempt from state sales tax
- Virginia: 5.3%
- Washington: 6.5%
- West Virginia: 6%
- Wisconsin: 5%
- Wyoming: 4%
- District of Columbia: 5.75%
Filing State and Federal Income Taxes as a LuLaRoe Consultant
LuLaRoe sellers typically receive a 1099 form. However, just like with all 1099’s, a person must earn at least $600 first. If consultants don’t receive a 1099, they are still expected to self-report their LuLaRoe income (How much is that, you may ask? Find out in our article: Average LuLaRoe Consultant Income Revealed) and pay federal income taxes accordingly.
Although LuLaRoe doesn’t take income taxes out of consultants’ commission checks, the company does withhold state sales tax on commissions, which it then pays to the state in which the consultant resides.
In Summary
Although LuLaRoe has been accused of charging incorrect sales tax to its customers, LuLaRoe is now working to make the sales process easier for consultants selling to out-of-state buyers. In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, a LuLaRoe spokesperson blamed a system failure for the sales tax problem that led to a recent lawsuit. LuLaRoe is working to ensure that all affected customers are refunded for sales tax overcharges. It seems that customers and consultants can expect smoother sailing ahead when it comes to the LuLaRoe sales tax process.
Cathy Desmet
Kait Scirri
Loren Eaton
Katie Spence
Erika Crawford
Lindsey Desmet
Joseph Cho
Maria R. Riegger, Esq.
Why is a LLR consultant paying sales tax on wholesale product that will be resold with taxes again? That’s not how a business works.
I have a business. We buy product wholesale (no tax) and add sales tax on resale
Hi Mary,
The consultants don’t pay sales tax when they buy inventory from LulaRoe, rather, they charge their customers sales tax (as calculated by their point of sales app, Audrey) when the customer buys an item.
Are the LLR consultant’s responsible for paying the city tax? Ex… I live in TN which is 7% but the city tax is 2.75%.
Hi,
Audrey should calculate sales tax according to the buyer’s address, so it should automatically include a city sales tax if there is one.
Hi- so what if you live in an origin based tax state?
Or does that not apply with this company?
Hi Kristi,
What we have found is that the LuLaRoe point-of-sale system (called Audrey) determines sales tax based on the address of the customer, not the address of the consultant. LuLaRoe came under fire in 2016 because it was charging customers sales tax based on the location of the consultant. Since then, countless customers have received sales tax refunds from the company.
Time for me to be refunded once again. Florida consultant keeps charging me tax and it adds up fast. Could buy another article of clothing with that money.
I want to know why taxes are being charged from Consultants who live in Origin-Based States to Buyers who reside in a different State? These Consultants do not have Nexus in these states. So, if I purchase from someone in Pa and I live in IL, I should not be paying taxes according to my Accountant. LuLaRoe is charging the taxes thru it’s Audrey system based in Ca which is also a Origin-Based State. LuLaRoe may have State Nexus but I am not buying from them, I am buying from a Independent Merchandiser in a different State. Please explain why this taxing is happening? I am researching this to see if it Legal.
I recently received over $100 in refunds for being charged tax on my purchases. I live in Oregon. Just yesterday I noticed I am being charged tax again from some consultants but not others. When I asked one consultant she told me she has no control over this issue. So frustrating. I know this is only a small amount, but those small amounts add up.
Hi Rhonda,
The consultants do have control over sales tax issues. It is up to them to decide whether to check the tax box on the transactions page or not. If you feel you’ve been wrongly charged tax on a purchase, get in touch with the consultant and, if you can’t get an answer there, consider contacting LuLaRoe directly using this contact form.
Thank You so much Rebecca for your help.
There is no box to uncheck. In the old system or the newest one. LuLaRoe sets all that up for us. We cannot change it u fortunately.
Thanks for the updated information. It looks like customers will have to contact LuLaRoe directly in instances when sales tax is charged incorrectly.
I received 2 refunds into my bank account yesterday from LLR.
I live in GUam and we do not have taxes here but the consultant is charging me because where she is there is tax. Please clarify this?
Hi Marbee,
Here’s where sales tax can get tricky. Some states have origin-based tax laws, while others have destination-based tax laws. It comes down to where the clothes are being shipped from. If you know the state, I can verify that it is an origin-based tax state.
I have ordered quite a few LuLaRoe items online and have been charged tax on my shipping. I did not see anything in the about that in the above article. Can LuLaRoe consultants charge tax on the clothing and tax on shipping when it is not stated on their websites? And only certain consultants do it. Thank you in advance for your help.
Hi Theresa,
You raise a good point. Interestingly, certain states do charge sales tax on shipping charges. A good example of this is New York (read more about this here: https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/tg_bulletins/st/shipping_and_delivery_charges.htm).
Not sure what state you live in, but if your state charges tax on clothing, you will be taxed. Whether or not your shipping charges are taxed will depend on the state you live in. If you want to give me your state, I can research whether shipping charges are taxed there.
I have been getting charged taxes on my out of state purchases all the time. I live in MN where there is no tax on clothing purchases. I don’t believe your consultants are understanding the billing system. How do I get my refunds?
thank you.
Hi there! We’re not affiliated with LuLaRoe and can’t speak for them in any way. You can email LuLaRoe at [email protected] if you’d like to contact them directly regarding billing charges. As many customers have been seeing sales tax refunds show up in their bank accounts recently, it’s possible that you may be receiving refunds soon too. However, you’ll definitely want to talk to the consultant(s) who sold you the clothing or contact LuLaRoe to get information specific to your situation. I hope this helps!
So what about cash sales to a customer in the same state as the consultant? Audrey has the capability to do a cash/check sale when a consultant checks out a customer. However, as you can imagine, LLR is not collecting sales tax on that sale. It is then up to the consultant to collect and pay state sales tax on that purchase (according to the state of the sale), correct? That would mean said consultant would need to have a resale use and tax license from the state in order to collect and pay the tax. Specifically, I am talking about Utah, but would be applicable to most states.
Also on top of this question– what about when a consultant sells inventory they originally received from LLR directly (tax free) and sells that inventory to another consultant that lives within the same state? Wouldn’t the receiving consultant technically need to have a sale and reuse tax license and fill out a TC-721 (Utah) and provide that to the selling consultant?
Josh,
I reached out to LuLaRoe customer service through their online contact form yesterday regarding this question as well, but I haven’t received a response from them yet. I’m sorry to say that I’m not sure what the consultant’s responsibilities would be in the case of a sale made to another consultant and the associated licenses required. If I do hear back from LuLaRoe, I’ll respond to your comment again with updated information. Again, I apologize that I can’t give you more information at this time.
Josh,
You’ve asked an excellent question. I reached out to LuLaRoe customer service through their online contact form yesterday, but I haven’t received a response from them yet. Since they don’t provide any information that would answer your question on their website and offer no phone number where I can reach someone who might be able to help, I’m sorry to say that I’m not sure what the consultant’s sales tax responsibilities would be in the case of a cash/check sale. If I do hear back from LuLaRoe, I’ll respond to your comment again with updated information. Agan, I apologize that I can’t give you more information at this time.
As a LLR consultant I did ask this question. I was told they collect the cash sales tax through our other incoming payments. If one person used cash to buy leggings you would ring them up and charge tax the same way as a cc purchase. If someone else bought something using a CC then they would pull the tax for the cash sale through the CC payment. This was told to me by people on my team. I am not sure if this is completely accurate. So much information is conflicting when dealing with LLR. It is hard to know what is accurate. You can can talk to different people at the corporate office and get multiple different answers. Very frustrating and another reason I am quitting. My understanding is that as long as we did add the cash payment into the system then LLR pulled the sales tax at some point via other payments received. They were then responsible for paying the sales tax. We did not have to pay the sales tax. if the consultant did not run the cash payment through the system they would be responsible for paying the sales tax to the state.
The Audrey money system excuse is a lie. The consultants were charging the taxes. I argued back & forth with quite a few consultants for charging me taxes on my purchases made from consultants in other states (I live in Massachusetts–no sales tax on clothing under $175). Numerous consultants told me I had to pay the tax from the state THEY lived in because THEY had to pay taxes on their inventory. I knew this was wrong but I was stuck being charged for it anyway. It made me so mad that I stopped buying Lularoe all together because it was too time consuming to find where each consultant lived (to avoid the tax I shouldn’t be paying). Also, after all said and done, I was spending $30 for one pair of leggings. Not worth it when they boast it’s only $20! I have many items by Lularoe because I became addicted until I started being charged all these crazy taxes. I’m happy the company is finally trying to fix this issue.
Heather M. I am sorry to hear about your experience. I am a LLR consultant about to quit. I hope to clear up any confusion. I just wanted you to know that consultants truely did not have control over the tax when using the old Audrey invoicing system for online sales. This has recently been changed, but not all consultants have switched yet. We still do not control it. The system changes it once the person puts in their zip code. We must hope/trust the new system calculates the tax correctly. The new system requires many steps in order to switch over. Involving a hard hit credit check, a merchant agreement, and a new debit card that we are now payed on instead of direct deposit into our bank accounts. Once all of these are completed, and the consultant receives her new debit card then she can switch. The new system only works on Apple devices through an app. Many consultants must also purchase some type of apple phone or tablet. LLR does not have a web platform available yet. This is some of the reasons why some consultants have not switched. The company made consultants use the old Bless system. Many consultants were concerned about the practice of using our home zip for the sales tax to be calculated. We voiced our concerns and were told many times that this was the correct way of doing things. We could not change the tax zip code when sending an invoice. We never saw the tax money. LLR collected it and was responsible for paying the tax money to our home state. We do not pay our own sales tax. The way it worked was that LLR would collect our incoming payments through their system. Then they would take out the CC processing fees and tax money. After they had collected the tax and fees they would put the leftover money in our accounts. This is why consultants could not refund you. If they did they would be doing so out of their own profit after taxes and fees had been collected by LLR. If we did pay this out of our own pocket we would not be able to get that money back From LLR. I hated this system. Because, I was unable to change the tax in our Invoicing system. I would discount the price of the clothing until it made up for the tax price the customer should not have been charged. I lost money doing that and will not be refunded by LLR for doing so. I felt it was better to keep customers happy though. I did find it strange that if we used our app at an in home party we were able to change the tax location based on the in home party location.. Unfortunately, you could not send an invoice using the app. You could only scan the card, or type cash payments in. Consultants asked many times why if it could be done on the app, that we couldn’t do it when sending an invoice. For this reason and many others I am soon to be out of this company. It puts good consultants in a bad situation. LLR did not allow us the ability to do what we thought was right. They also gave us bad advice and forced us to use a billing system that was incorrect. Making us look like the ones taking your tax money and keeping it. I assure you the tax money was never put into our poccession at all. I acknowledge that many consultants are not as helpful as they could be. They should of helped you get the refund. I hope LLR refunds all of your tax money. Contact them directly. With this lawsuit going on they are trying to make sure everyone is payed back. I hope this info helps explain that this is a LLR corporation issue. Most consultants try to provide good customer service. Unfortunately, they were given faulty instructions by LLR to follow. LLR did not provided consultants with support on this subject until the lawsuit was started. Only stating this was the correct way to handle sales tax It was such a frustrating situation all around for both the consultants and the customers.
Here is the email for LLR to get your money back. [email protected] . I hope you the best and I am sorry you had such a bad experience.
First off the sales tax is controlled by Lularoe NOT the consultant. Second Leggings are $25 NOT 20. They system has been revamped to apply taxes to invoices of state of purchasers. Remember most of these consultants are just people trying to bring a product to the consumer. NOT rip you off. They don’t profit from sales tax, they don’t even get the funds. LULAROE centrally distributes those taxes to the sates.
Hello, I just wanted to give some information on this as I was someone that was taxed when I should not have been. It looks like LuLaRoe is correcting this as I went to check my credit card statement today and there were 154 returns on my card from LuLaRoe….about $450 I paid in taxes returned…..I was thrilled to see they corrected this for me. So if you’re owed a return on taxes paid keep an eye on your credit card statements as it may just show up
I just tried to make a purchase from someone in Texas and I was charged not only taxes on the item, but also on the shipping cost. I live in a sales-tax-free state. Evidently the consultants are unaware there is a problem and are continuing to do business as usual and charging their local taxes.
I live in PA and am still being charged sales tax when I purchase. It seems like the problem has not been fixed.
I live in Pennsylvania and we are not charged sales tax on “most” clothing items. There are a very few exceptions. I have informed the consultants that PA does not charge sales tax on clothing. They state that it is out of their control and that if I want the item I need to pay the invoice as charged with the tax included, if not then I will forfeit the item. I feel this is very wrong. I have asked each one of them for a refund but no one answers me back. Once the sale has gone through and they get their money they don’t want anything to do with you. Can you please let me know how I should proceed to get my money back for the sales tax I have paid?
Thank you,
Hi Dawnn,
You’re definitely right that there’s been an ongoing issue in Pennsylvania with LuLaRoe customers being charged sales tax. The latest information I’ve found indicates that the lawsuit against LuLaRoe is still seeking class action certification, so at this time, there are few options besides trying to work with the LuLaRoe consultants through whom you made the purchase, or contacting LuLaRoe directly. We’ve had several readers on the site who have received refunds by getting in touch with LuLaRoe — the process seems to be very slow, but it could be picking up steam as the problem gains more attention. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you a more immediate solution, and best of luck getting this resolved!
I have been charged tax from almost every consultant that I have bought from and I live in pa which is no sales tax on clothing
Hi Courtney,
I’m sorry to hear that you’re among the shoppers that have had to deal with the LuLaRoe sales tax issue. LuLaRoe recommends that customers work with the consultant who made the sale to handle order-related problems, or, if the consultant can’t provide further assistance or you can’t contact them, to reach out to LuLaRoe directly through this Contact Us form. It seems that the lawsuit against LuLaRoe is still seeking class action certification at this time, so unfortunately I can’t provide you with any further recommendations other than to try to pursue a refund through LuLaRoe’s customer service. Best of luck getting this resolved!
As of 3/16 I have begun seeing credits on my accounts from LuLaRoe.seven individual credits so far. It appears they are refunding tax collected from residents where there should not have been (I’m in NJ-we do have a 7% sales tax however no tax on clothing). I had already calculated my total sales taxes paid to out of state consultants. $81.41 over the last year! It looks as if they are auditing per consultant as the ones refunded to me were from three different consultants.
I live in MA and have received several tax refunds on my credit card as of yesterday.
I had sent an inquiry to the company on 6/29/16 with confusion about the tax policy and got this response:
“Thank you for your feedback however we do apologize on the procedure and the tax policy. We will pass this along to our sales tax department.”
Better late than never, I suppose! Still love the clothes.
Hi Amber,
I’m glad to hear you were able to get the refund you were due. Thanks for sharing your experience — hopefully this is a ray of hope for other readers!
The last two days I’ve been getting refunds from Lularoe in my checking and credit card for taxes. I have not contacted the company. I know it’s for all the tax I was charged. 🙂
Stefanie,
That’s great to hear! I’m glad that you were given a refund for the taxes you were erroneously charged. Thanks for commenting!
I just paid an invoice today for Kate Germany & was charged $4.73 for tax that I shouldn’t have been charged because I live in NJ. She told me I was to email salestax@lularoe to get credited back for the tax. Thx! Mary. I’ve been ordering LLR for over 6 months now & have gotten charged from some consultants.
NJ also does nt tax clothing
Amy,
You’re absolutely right! Thank you for bringing that error to our attention. We’ll correct the article right away so it reflects New Jersey’s clothing sales tax exemption.
Massachusetts does charge sales tax for clothing. You have mos information in your article.
Stef,
You’re absolutely right! Thank you for bringing that error to our attention. We’ll correct the article right away so it reflects the Massachusetts sales tax exemption for clothing and shoes up to $175.
In Minnesota we also do not have sales tax on clothing and it says that we do.
Rhonda,
You’re absolutely right! Thank you for bringing that error to our attention. We’ll correct the article right away so it reflects Minnesota’s clothing sales tax exemption.
I live in PA also and have been charged sales tax by some consultants. I have requested refunds from an email address that the consultants gave me and I have yet to get a reply from Lularoe for any of the emails.
Hi Sue,
I’m sorry to hear about the issues you’ve had with LuLaRoe. I’ve done some further digging and unfortunately, it seems that it’s not uncommon for customers to have a hard time getting in touch with LuLaRoe customer support. The LuLaRoe website itself recommends that customers work with the consultant who made the sale to handle order-related problems, or if the consultant can’t provide further assistance, to them. It seems that the lawsuit against LuLaRoe is still seeking class action certification at this time, so unfortunately I can’t provide you with any further recommendations other than to continue trying to pursue a refund through LuLaRoe’s customer service. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you a more immediate solution, and best of luck getting this resolved!
I tried the email a consultant gave me for a sales tax refund & had no luck. [email protected]. I don’t understand how some consultants will work with u with NJ not being taxed & some say it’s their system that charges the tax & they have nothing to do with it nor will help. It’s not right getting charged tax when u don’t have tax on clothing in NJ.
Mary,
You’re right! You shouldn’t be charged sales tax for clothing when you live in a state that exempts clothing. I recommend reaching out to your LuLaRoe sales rep again; as we hear back from more and more readers who are beginning to see refunds appear in their bank accounts for incorrectly charged sales tax, I hope you’ll soon be among them. Best of luck to you!
Just be patient I’ve received a ton of credits without any knowledge of this situation. So I googled why is llr crediting my acct and it brought me here
The chart above states that PA has. 6% sales tax, however PA does not tax clothing. I live in PA and have been charged the 6% for purchases.
Pam,
You’ve brought up a great point, and I’m glad you brought this to our attention. You’re correct, Pennsylvania does not charge sales tax on most clothing items (with a few exclusions). However, a pending class action suit will seek to explore an issue with the way that LuLaRoe consultants process sales. Their online sales platform charges tax based on the location of the consultant instead of the location of the customer, which is one reason that you may have been charged a 6% tax for your LuLaRoe purchases. I’m sorry to hear that you were charged sales tax for purchasing LuLaRoe items when Pennsylvania doesn’t tax clothing! I’ll look into getting that information changed in the article so it’s correct.
Hello, I live New York State. According to your tax rate for NYS, it states sales tax is exempt up to 110.00 per item. Each time that I made a purchase sales tax was applied. I live in Erie County. Sales tax is 4.75% on clothing. What is the tax rate that LLR applied to
my purchases????
Sonja,
Without looking at your LuLaRoe purchase statements, I wouldn’t be able to tell you what tax rate was applied to your purchases. However, if the tax rate you were charged was different from the 4.75% sales tax in your county, it’s possible that you were incorrectly charged at the clothing sales tax rate applicable to the LuLaRoe consultant that sold it to you. It sounds like LuLaRoe is working on going back and making corrections when sales tax was incorrectly applied, so if you were charged incorrectly, you should be seeing refunds appearing in the near future. I hope this helps!
I have been getting refunds back on the card I used so you should be seeing refunds on your end if you were incorrectly charged.
They also charge tax on the shipping not supposed to. They are making a boat load of money claiming tax and most probably didn’t return the tax dollars to the state itself.
Charging tax on shipping …. shipping is a flat rate point blank
They should be audited because this is almost as bad as a Madoff of stunt. Think about it 6 billion in sales and the taxes on top of shipping. Great way to lost customer trust. I have been in IT for 27 years trust me they knew what they were doing. Lularoe has to return those tax dollars or prove where it went. Lord knows as a private company they could show anything to an auditor
The consultant I purchase from advertises on her VIP page that she charges all customers the same sales tax (6.5%), regardless of where they’re located. Should she being doing this? That’s higher than WI sales tax where I live. Should I be seeking a refund on the extra sales tax charged from my purchases?
Brittany,
From what I understand, consultants no longer have control over how much (if any) sales tax is charged to customers — the LuLaRoe system automatically calculates this.
I don’t get charged taxes by my consultant in DE. But do from one in TX. However, after a few days I will see a credit on my CC statement.