What if the merchant insists on charging sales tax?
A. Pay the sales tax if the merchant refuses to waive it. The cardholder must first inform the merchant that the purchase is for “official U.S. Government business” and is not subject to state or local sales tax. The card is imprinted with the statement, “US Government Tax Exempt.” For larger purchases where the merchant refuses to waive the tax, the cardholder can present a state tax exemption letter. Cardholder can printout state tax exemption letters from the GSA SmartPay web site at www.fss.gsa.gov/services/gsa-smartpay/taxletter/.
