We’re Now All Paying More for Deliveries in Minnesota
Don't look now, but you could now be paying more to have pretty much ANYTHING delivered to your home in Minnesota.
The increasing popularity of online shopping has been going on for a while here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and across the country. It took off during the pandemic when we all stayed home and tried to limit those trips to stores.
It IS pretty convenient to order something online while still in your jammies, and have it arrive at your doorstep a few days later without ever having to leave your house, right? Well, now it could cost you to have all packages delivered to your doorstep here in the North Star State.
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But as of now, it's more expensive to have all those things delivered to your home address here in the Bold North. That's because of a new law that was passed by the Minnesota Legislature back in 2023 but just took effect on July 1st, 2024 that adds a 50-cent delivery fee to certain home deliveries. (BTW, the fee would have been 75 cents in the original proposal, so, hey-- big win there!)
The new tax, sometimes called the 'Amazon fee,' won't apply to food — including restaurant meals — and won't apply to deliveries of medicine, baby products, or curbside pickup orders. And, there are some other restrictions on just when and where you'll have to pay this new fee. The Minnesota Department of Revenue explains more:
The fee applies to each transaction where charges for these items equal or exceed $100:
- Tangible personal property subject to sales tax
- Clothing
When calculating whether a transaction meets or exceeds the $100 threshold, a transaction includes all charges that are part of the sale, not including the Retail Delivery Fee.
The Retail Delivery Fee:
- Is not subject to sales tax if separately stated on the receipt or invoice
- Applies once per transaction, regardless of the number of shipments made
- Is shown as a separate line item on the receipt as “Road Improvement and Food Delivery Fee”
- Follows Minnesota sourcing rules for application
You'll see this new fee listed as a 'Road Improvement and Food Delivery Fee' on any receipts where the fee is assessed under the new law.
And while some might think that paying just 50 cents more on certain deliveries isn't a lot of money, however, overall, the new fee is expected to raise about $64 million annually for roads and transit in Minnesota.
Outside of this new delivery fee, the Gopher State still gets most of its funding for roads and highways from taxes on gasoline. And speaking of that, do you remember how much a gallon cost when you started driving? Keep scrolling to see!
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LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving
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