NVDave: ““Use” taxes are levied on non-real property (ie, other than real estate or land) that is used in business.”
Sorry, but that’s not right. Use taxes don’t only apply to businesses. The rules likely vary from state to state, but in my state, use taxes apply to any product purchased out of state that is used in state. It just so happens that the use tax rate (in my state) is the same as the sales tax rate.
In some states, businesses and individuals are both legally required to track all interstate purchases and remit use taxes to the state government. Some states wisely allow consumers to pay a flat rate based on income when they file their annual taxes. It doesn’t matter if I buy something for noncommercial use. I still have to pay use taxes on it.
OK, that’s a one-time tax called a “use tax” which is just a way of them collecting sales tax on something not purchased in their state. A more accurate description of that tax would be “excise tax.”
The use taxes I’m referring to are paid *every year* that the property is used in business.