I was told on good authority the reason for this is that the Feds don't pay the state sales tax and refuse to supply the proper tax forms. The states then hit Home Depot for huge amounts of state tax after the fact and they have no documentation to prove they don't owe it. Home Depot is merely making a business decision. Apparently the profit margin at Home Depot is so low that shelling out the 7-8 percent tax (and penalties) down the road puts the purchases bought by the Feds in the negative profit column.
Sounds like it might be time to buy some Home Depot stock as their profits are going to go up.
I was told on good authority the reason for this is that the Feds don't pay the state sales tax and refuse to supply the proper tax forms. The states then hit Home Depot for huge amounts of state tax after the fact and they have no documentation to prove they don't owe it.That is entirely possible, although legally they can demand the paperwork and charge them sales tax unless they comply. Maybe it is just too much hassle to report them to the Comptroller for non-compliance. I have to complete tax exemption forms all the time for our vendors...my problem is with the cashiers not being trained on how to process them, I always seem to get this blank stare and then have to go through several layers of management to get the purchase approved as tax-exempt.