California has this neat little thing called a use tax, so even if you find a web site that has no physical operation in California so that they are excluded from collecting sales tax from you, you are still obligated to pay the 'use tax'.

A friend of mine thought she was smart to order her cigarettes from an out of state operation. The state of California got the records for shipments to California and sent her a bill.

TurboTax California edition now asks if you purchased any goods from out of state, consumed or used them in California and did not pay California sales tax.

All the details from the State Franchise Tax Board:
http://www.ftb.ca.gov/current/usetax.shtml

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