Lowe’s Stuck With $2.6 Million South Carolina Sales Tax Bill

Lowe’s Homes Centers LLC is on the hook for about $2.6 million in sales tax and interest because it improperly remitted sales tax on the wholesale prices of materials it purchased for installation contracts, the South Carolina Court of Appeals said Wednesday.

The materials for the installation contracts were tangible personal property ultimately transferred to customers, and that was the “last sale in the chain of transactions,” which means that retail sales took place, the court said. Because these transactions were retail sales, they were subject to the state sales tax, Judge Stephanie P. McDonald said.

The state Department ...