Myrtle Beach sales tax charged incorrectly

The city of Myrtle Beach implemented its new one percent sales tax a few weeks ago. But some people say they’re charged with the new tax, even though they don’t live in the city.
Robin Snyder, a local Sprint customer contacted us saying she received her Sprint cell phone bill with a letter saying all Myrtle Beach addresses would see the new one percent tax added to their bill. The problem is, she doesn’t live in the city.  Snyder lives in Horry County.  “I went online to check my bill and I saw the info on the bill saying important information regarding your bill,” said Snyder. “I clicked on it and that’s when I read through everything. I went whoa! I contacted Sprint and they told me just because I have a Myrtle Beach address, I’m being charged with it.“
Her average bill is about 70 dollars a month, so we’re talking about 70 cents, but she says it’s the principle.  So we asked the city how this could happen.
“We’ve heard from a handful of people who think they’ve been charged incorrectly and in most cases have been charged incorrectly,” said Mark Kruea, Spokesperson for the City of Myrtle Beach.  “A lot of national retailers set their cash registers by computers in far away states and that’s been one of the problems and the odd instances, like a telephone customer or movie customer whose been charged incorrectly because they don’t live inside the city.“
Kruea said the city sent out letters to merchants and the state also sent out a letter, but theirs went to all Myrtle Beach zip codes, even those out of the city. He said this is a glitch in the system and is expected with new tax initiatives.   
Kruea said the money goes directly to The Department of Revenue who then distributes it   back to the city.  The Department of Revenue today said they are, in their words, a holding cell. They don’t audit the money.  Kruea said that’s true but the city doesn’t audit it either. The logistics behind it are difficult.
If you see you’re wrongly charged on bills mailed to your address, call the company and tell them. If that doesn’t work, call the Department of Revenue and they can assist you from there.    Sprint didn’t return our call today.