[gamblor956]

100%.

The sales and use tax returns of companies that import more than a few thousand $ in goods into CA in a year are audited at least every other year, and they are quick to levy penalties.

For dropshipping companies with a significant amount of sales tax collected from CA customers, the sales tax they collected from you probably got to Sacramento before your item was even loaded onto a ship headed east.

[Algurnon]

Aliexpress is not a cali company importing... Its a small foreign merchant in an opaque country exporting into Calif. All Calif sees is a parcel delivered. I don't see how Calif has any jurisdictional powers to assert audits on a small chinese merchant in china.

[gamblor956]

Ali Express has an office in San Mateo, California...

Ali Express is one of the largest merchantile organizations in the world by shipment volume, and one of the largest importers of record in the U.S.

U.S. Customs provides customs records to local taxing authorities, who have always had the power of taxation over imported goods. (Import taxes aka customs duties have been around since at least Ancient Mesopotamia, circa BC 1900.)