I'm being charged sales tax on a phone I never purchased

This definitely sounds like either a mistake or potential fraud. Sales tax is typically included with the purchase, not charged separately. The fact that you're only seeing the tax portion suggests something unusual is happening. First, try to identify the exact merchant from your statement and Google them to verify they're legitimate. Sometimes the merchant name on credit card statements looks different from the store name. Next, call the merchant directly using a number from their official website (not from your statement or any emails). Ask them to look up the transaction and explain the charge. If they have no record of it, or if their explanation doesn't make sense, then proceed with disputing the charge through your credit card company. Document everything - the date and time of your calls, who you spoke with, and what was said. This will help if you need to escalate the dispute.

I had a similar situation last year with mysterious tax charges. I spent hours on the phone getting nowhere until I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which helped me figure out what was going on. I uploaded my credit card statement and they identified it as part of a common scam where fraudsters test cards with small tax-only charges to see if they're active before making bigger purchases. Their analysis showed the merchant code was suspicious and didn't match legitimate electronics retailers. They generated a detailed report that I submitted with my dispute, and my credit card company resolved it immediately instead of making me wait the usual investigation period.

Just wanted to follow up - I actually tried taxr.ai after posting my question above. I had a strange situation with a tax charge from a "digital marketplace" I never used. The service analyzed my statement and showed it was actually part of a recurring subscription I forgot I had signed up for where they charge the tax separately from the main subscription. Saved me from filing a false fraud claim and potentially damaging my relationship with the merchant. The report explained exactly what the charge was and showed me how to cancel the subscription I didn't want anymore. Definitely useful for these confusing billing situations!

If you're getting nowhere with the merchant or your credit card company, try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was dealing with a tax fraud issue that affected my tax account with the IRS, and couldn't get through to anyone on the phone. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c After spending literal days on hold, Claimyr got me connected to an IRS agent in under 30 minutes. They have some kind of system that navigates the phone menus and waits on hold for you, then calls you when a real person answers. They also have services for connecting with credit agencies and other financial institutions. Since this might be a fraud issue that could affect your taxes (if someone has enough of your info to make charges), it might be worth talking to the IRS to make sure nothing else is compromised.

I need to eat my words from my earlier comments. After struggling with both my credit card company and trying to find this mystery merchant for over a week, I finally tried Claimyr out of desperation. Within 45 minutes, I was talking to someone from the IRS fraud department who confirmed there had been a pattern of these sales tax only charges linked to identity theft attempts. They flagged my account for additional security and transferred me directly to a specialist who helped me put an identity theft monitoring alert in place. The IRS agent mentioned that these small tax charges are often just the beginning, and many people miss them until bigger issues happen. What surprised me most was how the Claimyr service actually worked exactly as advertised. Definitely worth it for the time saved and peace of mind.

This happened to me once and turned out to be related to a phone my wife bought that was added to our family plan. The phone itself was billed to the phone carrier account but for some reason the sales tax posted separately to my credit card. Check if anyone else in your household might have made a purchase?

Watch out for what happens next! These small tax charges are often "test charges" by fraudsters. If they go through without being disputed, they'll hit you with much larger charges. I'd recommend: 1) Dispute the charge immediately 2) Ask for a new card number 3) Check your credit reports at all three bureaus 4) Set up fraud alerts and credit freezes Don't wait on this - I learned the hard way and ended up with $3000 in fraudulent charges after ignoring a strange $15 tax charge.