Mass. customers overcharged on sales tax by Walgreens.com, new report says

BOSTON — A Consumer World report found that Walgreens.com was overcharging Massachusetts customers on sales tax.

Walgreens.com, which is based out of Illinois, was improperly charging a 7 percent sales tax on nontaxable food items, according to the report.

The company was reportedly basing the sales tax number on Illinois state law and not Massachusetts.

In Massachusetts, food is not subject to sales tax except in restaurants.

The mistake was caught when a customer attempted to buy butter cookies and noticed the sales tax was higher than usual.

In a statement, Walgreens said the issue was identified and corrected in December and is no longer impacting customers.

“To help offset future instances like this, our team is working on a communication to be sent to all store leadership,” the spokesperson said. “Walgreens does not profit off sales tax errors of this kind, as all tax collected is turned over to the state and local taxing authorities.”

Although the issue has since been resolved, there is a hotline for customers if they believe they have been impacted.

“If customers believe they have been impacted and now owed a sales tax refund, please contact 877-250-5823 for assistance. We ask that impacted customers who call this number have on hand the order number found on their receipt to assist with the query.”

It is unclear how many customers have been affected.

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