A New Jersey couple is among those suing Dunkin' Donuts for collecting nearly $4 million in sales tax on non-taxable items.

The suit filed by a Fort Lee couple claims that they were charged 7% sales tax on a bottle of water and packaged coffee purchased at a store in their town according to NorthJersey.com. The water and coffee are among items that are not subject to sales tax in New Jersey or New York. The overcharge brought in an additional $4 million in New Jersey and $10 million in New York City where the sales tax is 8.875%.

Attorney Carl J. Mayer of Princeton told the newspaper that he and lawyer Ted M. Rosenberg from Moorestown sent shoppers to make similar purchases at other Dunkin' locations and they were charged sales tax as well. Mayer and Rosenberg said they tried to alert the chain to the problems and did not get a response. There is a possibility that Mayer and Rosenberg may have the lawsuit turned into a class action suit. “In the aggregate, it’s probably millions of dollars from consumers’ pockets, not just in New Jersey, but in New York as well, and who knows, maybe across the country,” Mayer told the newspaper.

Dunkin' Donuts told the newspaper that they are "in the process of reaching out to the franchises identified in the complaint in order to determine whether these taxes were charged to customers."

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