Sales tax is not a new occurrence

[uknz76]

I've got to say that the "not inclding tax" is a bit confusing to us tourists to start with, but it doesn't take much to figure out. I do prefer the system here where tax is 12.5% on everything, and its already included in the price.

If it says $12.99 you pay $12.99

Except we don't have 1c or 5c coins anymore so you pay $13. But you still know in advance.

[draggar]

I loved living in New Hampshire. You see $9.99 on a price tag, I can hand the cashier a $10 and walk out. No sales tax.

[Broomjockey]

The only positive aspect of Alberta that I can think of. No provincial sales tax. Just the stupid national one. *goes to check when it's being lowered to 5%, if they've set a schedule for that yet*

[Catwoman2965]

I always expect to pay some sort of tax, regardless of where I go. I live in NJ, so no tax on clothing, shoes, etc. But my parents are in VA, and its 5%. I just pay for whatever I'm buying, and whatever the price happens to with, with or without tax, depending on what it is.

Taxes are a way of life, so I don't understand why some people feel that they shouldn't have to pay it! Although I did wince a bit paying tax on the car I bought in Dec!

The only time I was surprised was in Puerto Rico; i purchased a really nice necklace from an artist in Old San Juan; they set up in one of the squares, and when she told me the price, I asked about tax, and she said no, they don't tax the artists, which was nice.

[DesignFox]

The only time I was surprised was in Puerto Rico; i purchased a really nice necklace from an artist in Old San Juan; they set up in one of the squares, and when she told me the price, I asked about tax, and she said no, they don't tax the artists, which was nice.

Sometimes, if you buy with Cash, they won't charge you the tax anyway. Not going to get into why as there are tons of reasons why they might choose to do this, but they might! When I bought some things in Hawaii, I paid cash, I didn't get charged tax...my BF used a CC and he got charged the taxes. Just saying.

I think your story is neat. I wish they treated our artists like that!

New Jersey isn't too bad...although they recently changed our sales tax from 6-7%...took customers a bit to get used to that, but no one I dealt with was sucky about it.

[digilight]

The reason for not including the tax in the stated price of the item is that it would not stay constant.

For example say you are in my county (Ventura California, Tax Rate is 7.25% here)

A item that is 89 cents would be 95 cents after tax

if you bought 49 items that are 89 cents the total after tax would be $46.77 ((49*0.89)*.0725) + (49*0.89) or (49*.89 = 43.61) + (43.61 * 7.25% = 3.16) = $46.77
instead of being the 46.55 (49*.95)

So by setting the prices so they round to the nearest cent it is really costing the store 22 cents in lost revenue on those 49 items. In reality the store would only be paying the lower amount on the taxes (you just pay on total sales, not on the total tax collected per sale) If you collect to much, then you end up with a little windfall, if you dont collect enough, then you end up paying more then you collected.

[Becks]

Here in Denver County there is a different sales tax rate on food and drink items than there is on non-edible items. 8.1% on food stuffs and 7.72% on the rest.

Remind me not to get food if I'm in Denver County. TWO separate ones?

New Jersey isn't too bad...although they recently changed our sales tax from 6-7%.

Last year, as a matter of fact. After the government shutdown (which I will NOT share my opinions about). There are certain areas, though, that only charge half the state sales tax. Woo hoo.

I'm glad that tax isn't charged on clothing.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

We have a sales tax here where I live and I was always flabbergasted at the sheer number of people who would act suprised when tax got charged at Kinko's.

Why would it NOT get charged?

[Kilamon]

G - Girl
Me- Hi there!

G- It says 74 cent. (Yeah, no plural there)
Me- That's before tax. After it's 80 cents. I rounded most of the prices down to avoid pennies. (typically thats all a customer needs to hear)
G- But it says 74.
Me- Right, but that's before sales tax.
G- This is a hospital, you can't charge tax.
Me- ?? Uhm, I'm required to.
G- Whatever. Take your 6 cents and shove 'em.

Ah, it could have gone so much better....

G: But it says 74.
You: It just went to 90 cents.
G: What?!
You: Dollar now.
G:
You: We are not a fish, dear. Close your mouth.
G: This is a hospital!
You: Well spotted! Two dollars now.

[FenigDurak]

Kilamon, I think you're my new hero. Can I buy you dinner?

[Sofar]

Sales tax gets complicated around here. It seems excessive but remember we have no income tax.

Washington state has a 6.5 per cent state sales tax, which doesn't apply to groceries, except for alcohol, tobacco, and soft drinks. In Seattle the sales tax is 8.8 per cent, and 9.3 per cent in restaurants and coffee shops, and residents of Oregon, Alaska, Montana, Delaware, and Alberta are exempt from everything.

[Kiwi]

When I first came to North America I was a little shocked by the adding tax on afterwards bit... it seemed to complicate things... it meant getting exact change ready because a real pitb!

I asked a few people about it and a shop keeper said, this is what I charge for the item, then the government adds on their share, im not going to make my goods look more expensive when Im not getting any of that money.

I thought that was fair enough, still seems convaluted though

[Jack7957]

Awhile ago i had a lady return a dress that, for whatever reason, she didn't get charged tax for. (don't ask me why or how that happened, as i have no idea.)

New York will sometimes have "Tax Free Week" where clothing under $150 does not get taxed. Counties and cities will also sometimes jump on that also, so here, you wouldn't pay the 8% total tax on the item.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Many times I've had to explain to the customers that they really are getting their tax back when they exchange something. They look at the receipt and see only the list price of the items, and the total, and think they are getting cheated. And then I have to explain how the computer takes their purchase amount, subtracts the returned amount, and then applies sales tax to the difference. So if you buy something for 10.00 and return something for 8.00, the tax on your receipt will be on the 2.00 difference, or 14 cents, and you will owe me 2.14. Or, (10.00 + 7%) - (8.00 + 7%) = (10.70 - 8.56) = 2.14. See, it all works out in the end. The computer is mighty smart that way...

I once had a girl exchange something that she bought in New York, and was buying a few other things, and I forgot to change the tax on the item she returned, and she made this huge deal about it and it took me several minutes to figure out how to fix it (this was on our old register system) and in the end it was all over less than 50 cents.

[Auto]

I asked a few people about it and a shop keeper said, this is what I charge for the item, then the government adds on their share, im not going to make my goods look more expensive when Im not getting any of that money.

That's pretty accurate as far as retailers go. Airlines love to lure you in with low prices. When you actually book a seat, you discover that with taxes and fees, the prices seems to have doubled.