Sales tax is not a new occurrence

[Jester]

so I tried my best to go through all my drinks and candy bars to round out the price so that after tax it was a round number. Something that Docs and Nurses could toss at me as they go.

I understand why big chains and stores don't standardize the prices on their shelves. But if YOU are setting the prices for your store in the hospital, it sounds like you could list the prices with the taxes already included in them. I have been in some places that do do that, and will sometimes even have a sign to that effect.

Newsflash: virtually every bar does this. Booze is, of course, taxed, but if they ask you for $4 for that Corona you just bought, all you owe them is $4. Why? Because they have figured out their price they want to charge, figured what the tax would be, and figured that it would be easier to just figure it all in together. This is done, I would imagine, so that when people are purchasing just booze the transaction can go much quicker. In high volume bars especially, this is a very good thing.

Just a thought. Hope it didn't "tax" your brains too much.

[Jester]

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.

That's nothing compared to the ridiculousness the rental car companies go through with their "prices."

[Kara]

Taxes are far worse in the cell phone world. Not only do you get sales tax, but there are all kinds of fees charged by the federal government, your state, your county, and your city. And when any of those surcharges change, we get screaming people who don't understand that we A) don't see any part of those fees, they go to their respected agencies, B) have not control over increases/decreases in those fees, and C) that if they cancel and go to the competition they will be charged the exact same fees.

Best call ever, this customer wanted to know the price of a phone. I told her what it was ($49.99, I think). Then as I'm going over her confirmation, which is where the system calculates their sales tax based on zip code, she the following occurred:

SW: You said $49.99.
ME: Yes.
SW: Then where did this amount come from?
ME: Well, that's your sales tax.
SW: You didn't say that!
ME: Ma'am, I can only see the list price. Since tax rates vary everywhere, I can't see what your specific tax will be until we've started the order, once I put your address in.
SW: You can't do that!
ME: Do what?
SW: Charge me taxes without telling me!
ME: Ma'am, I don't like paying taxes any more than anyone else, but we all have to. Unless you live in Oregon.
SW: You lied to me!
ME: No, I didn't.
SW: This is false advertising! I'll sue!
ME: Ma'am you can't sue us for your local sales tax being charged.
SW: Take it off!
ME: I can't do that.
SW: Why not?
ME: Because it's illegal.
SW: This is ridiculous! I'll go to another provider!
ME: And anything you purchase from them will also be charged sales tax.

[Greebo]

Go Norway! Same tax over the whole country. Then again, there's less people in the whole of Norway than there is in a medium-sized city in USA. Also, the tax is 25%

First post btw, haven't bothered joining earlier because I haven't met any sucky customers myself. Then again, I'm working as a telemarketer, which means that any possible sucky customers decide to hang up at once or just whine a bit about what we are allowed and not allowed to do. Oh, and again, I'm in Norway. Less people = less sucky people.

[Sofar]

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.

If you only deal in tenths of a dollar, then why do you bother with that extra decimal place? Just say it's "$12.9." A ten-cent piece* isn't really a ten-cent piece anymore, what with no cents it's just a tenth of a dollar. You could call the coins decs or decimals or something.

*Is the U.S. the only place where they're called dimes?

[Greebo]

If you only deal in tenths of a dollar, then why do you bother with that extra decimal place?

In the norwegian equivalent of dollars and cents, we only work with 50 "cents", no less, so it's actually only 1/2 of a krone (our currency).

Still things in stores can cost x.90 and so on, so it seems a bit cheaper than it is. Just like when something costs 599 instead of 600 etc.

[Andara Bledin]

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.

The less money involved, the more they fight to get you to give it to them.

.... it's the principle of it, don't you know...

That's nothing compared to the ridiculousness the rental car companies go through with their "prices."

Actually, with car rentals, it's the insurance that doubles the price. The insurance is optional and you don't have to take it (I believe), but many companies will lie and say you do. I got a check from Fox Car Rental because of a class action against them for doing that.

^-.-^

[BusBus]

Has it occured to anybody else here that a lot of this trouble could be saved by giving people the price after tax? It just seems strange to me that you endure so much asshatery when you could just label the item with the full price.

I never thought about this until I started working at a tourist trap and got all sorts of complaints from Aussies and Brits. It would certainly make life easier.

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*

BOOO! Rub it in, why don't ya? We have to pay 6% in fed tax and 7% in prov tax.

*Is the U.S. the only place where they're called dimes?

No, ten cent coins are referred to as dimes in Canada as well. We have pennies, nickels,dimes, quarters, loonies and twoonies. Granted, you do see the occasional 50-cent piece, but not enough to give it a cool nickname.

[Bluenomi]

I love being in Australia, prices here legally have to have the sales tax already added so the price you see is the price you pay. Means you don't get any nasty suprises at the register. Also means you don't have to remember what things have GST and which don't which is a godsend at the supermarket where some food does and other food doesn't. And everybody makes sure things are nice even amounts. Bless

[Shengirl]

Wow, this makes me happy to live in Maryland. Sales tax is 5%, which is both smaller than all of the numbers mentioned here and the easiest thing ever to calculate. Move the decimal point one space to get 10%, then divide it in half. Makes tipping waiters 15% easy, too - take your $18.50 meal, see that 10% is ~$1.90, and multiply it by two so you have 20%. Five for tax and 15 for tip.

The little tricks don't work at the grocery store, though. Eggs, milk, bread, and some other random things are not taxed, while everything else is. Though I did have one middle-aged lady swear to me that I should not have charged her tax on her Gatorade because "there's never been tax on food in Maryland!" Sure, lady, it's only been around as long as I can remember...

[katie kaboom]

Though I did have one middle-aged lady swear to me that I should not have charged her tax on her Gatorade because "there's never been tax on food in Maryland!"

well then why the hell have i been paying taxes on food all these years?? Man, i could be rich if i got all that money back.

[Jester]

Actually, with car rentals, it's the insurance that doubles the price.

I was not even referring to the insurance, which as you pointed out is actually optional. I am talking about the difference between their advertised rate and the actual rate, after they add in all their taxes, fees, surcharges, etc. Ricockulous!

Makes tipping waiters 15% easy, too...

Pssst....you are allowed to tip more than 15% for good service, you know. Just saying.....

[uknz76]

If you only deal in tenths of a dollar, then why do you bother with that extra decimal place? Just say it's "$12.9." A ten-cent piece* isn't really a ten-cent piece anymore, what with no cents it's just a tenth of a dollar. You could call the coins decs or decimals or something.

*Is the U.S. the only place where they're called dimes?

We only got rid of the 5c (Not a nickle here) coin last September. People usually pay electronically with credit or debit (which we call EFTPOS) so they pay the exact ammount anyway.

[Starlord]

My wife and I ran a hot dog stand, and our state charges sales tax for preapred food, but not for most groceries. My wife previously worked at a department store in Washington state, and people from Oregon did not have to pay Washington's sales tax if they ssigned a book. This car pulls in and daddy gets out and orders about $20 worth of food. When my wife quotes the price and the tax. The guy says, "Whoa, I'm from Oregon, We don't pay sales tax." I turned and said, "I don't care if you are the President of the United States, everyone pays sales tax in Arizona." He paid, but was not happy. As he walked to his car, I loudly said, "Gee Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

[Starlord]

I think it is the only place that calls a ten-cent piece a dime. Which would you rather have to say if you had to say it many times a day?

Technically, the customer does not have to pay the sales tax in Arizona. It is actually called a Transaction Privilege Tax by the state department of revenue, and is a tax on businesses. The businesses simply pass it through to the customer. The law states that the tax is actually on the proceeds of a sale.