Bad Humor and Taxes

[EmilyRose1982]

I've had people yell at me for our prices not being consistent everywhere. Then they tell me they're comparing my store to one nearby, yet across county lines. That's when I am forced to give them a lesson on taxes and how they vary from county to county. It's people like these that should not be allowed to walk around in society; they yell at people over their own ignorance.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Out of curiosity, why aren't sales etc. taxes included in the item price for you U.S-ians?

While the explanations given earlier are valid, I have been told when selling things at hobby shows that laws require the sales tax to be added separately, and that including them in the price is prohibited.

Some old gripe about taxation without representation.

I like the bumper stickers that say:

Taxation With Representation Ain’t So Hot Either.

And:

No Taxation Without Resentment!

[mharbourgirl]

There is only one province in Canada that currently has 15% sales taxes. I know your province MWAHAHA.

*snrk*

*looks up at avatar*

Gee, and here I thought I kept it such a secret noone would ever find out. Hah, I don't mind people knowing where I live if it gets me a little sympathy.

[thehuckster]

Out of curiosity, why aren't sales etc. taxes included in the item price for you U.S-ians?

Actually, I have a different reason than everyone else:

Let's suppose the tax rate is 10% and you buy 10 items at $12.95 before tax.

If you had priced them individually with the 10% markup, the price would be $17.59 each, which brings the total price to $175.90.

If you had added them all up enmass and then applied the tax to the total, you'd have $159.90, which, after applying the tax, comes to $175.89. The difference is a penny, but those discrepancies add up quite a bit. After 100 of those types of transactions, you're over or under by a dollar. After a thousand transactions, it could reach $10. For a typical supermarket or retail establishment where people make purchases of many items and can easily have thousands of transactions per day, you could either be ripping off the government or the customers a total of $20 or more every day, which amounts to thousands of dollars per year for each store.

So, there is a difference between taxing per product and taxing per transaction.