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In EU businesses have to advertise the whole price of everything they sell: including things like tax and service. I am always surprised that in the US, with a

• vacri 10y ago
  It's part of why I think that Americans complain so much about tax - their sales tax is both very visible and very annoying, due to the weird numbers that prices end up at.
• the_ancient 10y ago
  On the Sales tax issue, the business does not have advertise the price including the tax because the business is not being charged the tax which if my understanding it correct differs from how the EU operate. The individual buying the coffee is being charged the tax by the government, the Business is acting as a pseudo government collection agent, forced to do so by law. In most states te business is infact paid a nominal fee to collect this tax on behalf of the government in most location it is very very minor but it is there As to the not including Tip in the price, well that is because you the consumer set how much you tip, there is not possible way to include it. Outside of "large parties" I will not partake in business that charge a mandatory tip. I am likely one of the few people that actually tip based on the service I get, and I have walked away with out leaving a tip.
  • rahimnathwani 10y ago
    UK VAT is also a charge on the buyer, and just collected by the seller on the government's behalf. It is not a tax on the seller. But B2C businesses must advertise prices that include this tax.
    • lucio 10y ago
      So you're hiding from the consumer the fact that the govt is taxing 20% on your consumption. In the USA system, tax is clear and present. The difference in style can be associated to a republic vs monarchy style => citizens vs subjects
      • icebraining 10y ago
        Nope, the VAT amount is required to be clearly marked on all receipts, at least in the European countries I've been to. It's just that the shelf prices have it included. Besides, since there's usually only a couple of VAT rates, instead of a complex mix of city and state sale taxes, everyone is very aware of what the current rates are, and it's always a big point in national politics.
      • notimetorelax 10y ago
        Normally receipts list prices without tax and then total with the tax. It's just what you see on the price tag is different.
        • rahimnathwani 10y ago
          That's not usually the case in the UK. I have never seen a UK supermarket receipt list individual prices without tax.
      • deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      • hhjkjhkjhhlkj 10y ago
        People in the UK are very aware of VAT. However we do like to know the total cost in advance of paying. As an aside, many restaurants here have included service charges (but these are usually optional, so although they are shown on the menu you can choose to not pay) I think also in Europe many do not see tax as pure evil.
      • pmontra 10y ago
        Everybody knows VAT exists, how much it is and that's included in the price. And everybody complains every time it's raised because we see prices going up (sometimes more than they should) and we know there will be a domino effect on everything.
• the_mitsuhiko 10y ago
  Probably they can get away with it because sales tax is just a tiny percentage unlike the VAT in Europe which is 20%+.
  • raverbashing 10y ago
    Not really, it's usually around 10%/15%
    • the_mitsuhiko 10y ago
      Non reduced VAT is not allowed to be below 15% and there are only a handful of countries with a non reduced rate of below 20%.
    • tzs 10y ago
      Current rates: AT 20%, BE 21%, BG 20%, CY 19%, CZ 21%, DE 19%, DK 25%, EE 20%, EL 23%, ES 21%, FI 24%, FR 20%, GB 20%, GR 23%, HR 25%, HU 27%, IE 23%, IT 22%, LT 21%, LU 17%, LV 21%, MT 18%, NL 21%, PL 23%, PT 23%, RO 20%, SE 25%, SI 22%, SK 20%, UK 20% That's the standard rate. Average is 21.5%. For things that qualify for a reduced rate, here are the current reduced rates: AT 10%, BE 12%, BG 9%, CY 9%, CZ 15%, DE 7%, DK 0%, EE 9%, EL 13%, ES 10%, FI 14%, FR 10%, GB 5%, GR 13%, HR 13%, HU 18%, IE 13.5%, IT 10%, LT 9%, LU 14%, LV 12%, MT 7%, NL 6%, PL 8%, PT 13%, RO 9%, SE 12%, SI 9.5%, SK 10%, UK 5% The average is 10.2%.
      • raverbashing 10y ago
        Thanks I meant (US) sales tax in my original post, not VAT
        • tzs 10y ago
          Ahhh...OK. US sales tax (combined state and local) averages 6.4%. The largest is 9.46% (Tennessee).
          • raverbashing 10y ago
• the_mitsuhiko 10y ago
  Probably they can get away with it because sales tax is just a tiny percentage unlike the VAT in Europe which is 20%+.
• bko 10y ago
  I feel forcing restaurant and vendors to quote the full price allows politicians off the hook for high tax rates. I think it serves a purpose that anyone that has parked in NYC knows there is 18%+ tax on their parking lot, and everyone in PR knows of 11% tax tacked on to nearly every item.
  • zo1 10y ago
    Then display both the price, plus all the applicable taxes upfront.
  • Maarten88 10y ago
    If you feel that way, why not also let everyone know the profit margin as well, and put that separately on the tab? So everyone can know how much profit goes to the business owner? These things are politically motivated, and do not serve the consumer, who simply has to pay the full cost of doing business.
    • protomyth 10y ago
      Profit margin is a private personal manner of the business owners, and sales tax is a matter of public records and government law.
      • rbjorklin 10y ago
        Which is why the tax is printed clearly on the receipt. Personally I do not like the American way of not including the tax into the listed price because it makes it harder to shop with a limited amount of cash on hand.
    • bko 10y ago
      Profit margin is very hard to compute on an individual item. How do you allocate capital cost, cost of labor, r&d, etc? For instance, a recipe may consist of ingredients that cost a few dollars but it may include the work of the chef in crafting the recipe, capital depreciation of the equipment used, space allocation of the restaurant and a million other factors that are though to explicitly account for.
• toomanythings2 10y ago
  You do NOT have to pay a "minimum service fee". This is the third time I've read, recently, someone from Europe say that and it's totally false. Tips are a gift, if you will, to the waiter for giving good service and NO ONE will get into a "loud argument" with you for not leaving one, despite the online stories from anonymous posters who say they have at some pretentious dump they went to. In addition, tips are given AFTER service and the customer is on his way out the door. Rarely does the waiter even know a tip was left till they collect the check and the guest is gone. Note: I have been in the restaurant business on the side for 31 years. If anyone got into an argument with one of our guests, I would fire them on the spot. Also, when I eat out, I tip what I wish; typically 15% except for exceptional service and then it's 20% but I have tipped less and nothing at all. I have NEVER been confronted about it and I NEVER expect to.
  • Maarten88 10y ago
    > You do NOT have to pay a "minimum service fee". This is the third time I've read, recently, someone from Europe say that and it's totally false. I did not make that up: I visited New York a month ago, and experienced first-hand what happens if you pay less than 15%. I was at a restaurant where the noise was so loud I could not talk normally with my family. The place was very loud by itself, but at a neighboring table three guys were having an aggressive argument, they were screaming, standing upright at their table, acted completely obnoxious and extremely loud. The personnel let this go on for more than 20 minutes until one guy left, angrily. The whole experience was very unpleasant for us, so I gave only $5 tip, instead of the $15 that was the "minimum". I even explained the reason. I still was told that I had miscalculated, that they could not help the behavior of other customers, and I had to get into an argument and get help from another waiter before making my way out. Probably this was just a poorly-run restaurant, but in my experience almost all restaurants there make it quite clear on the bill that the 15% service fee is really not optional. Only the part above that is.
    • toomanythings2 10y ago
      I've traveled all over this country for business and visited cities large and small as well as cheap and expensive restaurants. I'll say it again, I have never, ever seen this or heard of any such thing from anyone I've ever known. What you encountered could only have been a low-class dump from your description.
• prostoalex 10y ago
  The sales taxes, and the items they are applicable to, vary by municipality, and it's unrealistic for any business to conduct an advertising campaign when submitted to a requirement to quote the final price. That includes the blanket national TV campaigns (McDonald's "pick 2 for $5", for example) as well as more locally targeted print ads and billboards. Large US municipalities are also really an amalgamate of a large entity, various smaller towns who incorporated on their own (like Campbell, surrounded by San Jose on all fronts) and various intentionally unincorporated areas, each with their own taxation regime and slightly different rate. If that wasn't enough, some sales taxes have a temporal restriction, with various addenda to sales taxes going into effect and sunsetting on various dates. Then you have the sales tax holidays, which some state governments occasionally adopt to boost the retail component of their economies.