4 ms·

How come there are 6000 sales tax jurisdictions? In Canada, there are 10. I know US bigger than Canada and everything is more complicated, but it's not 600 time

How come there are 6000 sales tax jurisdictions? In Canada, there are 10. I know US bigger than Canada and everything is more complicated, but it's not 600 times bigger.

secabeen 9y ago
Individual cities can and do charge sales tax.
specializeded 9y ago
In Texas at least, cities, counties, transit systems and ‘special districts’ that mostly represent local public services can impose sales taxes. 6000+ nationwide is lower than I imagined honestly
pkaye 9y ago
In California for example, there is a state base tax rate to which the county adds an additional amount along with the city you reside in. So there are hundred of sales tax rates depending of which city you live in.
- DrScump 9y ago
  Drilling down below state level is complicated by the fact that mailing address does not map directly to the proper taxation entity. Usually, yes, but the actual atomic entity is lot/parcel. I had to deal with this when cooking voter data; political districts likewise drill down to lot/parcel. I had hundreds of cases where Los Gatos and Saratoga addresses get crossed, and even the Santa Clara / Santa Cruz county border region he had mailing address mismatches with actual county of residence.
spoonie 9y ago
Try looking at your receipt next time you go grocery shopping. Some things will have HST and others won’t! Now go to PEI and buy some kids’ clothes and look at your receipt. Next, go to a coffee shop and buy a cup of coffee... HST, then turn around and buy a bag of roasted coffee beans... no HST!
- smnrchrds 9y ago
  I live in Alberta, so I only pay GST :) My point was, there are only 10 sets of tax rules a seller has to know to do business in Canada: 1. GST 2. BC PST 3. Manitoba RST 4. New Brunswick HST 5. Newfoundland and Labrador HST 6. Nova Scotia HST 7. Ontario HST 8. PEI HST 9. Quebec QST 10. Saskatchewan PST It is quite manageable for a business to know and abide by 10 sets of rules. Having to know, abide by, and follow the updates to 6000+ different sets of rules would be difficult even for large enterprises, let alone small businesses. I am glad Canada does not give the power to levy sales taxes to sub-province entities.

How come there are 6000 sales tax jurisdictions? In Canada, there are 10. I know US bigger than Canada and everything is more complicated, but it's not 600 times bigger.

secabeen 9y ago

Individual cities can and do charge sales tax.

specializeded 9y ago

In Texas at least, cities, counties, transit systems and ‘special districts’ that mostly represent local public services can impose sales taxes. 6000+ nationwide is lower than I imagined honestly

pkaye 9y ago

In California for example, there is a state base tax rate to which the county adds an additional amount along with the city you reside in. So there are hundred of sales tax rates depending of which city you live in.

DrScump 9y ago
Drilling down below state level is complicated by the fact that mailing address does not map directly to the proper taxation entity. Usually, yes, but the actual atomic entity is lot/parcel. I had to deal with this when cooking voter data; political districts likewise drill down to lot/parcel. I had hundreds of cases where Los Gatos and Saratoga addresses get crossed, and even the Santa Clara / Santa Cruz county border region he had mailing address mismatches with actual county of residence.

spoonie 9y ago

Try looking at your receipt next time you go grocery shopping. Some things will have HST and others won’t! Now go to PEI and buy some kids’ clothes and look at your receipt. Next, go to a coffee shop and buy a cup of coffee... HST, then turn around and buy a bag of roasted coffee beans... no HST!

smnrchrds 9y ago
I live in Alberta, so I only pay GST :) My point was, there are only 10 sets of tax rules a seller has to know to do business in Canada: 1. GST 2. BC PST 3. Manitoba RST 4. New Brunswick HST 5. Newfoundland and Labrador HST 6. Nova Scotia HST 7. Ontario HST 8. PEI HST 9. Quebec QST 10. Saskatchewan PST It is quite manageable for a business to know and abide by 10 sets of rules. Having to know, abide by, and follow the updates to 6000+ different sets of rules would be difficult even for large enterprises, let alone small businesses. I am glad Canada does not give the power to levy sales taxes to sub-province entities.