4 ms·

I live in Oregon (no sales tax), and it boggles my mind when travelling out of state that the $10 item at the store is suddenly $10.50 once tax is included. Why

I live in Oregon (no sales tax), and it boggles my mind when travelling out of state that the $10 item at the store is suddenly $10.50 once tax is included. Why is it not included in the price?

ganoushoreilly 4y ago
State, County, and City taxes all vary wildly in different states. It's an annoyance for sure.
coryrc 4y ago
IIRC you don't have to pay that in Washington, so you should still be paying the listed price :). Bit of an edge case though
- mikestew 4y ago
  Though not exactly a [citation needed], but certainly [implementation details needed]. Like, what, you're in a Target in Vancouver, WA, you pull out your OR driver license, and now they wave the sales tax? Or save the receipt and take it off your OR taxes later? In the case of the former, okay, I'd do that. For the latter, no, I'm not adding a piece of paper to the pile to save $0.50.
  - techsupporter 4y ago
    This used to be the case, and Target was exactly one of the companies that made it exactly like this. You'd show your Oregon ID card and the sales tax would be removed (the seller could claim against their sales tax due for a non-resident sale). However, this was intended to benefit border cities--Vancouver, WA in particular really liked it--but Washington State has no income tax and so is heavily reliant on sales tax. So, as of July 1 2019, the exemption (on state sales tax; local sales tax isn't covered here) may only be claimed post-transaction by the buyer: https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/retail-sales-tax/sales-tax-exemption-nonresidents https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/retail-sales-tax/sales-tax-ex...
    - mikestew 4y ago
      Lived in WA for over 20 years, and TIL...thanks for a quick follow-up.
koofdoof 4y ago
I believe the logic is that it makes taxation something explicit that you are forced to notice. The idea being that an included tax would be invisible and allow for hidden changes and less recognition of the government's role.
- a-user-you-like 4y ago
  Exactly right. We should work to lessen the tax burden instead of incentivizing raising it by hiding the number.
  - growse 4y ago
    > Exactly right. We should work to lessen the tax burden instead of incentivizing raising it by hiding the number. This misses the point though. The problem exists at any tax rate greater than zero. Doesn't matter if it's a penny or 100% of the price, the issue is that the advertised price is not the monetary value that's expected to be exchanged for that product/service.
    - a-user-you-like 4y ago
      The point is that you shouldn’t _want_ it to include taxes, as that incentivizes worse behavior in governments. You should be reminded when you purchase something of how much is added on top by the locals.
- clhodapp 4y ago
  That isn't a very compelling justification, since nothing stops businesses from continuing to include a tax estimate on the receipt even if it's included in the main price.
- mFixman 4y ago
  But you do include credit card fees, which is something that should be more explicit.
Spooky23 4y ago
There’s lots of exceptions, and it’s easier to compute a tax rather than figure out what taxable category something is and backing it out for tax exempt purchase. More importantly, retailers don’t want to waste money and sowing confusion by advertising products with differing prices across jurisdictions.

I live in Oregon (no sales tax), and it boggles my mind when travelling out of state that the $10 item at the store is suddenly $10.50 once tax is included. Why is it not included in the price?

ganoushoreilly 4y ago

State, County, and City taxes all vary wildly in different states. It's an annoyance for sure.

coryrc 4y ago

IIRC you don't have to pay that in Washington, so you should still be paying the listed price :). Bit of an edge case though

mikestew 4y ago
Though not exactly a [citation needed], but certainly [implementation details needed]. Like, what, you're in a Target in Vancouver, WA, you pull out your OR driver license, and now they wave the sales tax? Or save the receipt and take it off your OR taxes later? In the case of the former, okay, I'd do that. For the latter, no, I'm not adding a piece of paper to the pile to save $0.50.
- techsupporter 4y ago
  This used to be the case, and Target was exactly one of the companies that made it exactly like this. You'd show your Oregon ID card and the sales tax would be removed (the seller could claim against their sales tax due for a non-resident sale). However, this was intended to benefit border cities--Vancouver, WA in particular really liked it--but Washington State has no income tax and so is heavily reliant on sales tax. So, as of July 1 2019, the exemption (on state sales tax; local sales tax isn't covered here) may only be claimed post-transaction by the buyer: https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/retail-sales-tax/sales-tax-exemption-nonresidents https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/retail-sales-tax/sales-tax-ex...
  - mikestew 4y ago
    Lived in WA for over 20 years, and TIL...thanks for a quick follow-up.

koofdoof 4y ago

I believe the logic is that it makes taxation something explicit that you are forced to notice. The idea being that an included tax would be invisible and allow for hidden changes and less recognition of the government's role.

a-user-you-like 4y ago
Exactly right. We should work to lessen the tax burden instead of incentivizing raising it by hiding the number.
- growse 4y ago
  > Exactly right. We should work to lessen the tax burden instead of incentivizing raising it by hiding the number. This misses the point though. The problem exists at any tax rate greater than zero. Doesn't matter if it's a penny or 100% of the price, the issue is that the advertised price is not the monetary value that's expected to be exchanged for that product/service.
  - a-user-you-like 4y ago
    The point is that you shouldn’t _want_ it to include taxes, as that incentivizes worse behavior in governments. You should be reminded when you purchase something of how much is added on top by the locals.
clhodapp 4y ago
That isn't a very compelling justification, since nothing stops businesses from continuing to include a tax estimate on the receipt even if it's included in the main price.
mFixman 4y ago
But you do include credit card fees, which is something that should be more explicit.

Spooky23 4y ago

There’s lots of exceptions, and it’s easier to compute a tax rather than figure out what taxable category something is and backing it out for tax exempt purchase. More importantly, retailers don’t want to waste money and sowing confusion by advertising products with differing prices across jurisdictions.