6 ms·

I always object to US retail adding Tax to the price of the items. In the UK (and I expect Europe) the price on the shelf is the price that you pay. VAT is incl

by pjsg 4y ago

I always object to US retail adding Tax to the price of the items. In the UK (and I expect Europe) the price on the shelf is the price that you pay. VAT is included. In the US, you walk into a store and have to become an expert at understanding local taxes in order to figure out how much anything costs. Hotels often have four of five extra fees tacked on. I'd like "The price you see is the price you pay" to be the rule.

duxup 4y ago
Hotels and some things are a huge mess. But generally your random consumer buying a random widget has some idea about what taxes are involved and roughly what to expect when they buy specific consumer goods / the machine tells them what to pay. It's complex if you want to do the math and get the exact number each time, but for most transactions it's a fairly small amount / not something you need to think about / need to know the exact number. If I go pickup a burrito I'm not worrying about if it is $10 or $10.25. If I wanted to worry about that it is possible to figure that out without knowing all the taxes myself.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  In my experience, hotels show total cost prominently. Go to Marriott/Hilton/Hyatt/IHG/choice/Wyndham websites, and before you can reserve, it will show you total cost and list potential parking/pet/resort/other fees.
- lxgr 4y ago
  But the vendor needs to figure out the exact number anyway at checkout! It's not like they get to avoid the calculation effort this way.
myself248 4y ago
Most places in the US, the local tax is the same statewide. Not in Ohio, where it can vary by township, sometimes across invisible boundaries. I once attended a large flea-market where such a boundary cut through the fairgrounds. Taxes were different on one side of the line than the other. It's so bad that Ohio actually has a mobile app that uses your phone's GPS to figure out which jurisdiction you're in and show the applicable tax rate. If I say mean things about Ohio from time to time, this is part of why.
- barbazoo 4y ago
  > I once attended a large flea-market where such a boundary cut through the fairgrounds. Taxes were different on one side of the line than the other. Does this matter though? Even if the tax is different from one stall to another, they could still publish a price that includes tax.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - happymellon 4y ago
    They would still have to know which side of the grounds they are on to charge that tax anyway. It seems like poor excuses to me.
- DeRock 4y ago
  Same in California, it varies by county and city: https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/rates.aspx https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/rates.aspx Obnoxious to keep track of.
- jldugger 4y ago
  > Most places in the US, the local tax is the same statewide. Is it? Kansas[1] has the same setup: > Q:What is the sales tax rate in Kansas? > A: The state rate is 6.50%. However, various cities and counties in Kansas have an additional local sales tax. I feel like I've seen posts on HN in the past about how hard it is for online retailers to properly figure sales tax and should outsource the lookup to <insert startup here>. [1]: https://www.ksrevenue.gov/faqs-taxsales.html https://www.ksrevenue.gov/faqs-taxsales.html
- lxgr 4y ago
  It often even varies by item, or there are weird incentives/carve-outs for some products. For example, shoes are sales tax free in NYC (if they're less than $110). This can mean that the difference between a pair for $109 and one for $111 is close to $10. When grocery shopping, I'm always surprised which items are taxed and which are tax free. Other than most (but not all) produce and basics like pasta, bread etc. I'd consider staples usually being tax free, I haven't been able to detect any underlying at all so far.
rqtwteye 4y ago
"I'd like "The price you see is the price you pay" to be the rule." Totally agree. I don't care what other fees or taxes go into the price. They are all cost of doing business. Just wait until the baker charges you extra for the flour and yeast that went into the bread.
post_break 4y ago
In the US when you buy a vehicle you pay the tax on it. Every time. It's ridiculous.
- toast0 4y ago
  Some states charge you sales tax only on the difference between the new car and the trade in. Often person to person car sales aren't charged sales tax (but maybe sometimes there's a transfer tax?)
ApolloFortyNine 4y ago
Meh, that one I do like, if you read enough EU comments you see people arguing over why the price of X is more over there, or why does Y country have a higher income tax rate but provide less, totally forgetting they pay a 20% sales tax on just about everything. At least sales tax the company is basically telling you "this one's on your government, if you don't like it take it up with them".

by pjsg 4y ago

duxup 4y ago

Hotels and some things are a huge mess. But generally your random consumer buying a random widget has some idea about what taxes are involved and roughly what to expect when they buy specific consumer goods / the machine tells them what to pay. It's complex if you want to do the math and get the exact number each time, but for most transactions it's a fairly small amount / not something you need to think about / need to know the exact number. If I go pickup a burrito I'm not worrying about if it is $10 or $10.25. If I wanted to worry about that it is possible to figure that out without knowing all the taxes myself.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
In my experience, hotels show total cost prominently. Go to Marriott/Hilton/Hyatt/IHG/choice/Wyndham websites, and before you can reserve, it will show you total cost and list potential parking/pet/resort/other fees.
lxgr 4y ago
But the vendor needs to figure out the exact number anyway at checkout! It's not like they get to avoid the calculation effort this way.

myself248 4y ago

Most places in the US, the local tax is the same statewide. Not in Ohio, where it can vary by township, sometimes across invisible boundaries. I once attended a large flea-market where such a boundary cut through the fairgrounds. Taxes were different on one side of the line than the other. It's so bad that Ohio actually has a mobile app that uses your phone's GPS to figure out which jurisdiction you're in and show the applicable tax rate. If I say mean things about Ohio from time to time, this is part of why.

barbazoo 4y ago
> I once attended a large flea-market where such a boundary cut through the fairgrounds. Taxes were different on one side of the line than the other. Does this matter though? Even if the tax is different from one stall to another, they could still publish a price that includes tax.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- happymellon 4y ago
  They would still have to know which side of the grounds they are on to charge that tax anyway. It seems like poor excuses to me.
DeRock 4y ago
Same in California, it varies by county and city: https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/rates.aspx https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/rates.aspx Obnoxious to keep track of.
jldugger 4y ago
> Most places in the US, the local tax is the same statewide. Is it? Kansas[1] has the same setup: > Q:What is the sales tax rate in Kansas? > A: The state rate is 6.50%. However, various cities and counties in Kansas have an additional local sales tax. I feel like I've seen posts on HN in the past about how hard it is for online retailers to properly figure sales tax and should outsource the lookup to <insert startup here>. [1]: https://www.ksrevenue.gov/faqs-taxsales.html https://www.ksrevenue.gov/faqs-taxsales.html
lxgr 4y ago
It often even varies by item, or there are weird incentives/carve-outs for some products. For example, shoes are sales tax free in NYC (if they're less than $110). This can mean that the difference between a pair for $109 and one for $111 is close to $10. When grocery shopping, I'm always surprised which items are taxed and which are tax free. Other than most (but not all) produce and basics like pasta, bread etc. I'd consider staples usually being tax free, I haven't been able to detect any underlying at all so far.

rqtwteye 4y ago

"I'd like "The price you see is the price you pay" to be the rule." Totally agree. I don't care what other fees or taxes go into the price. They are all cost of doing business. Just wait until the baker charges you extra for the flour and yeast that went into the bread.

post_break 4y ago

In the US when you buy a vehicle you pay the tax on it. Every time. It's ridiculous.

toast0 4y ago
Some states charge you sales tax only on the difference between the new car and the trade in. Often person to person car sales aren't charged sales tax (but maybe sometimes there's a transfer tax?)

ApolloFortyNine 4y ago

Meh, that one I do like, if you read enough EU comments you see people arguing over why the price of X is more over there, or why does Y country have a higher income tax rate but provide less, totally forgetting they pay a 20% sales tax on just about everything. At least sales tax the company is basically telling you "this one's on your government, if you don't like it take it up with them".