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Sales tax rates change too often in the US for this to work. I like the idea in concept, but I can understand why it doesn't work in practice in the US given t

Sales tax rates change too often in the US for this to work. I like the idea in concept, but I can understand why it doesn't work in practice in the US given the current tax regime.

zamadatix 4y ago
How often is sales tax changing that it becomes infeasible to update the shelf price tags? The grocery stores seem to handle it just fine changing the "buy one get one" type tags every month!
- manquer 4y ago
  A lot harder to do online without knowing the zip code . People are sometimes vary of sharing that just to see full price
  - runarberg 4y ago
    Two solutions: a) Universal sales tax within the state. Allow local governments some other varying taxes (such as income or paycheck tax) b) Put small bracket under the price “(includes 9.5% sales tax for zip 98210 <a>change location</a>)”
  - zamadatix 4y ago
    I think anonymous online price viewing would have to exclude tax for that reason but e.g. being logged into Amazon it would be best to display the default/selected taxes for ship address. I believe this is how most places, including Amazon, do shipping time estimates today - generic unless specified or you're logged in. In general though I think physical storefronts would be the shoe in. Virtual might require more thought or even changes to how we do taxes to make as much sense.
  - ezfe 4y ago
    Sites have already solved that for shipping costs - you just have a button that offers to include shipping (and then tax) with a location entered
- ensignavenger 4y ago
  They aren't changing every single tag in the store.
  - zamadatix 4y ago
    I'd hope not every month! But even if taxes changed yearly is that really a large burden? How many things even stay in the same shelf at the same price for 1 year straight as it is, how many dozens of times was that shelf already restocked and inventoried compared to how often the price tag would need to be replaced due to taxes changing?
    - ensignavenger 4y ago
      In my state, taxes change at least twice a year, and usually 3 times at a minimum. Changing what shelf products are on is a continuous, incremental thing- changing every tag in the store for tax changes would have to happen overnight for all products, on specific nights each year. Many stores like to pre-tag each product package, either at the store or manufacturer- you couldn't do that if the tax had to be included in the price as the stores have many locations each with different tax rates. (I do think the tax rates should be prominently posted at the door). Sales tax compliance is already a massive PITA for retail stores. Making them include the sales tax on the tag would just be an even bigger PITA.
      - zamadatix 4y ago
        3 times a year minimum does sound pretty insane - I'd be all for fixing that before fixing price labeling. Do you mind me asking which state that is? In Indiana we've changed the sales tax 4 times since introducing it in 1963 (and don't actually collect it for the grocery example like most states), I shudder to think what the point of changing it 4 times in a year would be.
      - qwertygnu 4y ago
        So what? I'd rather it be a corporate pain - in which people will get paid to deal with bs - rather than a buyer pain - in which all our lives are that much more frustrating. Plus, changing price tags? That's the pain? Changing tags??? Doing the math that's done at the register 1000x/sec and printing it on cards?
jgeada 4y ago
If they know how much to charge me at the payment step, they know what price to put on the shelf. Everything else is just making excuses for keeping it as opaque as it has always been in the US. Yes, it can get a bit more complicated for internet based stores, but even there they do already know how much to charge at the payment step, so again I say that it is a (customer hostile) choice not to show the real price up front.
- thewebcount 4y ago
  > If they know how much to charge me at the payment step, they know what price to put on the shelf. On the shelf, yes, but then what's on the shelf wouldn't match what's advertised on the Internet, in the paper, on TV and radio, etc. Because each city can have its own sales tax, and each state can have its own sales tax, if you're, say, McDonald's, you can't say a hamburger is $3.00 in your TV ad because it'll be $3.18 in Michigan, and $3.30 in California, and even within the states, it can vary by city, if I recall correctly from my cash register programming days. It's a stupid system all around, but it does actually make it harder to do what everyone wishes they would do.
  - ensignavenger 4y ago
    Even within the same city you can have multiple different sales tax zones.
  - fineIllregister 4y ago
    > ...if you're, say, McDonald's, you can't say a hamburger is $3.00 in your TV ad because it'll be $3.18 in Michigan, and $3.30 in California... That really sounds like a McDonalds problem. Why should everyone put up with a bait and switch so huge companies can have an easier time advertising? If they need to advertise a 3$ burger all over the country, then they should be ready to pay the cost differences of providing that burger everywhere.

Sales tax rates change too often in the US for this to work. I like the idea in concept, but I can understand why it doesn't work in practice in the US given the current tax regime.

zamadatix 4y ago

How often is sales tax changing that it becomes infeasible to update the shelf price tags? The grocery stores seem to handle it just fine changing the "buy one get one" type tags every month!

manquer 4y ago
A lot harder to do online without knowing the zip code . People are sometimes vary of sharing that just to see full price
- runarberg 4y ago
  Two solutions: a) Universal sales tax within the state. Allow local governments some other varying taxes (such as income or paycheck tax) b) Put small bracket under the price “(includes 9.5% sales tax for zip 98210 <a>change location</a>)”
- zamadatix 4y ago
  I think anonymous online price viewing would have to exclude tax for that reason but e.g. being logged into Amazon it would be best to display the default/selected taxes for ship address. I believe this is how most places, including Amazon, do shipping time estimates today - generic unless specified or you're logged in. In general though I think physical storefronts would be the shoe in. Virtual might require more thought or even changes to how we do taxes to make as much sense.
- ezfe 4y ago
  Sites have already solved that for shipping costs - you just have a button that offers to include shipping (and then tax) with a location entered
ensignavenger 4y ago
They aren't changing every single tag in the store.
- zamadatix 4y ago
  I'd hope not every month! But even if taxes changed yearly is that really a large burden? How many things even stay in the same shelf at the same price for 1 year straight as it is, how many dozens of times was that shelf already restocked and inventoried compared to how often the price tag would need to be replaced due to taxes changing?
  - ensignavenger 4y ago
    In my state, taxes change at least twice a year, and usually 3 times at a minimum. Changing what shelf products are on is a continuous, incremental thing- changing every tag in the store for tax changes would have to happen overnight for all products, on specific nights each year. Many stores like to pre-tag each product package, either at the store or manufacturer- you couldn't do that if the tax had to be included in the price as the stores have many locations each with different tax rates. (I do think the tax rates should be prominently posted at the door). Sales tax compliance is already a massive PITA for retail stores. Making them include the sales tax on the tag would just be an even bigger PITA.
    - zamadatix 4y ago
      3 times a year minimum does sound pretty insane - I'd be all for fixing that before fixing price labeling. Do you mind me asking which state that is? In Indiana we've changed the sales tax 4 times since introducing it in 1963 (and don't actually collect it for the grocery example like most states), I shudder to think what the point of changing it 4 times in a year would be.
    - qwertygnu 4y ago
      So what? I'd rather it be a corporate pain - in which people will get paid to deal with bs - rather than a buyer pain - in which all our lives are that much more frustrating. Plus, changing price tags? That's the pain? Changing tags??? Doing the math that's done at the register 1000x/sec and printing it on cards?

jgeada 4y ago

If they know how much to charge me at the payment step, they know what price to put on the shelf. Everything else is just making excuses for keeping it as opaque as it has always been in the US. Yes, it can get a bit more complicated for internet based stores, but even there they do already know how much to charge at the payment step, so again I say that it is a (customer hostile) choice not to show the real price up front.

thewebcount 4y ago
> If they know how much to charge me at the payment step, they know what price to put on the shelf. On the shelf, yes, but then what's on the shelf wouldn't match what's advertised on the Internet, in the paper, on TV and radio, etc. Because each city can have its own sales tax, and each state can have its own sales tax, if you're, say, McDonald's, you can't say a hamburger is $3.00 in your TV ad because it'll be $3.18 in Michigan, and $3.30 in California, and even within the states, it can vary by city, if I recall correctly from my cash register programming days. It's a stupid system all around, but it does actually make it harder to do what everyone wishes they would do.
- ensignavenger 4y ago
  Even within the same city you can have multiple different sales tax zones.
- fineIllregister 4y ago
  > ...if you're, say, McDonald's, you can't say a hamburger is $3.00 in your TV ad because it'll be $3.18 in Michigan, and $3.30 in California... That really sounds like a McDonalds problem. Why should everyone put up with a bait and switch so huge companies can have an easier time advertising? If they need to advertise a 3$ burger all over the country, then they should be ready to pay the cost differences of providing that burger everywhere.