7 ms·

When i took a trip to Paris from the US a while ago i thought it was awesome how tax was included, and the majority of the prices were even or multiples of usef

When i took a trip to Paris from the US a while ago i thought it was awesome how tax was included, and the majority of the prices were even or multiples of useful coins, so that .20euro coins were the smallest i needed to worry about. That and its super easy to figure out how much you owe when its simpler numbers with tax included. until that one store who used .99 or other oddness everywhere and now i had a pocket of "useless" tiny coins to deal with.

DanBC 12y ago
I'm told that when they switched from Francs to Euro it allowed shopkeepers to do some advantageous (to them) rounding from the x.99F to x.90Euro.
- xxs 12y ago
  Overall the .99 is not so spread in Europe (.95 is more common I guess). The VAT is included in the retail price by law within the entire EU. VAT is state global but it might have different rates for certain products or services (like books, baby food, hotel) in some countries. Most people visiting the US would consider the hidden tax unfair. About switching from one currency to another, in most countries the effective prices rose. Some notable recent exceptions are Estonia and Latvia where the previous prices (resp. in Krona and Lats) were kept on the price tags by law for months past the switch.
  - pmjordan 12y ago
    VAT is state global Nit pick: this isn't strictly true - Spain's various islands (Balearic islands, etc.) have a different VAT rate to mainland Spain. And there are 2 towns in Austria with the same VAT rate as Germany's, not the rest of Austria's - one is an enclave in Germany, the other is only reachable by road via Germany. There are probably other weird VAT exceptions, but in any case, consumer prices must always be quoted including VAT.
Ntrails 12y ago
On the opposite side of the fence, whenever I am in Canada I will repeatedly be caught off guard by the actual price not being what's on the label. Even little things, like handing over a dollar at the dollar store to a look of disdain from the clerk. Or buying a bunch of books, doing the maths in my head, and handing over too little cash without paying attention to the cashier.
- aninhumer 12y ago
  Yeah, even though I was prepared for the fact that prices in America don't include tax, I was still astounded when I discovered this applied to dollar stores as well. To me, half the point of a pound shop is that the change is easy.
elros 12y ago
FWIW I've been in tens of countries and the only place which does not include taxing in the price was the US. Regarding the other subject in your comment, I think this sort of initiative[0] by certain countries is definitely commendable. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_coins#Price_rounding http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_coins#Price_rounding
- maxxxxx 12y ago
  I also don't like that in the US you never can tell how much something will cost you at the end. I remember on my first trip I had one dollar left, bought candy and at the cashier was was told it would actually be 1.09. Same for cell phone planes and internet. There are always seemingly random charges added to the final price.
- ars 12y ago
  > I've been in tens of countries and the only place which does not include taxing in the price was the US. You need to visit more countries then. The reason for not including the price is that taxes can vary by city. Which makes is impossible to place an advertisement that lists the price in a wide area. Any country that has local sales tax will be like the US in this. And I personally think the US should just round to the tens place and forget both the nickel (5 cent) and the penny entirely. They'll have to issue a new coin in place of the quarter (25 cent) so it'll never happen, but it would be nice.
  - corin_ 12y ago
    I've been to ~15 countries in Europe, a couple in Asia and the USA. The latter was the only place I've witnessed it. That's not to say it's the only place it happens, but it certainly seems anecdotally to be a rarity. Maybe instead of a snide reply to your parent comment you could've given an example of another country than the US to have this issue caused by regionalised sales tax differences?
    - ars 12y ago
      Canada.
mercer 12y ago
This depends on the country. In Germany I get exact change, which includes very annoying 1 and 2 cent coins. In Holland shops round up (and down, perhaps) so you always get back 5 cent as a minimum.

DanBC 12y ago

I'm told that when they switched from Francs to Euro it allowed shopkeepers to do some advantageous (to them) rounding from the x.99F to x.90Euro.

xxs 12y ago
Overall the .99 is not so spread in Europe (.95 is more common I guess). The VAT is included in the retail price by law within the entire EU. VAT is state global but it might have different rates for certain products or services (like books, baby food, hotel) in some countries. Most people visiting the US would consider the hidden tax unfair. About switching from one currency to another, in most countries the effective prices rose. Some notable recent exceptions are Estonia and Latvia where the previous prices (resp. in Krona and Lats) were kept on the price tags by law for months past the switch.
- pmjordan 12y ago
  VAT is state global Nit pick: this isn't strictly true - Spain's various islands (Balearic islands, etc.) have a different VAT rate to mainland Spain. And there are 2 towns in Austria with the same VAT rate as Germany's, not the rest of Austria's - one is an enclave in Germany, the other is only reachable by road via Germany. There are probably other weird VAT exceptions, but in any case, consumer prices must always be quoted including VAT.

Ntrails 12y ago

On the opposite side of the fence, whenever I am in Canada I will repeatedly be caught off guard by the actual price not being what's on the label. Even little things, like handing over a dollar at the dollar store to a look of disdain from the clerk. Or buying a bunch of books, doing the maths in my head, and handing over too little cash without paying attention to the cashier.

aninhumer 12y ago
Yeah, even though I was prepared for the fact that prices in America don't include tax, I was still astounded when I discovered this applied to dollar stores as well. To me, half the point of a pound shop is that the change is easy.

elros 12y ago

FWIW I've been in tens of countries and the only place which does not include taxing in the price was the US. Regarding the other subject in your comment, I think this sort of initiative[0] by certain countries is definitely commendable. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_coins#Price_rounding http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_coins#Price_rounding

maxxxxx 12y ago
I also don't like that in the US you never can tell how much something will cost you at the end. I remember on my first trip I had one dollar left, bought candy and at the cashier was was told it would actually be 1.09. Same for cell phone planes and internet. There are always seemingly random charges added to the final price.
ars 12y ago
> I've been in tens of countries and the only place which does not include taxing in the price was the US. You need to visit more countries then. The reason for not including the price is that taxes can vary by city. Which makes is impossible to place an advertisement that lists the price in a wide area. Any country that has local sales tax will be like the US in this. And I personally think the US should just round to the tens place and forget both the nickel (5 cent) and the penny entirely. They'll have to issue a new coin in place of the quarter (25 cent) so it'll never happen, but it would be nice.
- corin_ 12y ago
  I've been to ~15 countries in Europe, a couple in Asia and the USA. The latter was the only place I've witnessed it. That's not to say it's the only place it happens, but it certainly seems anecdotally to be a rarity. Maybe instead of a snide reply to your parent comment you could've given an example of another country than the US to have this issue caused by regionalised sales tax differences?
  - ars 12y ago
    Canada.

mercer 12y ago

This depends on the country. In Germany I get exact change, which includes very annoying 1 and 2 cent coins. In Holland shops round up (and down, perhaps) so you always get back 5 cent as a minimum.