Why is it accepted that taxes are not exposed until you’re paying?

27 comments

1. We’re just used to it.

   Just do a little math in your head and move on.

2. We can do math in our heads. Can’t you?

3. >How is it acceptable when you go grocery shopping you don’t know how much are you actually paying until you got your receipt?

   I do know because I can do math and my phone is equipped with a calculator if I ever get confused.

   They don’t add up the contents of my cart for me either. If I can keep a running total of that, I can multiply it by 1.05.

4. Bro, I worked retail, do you know what a nightmare it would be to have to change prices between every store in the area depending on local or state sales taxes? Especially when a customer decides to bitch you, the lowly employee, out from VAT being higher in your store than the same franchise in the next municipality

5. everyone is used to it and it’s not really that difficult op

6. Because we know what our taxes are. It’s NOT a surprise to us at the register.

7. If I live in a state with a 5% sales tax, I’m used to it. It’s not like I’m going to get to the register and find out that they are charging an extra 20% today for some reason.

8. Because the taxes aren’t part of the price. They’re something separate so it makes sense to calculate it separately.

9. > you don’t know how much are you actually paying until you got your receipt

   You do though. It’s not like the sales tax is a mystery, or random. Sales tax in my state is 7%. It has been 7% for decades now. I know what 7% does to the price of a shirt, or a stack of lumber, or even a motor vehicle for that matter.

   If you want to know the exact number, pull out a calculator. The taxes ARE exposed – i.e., you know what the sales tax % is.

   Do people in your country struggle with basic arithmetic or something?

10. We just know. It’s not a surprise.

11. Where I live, most grocery items for consumption at home are untaxed, and I’m familiar with the exceptions. For the most part, I don’t buy anything at the grocery that is taxed, so it’s not a big concern. When I purchase those things that are taxed, I know what the rate is and can calculate it in my head, but I don’t run so close to the margin that this is a worry.

12. Do you think everyone has “sales tax amnesia” and rediscovers each and every time that it exists? We know it exists, and it’s easy to do the rough estimation (or to use the calculator function on your phone) if it’s going to be an issue.

13. It’s fairly insignificant. There’s certainly some people who need to count every penny, but those people can also do math or will at least understand that the taxes will add on a few bucks to what they’re buying and shop accordingly.

14. It’s very acceptable and expected. That way the governments imposing the taxes can’t hide the taxes behind the price on the sticker or shelf.

15. I know how much I’m paying within the margin that I care. Sales tax is a lot more consistent than VAT.

    This has just literally never once caused me a problem and I have bigger things to worry about.

16. 1. The tax is on the transaction, and not part of the price of the item itself. The business is collecting the tax for you, but you’re paying that separately from what you are paying that business owner for the item on the shelf. It wouldn’t really be accurate to add the sales tax to the item’s price, as the price of the item itself really is what is on the shelf.

    2. I am capable of basic math to figure out what I will owe the government in taxes on the transaction. I don’t need the store owner to add it to the tag to figure that out.

    3. Easier for the business to figure out how much they want to charge for the product they are selling and then put that on the tag, and then let the register do the sales tax for whatever neighborhood the store is in. Especially if it’s a franchise that has stores in many different neighborhoods in your city, state, etc. If I owned a couple of different stores in my city in neighborhoods around town with different sales tax rates, I wouldn’t want to have to work out that difference on every product for every tag at each store separately.

    Ultimately though, it just comes down to what you’re used to and what you expect. I expect to add sales tax to the transaction, and for the price on the shelf to be the actual price for the product itself and not include the taxes I have to pay to the government on the transaction for that item, so it’s totally normal and reasonable to me when that is what I encounter.

17. Because sales tax varies by state and sometimes locality, sometimes on the product itself (notably my city has a meals tax that also applies to stuff like hot bar and delis at grocery stores), and sometimes there’s a tax-free weekend (often just ahead of school starting again, or just after tax-filing season).

    It’s easier and more efficient for retailers to have the same price tags on everything (IE. a $6 shirt at target is labeled $6 whether it’s in California, Georgia, New York, etc.) and calculate taxes at checkout than having to constantly change price tags to account for that. Sales tax by itself has never been a make-or-break thing for purchases for me, just the same as I don’t really add up my cart’s value before checking out (most of the time anyway). If I really wanted to, I’d just add it all up and multiply by 5.3% to get the general post-tax sale amount.

18. You have a pretty good idea of what you’re paying: just figure your state’s sales tax percentage into the total – each state is different, and a couple don’t have any.

19. Why is this such a problem for non-Americans? Just assume 10% over and you’ll most likely be paying less than that. We don’t have national pricing–taxes vary by state, county, and city. It’s generally no more than 10%, so just expect that.

20. If bananas are 79 cents a pound it doesn’t matter to me if they’re actually 83 cents per pound after tax.

    In any event Fresh Foods are not taxed, fruits vegetables flour milk Meats Etc

21. We do know.

    We know where we live or where we are traveling. We are aware that taxes exist.

    If we are overly concerned, it’s a simple thing to look up the tax rates and calculate it.

22. The way other countries see America makes me like other countries less which is exactly what the other countries would expect of me. Damn this feedback loop

23. Everyone knows it’s there, so it’s not a big deal. Also, the grocery store isn’t a great place to stake your complaint — many if not all states don’t tax food.

24. We *do the math*.

    (Kind of hard to feel superior when someone can do it and you can’t, huh?)

25. Grocery stores don’t tax on food.

26. Do you not know what tax rate your subject to?

    How is it that Americans are stereotyped as being dumb but also foreigners can’t comprehend doing a little math when purchasing an item.

    The tax is on the transaction, not the item. That’s why it’s called a sales tax.

    Sales tax can vary by location incredibly. A store with 10 locations in the same metro area might have 7 different municipalities with different sales tax rates to consider. Also some items might not have any sales tax applicable at all due to exemptions. Also when discounts and coupons come into the picture that affects everything as well. If the sales tax is baked in to the tag then the calculations are off because the discounts are only for the item price, not the tax.

27. This is a really frequent question, and one that’s been answered often.

    Sales tax is not a ***national*** tax, it is a ***state*** (and in some cases, local) tax. It is not included in pricing because price is set by the retailer, tax is set by the government.

    In other countries the VAT is added and included to the price you see because it is a *National* tax and the item has been taxed multiple times already. explaining that the crown has taxed 20% twice before you got it and wants 20% more from you is hard, So It’s Iincluded in the price you see. The VAT in the UK is a tax levied by the **Crown**, there is no tax levied by Counties, Parishes or Districts. So the tax on a n item is the same in London as it is in Blackpool. Contrast that with a sales tax, levied by the **State** Government , not the Federal Government. Each state has its own funding and revenue needs thus differing tax rates. An Item taxed a 5% in one state man not be taxed at all in another. A sales tax of 6% in Maryland is what the state’s budget needs whereas California needs a 7.5% rate.

    The price of a widget is $100.00. That’s what the widget costs. that Maryland charges you $6.00 in tax is not my fault nor my problem. And that Delaware won’t charge you at all is also not my problem. I have 30 stores across three states, all with different tax rates. I didn’t change my price, the tax rate changed. The $100 widget is not $106in MD or $107.50 IN CA or $113.50 in Arab, AL, Its $100. +Tax.

    Realistically, you know the tax rate in your area, and the adjacent areas. I know that Maryland is 6%, DC is 6% (for most things) and Virginia is 6%. I know food (groceries) isn’t taxed, bit drinks(liquor/beer/wine) are. Finally, and this may be a bit harsh, this entire rant and feigned outrage is ridiculous for several reasons. Not one person ranting and asking this question has ever been stymied by sales tax, nor do they regularly go shopping with the exact amount of money to make a purchase. They’re using their card, or paying in cash and expecting change, and they have had this question answered many times (just a quick glance shows it answered her no less than 4). And there is not one eye batted when , in Germany, they pay the 0.25 Euro bottle fee.