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### Author Topic: Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt  (Read 2058462 times)

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• Or you can just call me Diane. (NE USA EHellion)
##### Re: Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt
« Reply #5895 on: November 29, 2012, 10:55:59 AM »
Re: Tax not included in price.

The way sales tax is figured in the US isn't per item, it's per full order (on everything taxable, of course, some things are exempt.)  So including tax in the price isn't possible because sales tax doesn't work that way.

The way it works here (Houston) is that if an item is taxable, it's taxed. If not then it isn't. For example, here in Texas, groceries aren't taxed, but shampoo is. So if you go to the grocery store and pick up a bunch of grapes and a bottle of shampoo, the whole order doesn't get taxed, only the shampoo does.

So yeah, if they wanted to, they could just mark the price of the shampoo as $1.08 instead of marking it$1.00 and then adding .08 tax. They don't do it that way, I'm guessing, because they never have. I would prefer it if they would just tell you the total amount owed from the get go instead of me having to add in the additional 8.25% we have here. (6.25% to the state of Texas, 1% to the City of Houston, 1% to the Metro mass transportation system).

#### Midnight Kitty

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##### Re: Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt
« Reply #5903 on: November 29, 2012, 05:19:08 PM »
For some reason, I thought that companies decided the retail price for their goods, then stores made the decision to offer the product for less when they have a sale.  Marking all the merchandise with the price plus tax could get very complicated if you must do that for mark-downs, too.  I've seen (national) commercials which advertise a price.  Obviously they can't give the total price because the tax in each city/county/state is different.

In Hawaii, we don't have any sales tax.  We have an excise tax.  The selling party is responsible for paying the state for everything that sells, whether it is goods or services, food or medicine.  The stores add it after totalling all the items.  I think the current rate is something like 4.712%.  Many visitors from Mainland US think our "sales tax" rate is low, but they aren't seeing the full picture.  Every time the goods or services change hands, the excise tax is assessed.  Sales tax only gets paid by the last one to buy it.

I must admit, sales tax and tipping are two of the most brain hurty parts of life in these Unites States.
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.  The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."

Marcus Aurelius

#### Luci

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##### Re: Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt
« Reply #5904 on: November 29, 2012, 05:44:22 PM »
Re: Tax not included in price.

The way sales tax is figured in the US isn't per item, it's per full order (on everything taxable, of course, some things are exempt.)  So including tax in the price isn't possible because sales tax doesn't work that way.

Simple arithmetic says that it doesn't matter. If the tax is 8.5%, then  (X*1.085)+(Y*1.085)+(Z*1.085) = (X+Y+Z)*1.085.  The former applies the tax to each item while the latter applies the tax to the sum total. It's the Distributive Law of arithmetic. I've shopped in places where the tax was included in the price, so it's not impossible.

The real reason for not including the tax in the price is to make the price look lower.  If store A and store B both sell the same item, but store A charges $5.46 including tax while store B charges$5 (plus tax), which are you going to choose? The airlines just got in a world of hurt for leaving a bunch of fees out of their initially quoted prices which was so bad that it was misleading to the consumer.

I disagree with Art.

The real reason is that these taxing entities, be they state, county, or city, are all separate. It is state's (and other taxing body's) rights, which is a whole important thing in a country as large as ours.

And being who we are, we in the US historically want to know exactly what we are paying and why. It's our stubborn independence and wanting to control as much as we can in our lives.

#### Midnight Kitty

• The Queen of Sludge
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##### Re: Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt
« Reply #5905 on: November 29, 2012, 05:50:05 PM »
Re: Tax not included in price.

The way sales tax is figured in the US isn't per item, it's per full order (on everything taxable, of course, some things are exempt.)  So including tax in the price isn't possible because sales tax doesn't work that way.

Simple arithmetic says that it doesn't matter. If the tax is 8.5%, then  (X*1.085)+(Y*1.085)+(Z*1.085) = (X+Y+Z)*1.085.  The former applies the tax to each item while the latter applies the tax to the sum total. It's the Distributive Law of arithmetic. I've shopped in places where the tax was included in the price, so it's not impossible.

The real reason for not including the tax in the price is to make the price look lower.  If store A and store B both sell the same item, but store A charges $5.46 including tax while store B charges$5 (plus tax), which are you going to choose? The airlines just got in a world of hurt for leaving a bunch of fees out of their initially quoted prices which was so bad that it was misleading to the consumer.

I disagree with Art.

The real reason is that these taxing entities, be they state, county, or city, are all separate. It is state's (and other taxing body's) rights, which is a whole important thing in a country as large as ours.

And being who we are, we in the US historically want to know exactly what we are paying and why. It's our stubborn independence and wanting to control as much as we can in our lives.
My brain hurts thinking about a store with multiple outlets in multiple jurisdictions trying to mark the final price on their goods.
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.  The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."

Marcus Aurelius

#### Slartibartfast

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##### Re: Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt
« Reply #5906 on: November 29, 2012, 06:47:43 PM »
Major brain hurt with this Dear Prudie letter, "Should I tell my infertile Asian wife that I want all-white babies?"

SERIOUSLY?  I hope this guy has some seriously amazing redeeming qualities, or he's not going to be married for long

• Member
• Posts: 4638
• Or you can just call me Diane. (NE USA EHellion)
##### Re: Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt
« Reply #5907 on: November 29, 2012, 07:06:51 PM »
Re: Tax not included in price.

The way sales tax is figured in the US isn't per item, it's per full order (on everything taxable, of course, some things are exempt.)  So including tax in the price isn't possible because sales tax doesn't work that way.

Simple arithmetic says that it doesn't matter. If the tax is 8.5%, then  (X*1.085)+(Y*1.085)+(Z*1.085) = (X+Y+Z)*1.085.  The former applies the tax to each item while the latter applies the tax to the sum total. It's the Distributive Law of arithmetic. I've shopped in places where the tax was included in the price, so it's not impossible.

The real reason for not including the tax in the price is to make the price look lower.  If store A and store B both sell the same item, but store A charges $5.46 including tax while store B charges$5 (plus tax), which are you going to choose? The airlines just got in a world of hurt for leaving a bunch of fees out of their initially quoted prices which was so bad that it was misleading to the consumer.

Not so.  Percentages, especially on very inexpensive items, will result in fractions of pennies.  Whether it's rounded up, down, or closest, there will be a difference whenever more than a few items are totaled.  Think of it this way... to go with your %8.5 example... do up both totals, but drop all but two decimal places.  I will bet that the sums will be different.
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#### Betelnut

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##### Re: Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt
« Reply #5908 on: November 29, 2012, 07:28:11 PM »
All the posts about tax on things in the US -- info appreciated, but pain to my brain has increased exponentially !  Am tempted just now, to feel that there's an upside to the unlikelihood of my being able to afford a transatlantic visit...

Ah, now that makes MY brain hurt!  Don't something like that affect whether you'll travel over here!  It really isn't that big of a deal as long as you remember that the price on an item doesn't include tax.
Native Texan, Marylander currently

#### hermanne

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##### Re: Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt
« Reply #5909 on: November 29, 2012, 07:37:18 PM »
Major brain hurt with this Dear Prudie letter, "Should I tell my infertile Asian wife that I want all-white babies?"

SERIOUSLY?  I hope this guy has some seriously amazing redeeming qualities, or he's not going to be married for long

The part that caught me was how he wanted his future kids to look like their cousins. DD and DS's cousins are half Asian, and it doesn't bother them in the least.
« Last Edit: November 29, 2012, 07:40:07 PM by hermanne »
Bad spellers of the world, UNTIE!