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tax

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  • 28-11-2012 4:04pm
    #1
    cena
    Registered Users Posts: 10,022 ✭✭✭✭


    why in new york do they not add the tax before you go to the till. Like in Ireland the tax is already add to the price. Not sure if they do it in any other state


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    #2
    coylemj
    Registered Users Posts: 25,438 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    That's just the way they do it. Every country has it's quirks, one of the ones you encounter in the US is that almost everything is cheaper than it is here, even with tax included.

    I recall buying a suit on my first trip to NYC and all of the trousers had unstitched ends to the legs. When you chose a suit, you had to have your inside leg measured, the trousers were sent to a workshop down the back lane and you had to come back in a couple of hours to pick it up. Naturally the alteration cost extra and neither it or the local sales tax was included in the sticker price. Grrrrrr.

    Obviously people from most countries in Europe would prefer if they display an inclusive price but if you owned a store in NYC or any other city in the US, would you volunteer to be the first to do so?

    Didn't think so.


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    #3
    crapmanjoe
    Registered Users Posts: 472 ✭✭crapmanjoe


    cena wrote: »
    why in new york do they not add the tax before you go to the till. Like in Ireland the tax is already add to the price. Not sure if they do it in any other state

    The reason it is done is cause every state has its own sales tax (and some charge none) - so manufacturers charge one price country wide and local sales worry about the sales tax.

    Its a small bit annoying but you get used to it and really appreciate that it is only around 8% (and is completely visible) compared to 23% and built in / hidden in the cost


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    #4
    ProudDUB
    Registered Users Posts: 11,569 ✭✭✭✭ProudDUB


    It's not just New York OP, every state in the US does it. The sales tax varies from county to county in each state too, so its not even a state wide thing, hence stores just putting the base price on things, and letting the full price be figured out at the cash register.

    I used to live in Atlanta, Georgia. The county that I lived in had a 7% sales tax. The county that I worked in had a 5% sales tax. The county that had the mall where I shopped at the most, had a 8% sales tax. So a Big Mac or a latte at Starbucks cost 3 different prices in the 3 different counties, and they were all just a few miles apart from each other.

    It was a pain to deal with when I first moved there, used as I was to getting to out my purse, and having the exact change ready to match what the price tag on things said that they cost. But I soon got over it when I'd come home, and realized how bloody expensive similar things were in Ireland with all that lovely VAT added in at point of sale !


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