# 20 of the Weirdest Things About America.. What's the Straight Dope? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694 "2015-10-15T04:01:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/101 "2015-10-18T03:32:08Z")
> [@polar\_bear](#): > > Regardless of all the tax rules… in the end the registers “know” what taxes need to be added, why not do this on the pricing in store as well. If the same chain a state over has different taxes, you just have a different price. You could also just print both prices (as happens fairly regularly in the Netherlands). But unless the taxes change multiple times per week, I don’t see why you couldn’t provide this teeny bit of customer service. Well, again, it’s still complicated. For example, if you came into my store and bought a $1,000 water heater, you would actually pay $1,060, because the sales tax of the county my store is in is 6%. But, if you came in to the store and bought the same heater and had it delivered to your house a half a mile down the street, you would pay $1087.50, because the tax is calculated in the county where possession of the merchandise takes place. My store sits right on a county line, and the county it borders has an 8.75% sales tax. Of course, you would also pay $79 for the delivery, but that’s all you would pay because deliveries are services and services aren’t taxed. Yes, it’s complicated and frustrating. We know. We bitch about taxes all the time. But you see why stores can’t include tax on prices. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/102 "2015-10-18T03:38:46Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > [li]Price tags without taxes included.[/li] I knew how to calculate sales taxes when I was 4 or 5. I explained and taught my kids to do the same. Aren’t Americans also supposed to be lousy at math? Why enable us to be even stupider and lazier? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/103 "2015-10-18T04:09:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Your toilets are too low and the stalls have massive gaps arond the door that people can see in. It’s better than peeing on a wall with continuous water flowing down on it and it mingles with the pee of every other guy standing on either side of me. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/104 "2015-10-18T04:20:01Z")
> [@](#): > > With chip+pin, a would-be thief needs to see you enter your pin, and also manage to steal your card. How does a chip protect you from online theft? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/105 "2015-10-18T04:32:50Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > How does a chip protect you from online theft? It doesn’t. It’s a card security mechanism. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/106 "2015-10-18T05:22:16Z")
So it’s no more protection than swipe and sign, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/107 "2015-10-18T06:03:41Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > So it’s no more protection than swipe and sign, is it? For online transactions, no. Both mechanisms provide zero protection because they are _card_ security mechanisms. In other news, the locks on my car doors do not provide any protection whatsoever to my house :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/108 "2015-10-18T07:27:42Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > […] > In many cases, it might be just as much _your_ obligation to ensure that you have paid the appropriate tax as it is the vendor’s obligation. Wow. Wouldn’t it be good advice then not to go shopping or buy groceries in the U.S. without securing the services of a tax attorney first, just to be safe? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/109 "2015-10-18T10:34:04Z")
On the matter of taxes not being included in prices, has nobody mentioned the reason many consider most important? In America we need to be constantly reminded that _Government is the Problem._ If taxes weren’t levied explicitly, some Americans might forget how much the Government is stealing from us. > [@Acsenray](#): > > In that case, you need to know how much tax you are paying on each transaction so you can calculate the total taxes you have paid. Many or most countries where VAT is included in prices nevertheless break it out for mention in the printed receipts. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/110 "2015-10-18T13:31:12Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > So it’s no more protection than swipe and sign, is it? For a swipe card, the magnetic strip provides all the information necessary to duplicate the card - every time the card is swiped, the data from the card is passed to the reader. For a chip card, the card is asked by the point-of-sale system to respond to an input (frequently a random number) and provide a one-time-use code, which is determined/calculated by the chip. Rather than providing all the information about the card, the chip only needs to give a response that can be used once - stealing that response is not usually enough to give a thief the ability to generate new transactions on the card. Using the same response to a different random number generated by the point-of-sale system will not get you a purchase approved by the card issuer. So the chip card provides better protection against a thief with access to the information passing from the card to the retailer, but does not provide protection against the card’s physical theft or online use by someone with the card’s number, expiration date, and security code. Chip cards still come with a magnetic stripe, so if you get a chip card, but use the magnetic stripe instead of the chip, then it’s just as unsafe as if you didn’t have a chip card. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/111 "2015-10-18T16:56:27Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Wow. Wouldn’t it be good advice then not to go shopping or buy groceries in the U.S. without securing the services of a tax attorney first, just to be safe? Sales taxes are pretty simple. And when you order something online, all you have to do is retain the receipt and report it when you file your state tax return, if the vendor hasn’t paid the tax. That’s the other thing, vendors often want to advertise prices on a nationwide basis. So that’s the price they want to appear on the shelf, regardless of what the local sales tax is. Remember, we don’t have a national sales tax in the United States. Sales taxes can be applied by many as three jurisdictions to a transaction—state, county, and municipal—each with its own rate and applying to different kinds of goods and services. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/112 "2015-10-19T19:16:48Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Wow. Wouldn’t it be good advice then not to go shopping or buy groceries in the U.S. without securing the services of a tax attorney first, just to be safe? Depends on the state. I grew up in South Dakota where _everything_ is charged sales tax - if money changes hands, the state wants its share. I now live in Minnesota, where shoes, clothing, and most grocery items are _not_ taxed, nor are periodicals, haircuts, etc. EXCEPT for “luxury” or “sin” items like soda. The list changes every year it seems, so yes you can spend lots of time trying to keep track of it all. Or just pay what they say you owe. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694/113 "2015-10-20T02:51:35Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > It’s better than peeing on a wall with continuous water flowing down on it and it mingles with the pee of every other guy standing on either side of me. That’s why I never leave my house without a Thermos. If I need to pee while away from home, the Thermos keeps it nice and warm until I can get back, transfer it to the proper container, and label it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-of-the-weirdest-things-about-america-whats-the-straight-dope/734694.md?page=5)