I got a “content unavailable” screen. Maybe because it’s on Facebook? I don’t suppose you’d have a picture on photobucket or something…?
You already know how much it is in advance, although for some items it is itemized separatedly in advance (for example hotel stays) and for others there is simply a reminder of what the current % is (for example restaurant menus). And neither of those examples are situations where we’d be expected to leave a tip, since service is always included.
And in case you haven’t noticed, the thread is about “stuff you wish you’d known before going to the US,” not about whether the American way is The Right Way.
I didn’t say it was the right way (feel free to cite where I did, Nava.) I was, however, responding to a remark about “chicanery” and “baffled why they would defend this practice” explaining why it is done this way - with thousands of differing governments all imposing varying tax rules, there’s no way to generate “all inclusive pricing.”
If stores widely displayed how much sales tax is, I’d agree with you. But when I shop out of state, I generally have no idea how much the sales tax will be. 5%? 8%? I don’t know, the only sales tax here is on meals.
I’ve never seen items taxed individually (unless they were purchased in separate transactions): the sales tax is always calculated just once, as a percentage of the taxable subtotal. The rounding on a single transaction involving multiple line items won’t amount to more than 0.5 cents.
That’s exactly my point.
On the flip side, the first time I went to the UK, I gave a panhandler my spare change, only realizing later that the handful of change included five or six one pound coins.
I apparently don’t travel in particularly godly circles. Not once–ONCE–have I ever been asked what church I went to, and I’ve never heard anyone else being asked that question. Maybe I’ve heard when two people were actually talking about church, but never as an introductory question.
Sadly, I will back this up about central PA. An American professor friend of mine finished her doctorate work elsewhere because she could not stand the bigoted narrowness of the locals. She is white and bears her ex-husband’s Russian name and she got crap for that. Then she got crap from students and a fellow lecturer for her Jewish maiden name even though she is Presbyterian.
I once took a bus trip from Mid Ohio to LA. On it was a beautiful young lady who spent hours on her knees looking out the window. I thought she might have been mentally handicapped. It turned out she was a German student who couldn’t get over the sight of driving through multiple states of continuous corn fields followed by wheat fields. She spoke perfect English. Not sure how somebody learns another language with such perfection.
I’m surprised that anyone would ask what church someone goes to. I’d honestly start laughing and tell them I’m a faithful follower of brother John Birch.
I grew up and went to school in Sydney, Australia. In 4th Form we had a new girl start. She was from Texas and the first thing she asked everyone was what church they went to. This was considered seriously weird in heathen Sydney.
But do you have a garage?
“This citizen” referred to me, septimus. I didn’t mind when U.S. Customs took my suitcase for X-ray, and took me for rectum search – I felt they were just doing their job. However, I was annoyed on another occasion when a Customs inspector arrogantly abused and destroyed my property for no reason – though not as badly as your experience.
There is an American rudeness or sense of entitlement that is much rarer in other countries. (Let’s be clear: it’s a small minority; most Americans are very decent people.) This “sense of entitlement” (or whatever the best word for it is) isn’t limited to law enforcement personnel. Here’s a recent YouTube of an American who felt entitled to McNuggets despite that they were unavailable.
I made the mistake of responding to two completely unrelated topics in one post. My comment about “E.G.” was directed to another poster.
Hi, JohnT. I asked you about this and got no answer. Net prices are obviously more convenient. (Receipts usually contain a break-down showing tax, though very few care.)
I remain curious. Will you deign to elucidate?
Rectum search??? Are you joking? That’s horrible.
I know what you’re saying about the entitlement thing. We have this “the customer is always right” saying, and some people really take it to extremes and turn into spoiled vindictive princesses. If I don’t get what I want right now heads will roll! You’ll be hearing from my lawyer! Most Americans don’t have a lawyer of course.
They made some inference I might be a drug-carrying mule, I guess, and did their job. They were professional. I support law enforcement when done properly. It was the Customs jerk who stood with a smirk while pointlessly destroying my property that was more annoying. I have other personal examples of semi-official Americans acting abusively.
I’d just watched that astounding YouTube of a McDonald’s customer (on drugs?) so linked to it, but it might be a poor example of my point.
Not really. This isn’t the thread. All that’s needed to be said has been said, and a new thread won’t provide any more illumination either. If you can’t understand why a country with over 4,000 differing sales tax rates would tend to a cost-plus pricing system rather than an all-inclusive, there’s little more I can say.
Our system is not better. But it’s better for us.
I live in DC. Both Maryland and Virginia are about 10 to 15 minutes from my house. I like to see the sales tax listed separately because each of them has different tax rates, and that way I can figure where I should go for certain big ticket items.
Plus custom is king. We’ve always done it this way and it makes sense for us.
The difference is that I see sales tax as something the *business *has to pay, not the consumer. They give me a product, I give them money, and they pay a portion of that money as taxes. What portion isn’t my problem - let them figure it out. I just want to pay the listed price.
They don’t get the “sales tax” money from any other source than the consumer, so I’m confused as to why it would be considered a “business tax.” As there are no business inputs that affect the tax collected (as opposed to say income tax) and it’s a pure transfer from the purchaser to the government (this transfer handled by the business), it’s obviously a consumer tax.