# Poll: Your view of sales tax **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683 "2013-10-19T22:17:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/41 "2013-10-21T14:13:51Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > The way the tax is added is idiotic. The art of taxation has been described as maximizing the pork, while minimizing the squeal. Adding tax at the register has the opposite effect. I wouldn’t disagree at all, and find it amazing that sales tax is not only tolerated but remains “invisible” - or at least below the radar - for the great majority of people even in this “Tax is a Four Letter Word” era. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/42 "2013-10-21T15:25:01Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > AND food is taxed? Ouch. But in Tennessee we don’t have any income tax. StG ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/43 "2013-10-21T15:41:49Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > The way the tax is added is idiotic. The art of taxation has been described as maximizing the pork, while minimizing the squeal. I am glad the “squeal” is there. I would love for the “squeal” to be more pronounced in other taxes. For example, automatic tax withholding from paychecks should be banned. You should pay your taxes by writing a check, explicitly, and know very intimately how much it is. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/44 "2013-10-21T16:06:08Z")
I’m “aware of it”, but I wasn’t actually sure exactly what our current rate is until I just looked it up. The CA state sales tax is 7.5%, but we have a local sales tax as well, and it seems like every couple years we have a ‘temporary’ local sales tax increase of 1/4 or 1/2%, so I can never remember what the effective rate is. Mentally, I just add in 10% to the cost of the item; that way I know the actual cost is something less than my estimate. ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/45 "2013-10-21T16:11:17Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Taxes on gasoline are another matter - I try to fill up out in the 'burbs whenever I can, because it really is cheaper, and I buy gas a lot. That usually means I fill up on Mondays, 'cause I’m in Evergreen Park on Mondays, and there’s a cheap Circle K station on 87th just before you enter the boundary of Chicago. Whether my tank is low or not, I’ll fill it up so that I don’t get stuck in Chicago needing gas…unless I know I’ll be going to New Lenox later in the week! (New Lenox is in another county, and has even cheaper gas than Evergreen Park.) Before this thread I had no idea about the Chicago (and Illinois) gasoline tax situation. I essentially assumed that all states dealt with gasoline taxes the same way: federal per gallon tax plus a state per gallon tax. I had a vague notion that a few of the states charged it a little different, but no specifics. In addition to the normal taxes people see in other states, Illinois also charges normal sales taxes on the dollar amount of the total purchase. Interesting since many states have had declining gasoline tax revenues due to increasing gasoline prices and related declining demand; Illinois would presumably have increased revenues in these past few years. Also the individual municipalities charge sales taxes on gasoline and there are additional flat taxes added too. It’s a fairly complex system compared to most states. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/46 "2013-10-21T16:38:41Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I don’t see any “should be” reason for online sales taxes. Brick and mortar stores, maybe: the state keeps the roads paved and cleaned of snow, the street lights on, the cops on the beat, etc., which help enable commerce. But the state has no role in keeping an online business afloat, so there is no moral or logical justification for them to dip their beak in the transaction. Damn straight! We all know that Amazon has no physical presence anywhere on the US. They’re an entirely cloud-based company, without any bricks-and-mortar warehouses or processing centres. Hell, even their server farm is up in the cloud somewhere, powered entirely by solar power. And all that stuff they sell? All made in the clouds, not in a physical plant somewhere. And the delivery system? All cloud-based. No FedEx or USPS for Amazon, no sir! As soon as it “ships” from the cloud, it appears instantaneously in your mailbox. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/47 "2013-10-21T16:38:48Z")
> [@LonghornDave](#): > > Before this thread I had no idea about the Chicago (and Illinois) gasoline tax situation. I essentially assumed that all states dealt with gasoline taxes the same way: federal per gallon tax plus a state per gallon tax. I had a vague notion that a few of the states charged it a little different, but no specifics. > > In addition to the normal taxes people see in other states, Illinois also charges normal sales taxes on the dollar amount of the total purchase. Interesting since many states have had declining gasoline tax revenues due to increasing gasoline prices and related declining demand; Illinois would presumably have increased revenues in these past few years. Also the individual municipalities charge sales taxes on gasoline and there are additional flat taxes added too. > > It’s a fairly complex system compared to most states. Yep. We have federal, state, county and city taxes on gasoline. It’s taxes all the way down. 😃 Some of the surrounding 'burbs are cities in the same county (Cook) so they have federal, state and county taxes, but not sometimes not city taxes, or cheaper city taxes. This makes them a little cheaper per gallon. Go a little further, and you get out of Cook County. Mokena (which is what I meant when I wrote New Lenox - oops, they are neighbors) is in Will County. Will County gas tax is lower than Cook County’s tax, so the gas is cheaper yet. Used to be that you could get \*much \*cheaper gas across the border in Indiana, but the last few years have seen the gas gap close a lot, so unless you have a very fuel efficient car, it’s not really worth the drive unless you have to go there for another reason now. But if you do find yourself in Indiana, fill up before you come back over the border. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/48 "2013-10-21T16:58:28Z")
Personally, I pay for virtually everything with credit, and my budget isn’t tight, at least not to the point where sales tax becomes an issue. Here in Virginia, our sales tax is 4-4.5%, which is small enough that it’s essentially noise when making purchases. For instance, if I’m grocery shopping, between all the items I buy, random stuff on sale, at-register discounts, there’s pretty much no way to know what it all works out to ahead of time without keeping a running total as I put stuff in the cart, so that 4% just gets lost in all of that. If I’m getting something with service charges or tips, it’s usually less than those. That all said, my views on taxation aside, as long as we’re going to have a sales tax, I wish it would be built into the price like most of Europe does. I don’t buy gas, then get shocked at how much extra tax I’m paying. I wish we’d just build it into prices, and since generally retailers will have the same tax anyway, I don’t see why we can’t just throw it in. Sure, maybe ones close to a city limit or state lines might be a bit different, but chances are if people cared enough to cross that line to do the shopping because the prices are different afterward, they were probably already doing it before. And, frankly, unless I’m making a large purchase, it’s seldom worth the time, gas, and effort to do that sort of thing anyway. Sure, I know some people that will drive 20 minutes to save $.15 a gallon on gas, and maybe it works out slightly ahead once wear and tear and fuel spent to get there is worked in, but my time and energy is worth more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/49 "2013-10-21T18:02:39Z")
Curious why so many people would rather have the tax amount buried in the price for the item. I want to know how much I’m being charged for the tax. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/50 "2013-10-21T19:37:06Z")
I believe that’s the rationale in Canada for not having the tax buried in the price. It goes both ways, of course. I’ve sometimes seen merchants quoted in the news as arguing for a requirement that the tax be buried, to reduce customers’ “sticker shock” when they get the actual cost at the till. But I’ve also seen other merchants say that they stand by their prices, and if the government wants to add on something, the government should take the heat for it. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/51 "2013-10-21T19:40:11Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’ve sometimes seen merchants quoted in the news as arguing for a requirement that the tax be buried, to reduce customers’ “sticker shock” when they get the actual cost at the till. That “sticker shock” is what keeps taxpayers appraised of the taxes that they pay. Of course the “big government” advocates would like that hidden. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/52 "2013-10-21T21:08:10Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Of course the “big government” advocates would like that hidden. Possibly. Should you run into any “big government advocates,” you could ask. (I’ve never met one, myself - just people who aren’t under the delusion that a ca. 1780 government would serve today’s needs.) You went past the point that it’s _merchants_ who would like the tax buried. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/53 "2013-10-21T22:38:56Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Curious why so many people would rather have the tax amount buried in the price for the item. I want to know how much I’m being charged for the tax. As someone else has already said, the amount of sales tax paid is clearly displayed on the receipt. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/54 "2013-10-22T19:16:04Z")
> [@cornopean](#): > > My position is that the US should eliminate all forms of taxes except a flat rate VAT. Then it should outlaw permanently and forever the income tax (and all other forms of taxation). Amen Brother! (Or sister) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/55 "2013-10-22T19:55:24Z")
I never fail to be entertained (for certain values of) by rabid tax revisionists whose solutions will essentially remove corporations and the wealthy from the tax equation and distribute the load over the poorest third of citizens… and do it with a straight face, in the name of sticking it to the man. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/56 "2013-10-22T20:05:28Z")
I voted for “always conscious”. When I learned to budget as a wee lass it was a part of my calculation when spending my allowance. My dad treated it as an exercise to show how math was important in the real world. That started the habit and if I’m only shopping (ie, not socializing, wrangling kids, talking on the phone) I keep a running total including tax of what I’m putting in my cart. The game is to see how close I am to the final total at the end. I’m a fan of very visible taxes. The GST in Canada replaced a series of manufacturers taxes that were included in most of the same items but invisible to the end purchaser. I prefer having all the information easily available to me when I’m making purchasing decisions. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/57 "2013-10-22T20:05:40Z")
I’m aware of it, but I don’t actively think about it. Stuff costs what it costs. ---
**Author:** ![Uther\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Uther\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uther_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/58 "2013-10-23T00:59:39Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I never fail to be entertained (for certain values of) by rabid tax revisionists whose solutions will essentially remove corporations and the wealthy from the tax equation and distribute the load over the poorest third of citizens… and do it with a straight face, in the name of sticking it to the man. Of course, it is simply traditional. When the US Constitution was originally written, in the old European ally (the Ancien Régime of France) the higher classes were also exempt from taxes. And yet France could fight her wars in overseas and support rebels and stuff. It all worked out beautifully. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Uther\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Uther\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uther_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/59 "2013-10-23T01:17:25Z")
Germany has a nationwide VAT (MwSt). The full rate is 19%, the reduced rate is 7%. The latter is used for food (as groceries), non-alcoholic beverages (as groceries), books and newspapers, public transport and some other things. While the final amount is directly shown, the tax is by no means invisible, as long as you can muster the energy to look at your sales receipt: [Here](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Kassenbon.jpg) you can see a typical receipt, which shows how much of the both rates is figured into your sum. (The last two things, two packs of cigarettes, are the full-rate items.) The column “netto” shows how much the net, untaxed price would be. So yes, blabbering about hiding and invisibility is just an uninformed scare tactic. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683/60 "2013-10-23T11:37:54Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Curious why so many people would rather have the tax amount buried in the price for the item. I want to know how much I’m being charged for the tax. Whereas I don’t actually care what the tax on the item is; I just want to know how much of my hard-earned money needs to be exchanged so I can acquire the item - hence my support for the “all-inclusive” pricing laws such as those we have in Australia and New Zealand. The tax is on the receipt if I cared, but realistically, if my coffee has cost $3.50 then it makes no difference to me if $0.35c of that or $3.05 is tax. The thing that matters is I will need to give the person behind the counter three dollars and fifty cents if I would like a cup of coffee. GST (Goods and Services Tax) in Australia is 10% and for the most part, you don’t notice it. By law, it is included in the advertised price, although the actual tax component of the sale is included on the receipt doo. _Not_ displaying the full, all-inclusive price comes across as vaguely dishonest to me, almost like it’s providing a mechanism for an unscrupulous retailer to add a little “something extra” for themselves on the theory most normal people can’t/won’t try and work out off the top off their head what a 7.284% tax rate on top of an $8.34 purchase is. More importantly (and realistically), it makes me feel like retailers are lying to me - and if I can’t trust them to simply tell me how much I have to spend to acquire their goods, then how can I trust them to sell me a quality product? What else are they hiding? I found shopping in the US to be a less than optimal experience at times, in case you hadn’t noticed. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-your-view-of-sales-tax/671683.md?page=4)