# Things you've seen abroad you wish were adopted world wide **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 28, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094 "2021-05-28T14:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/183 "2021-06-07T02:59:58Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > > [@Melbourne](#): > > > > How exactly is this less of a nightmare by forcing it to happen at the cash register instead of at the pricing gun? > > Some stupidly convoluted rules in Ontario at least, probably due to lobby groups. > > For example, groceries are untaxed. Fast food under $4 total is taxed only federally. > > If I go into McDonalds and buy a $2 cheeseburger, it’s taxed at 5%. If I buy two cheeseburgers and fries for $6, I lose the exemption and I’m now taxed on the whole amount at 13%. > > What do I put on the price board for a cheeseburger? $2, $2.10, or $2.26? > > A whole cooked chicken at the grocery store has no tax. Buy a 1/4 chicken dinner and it’s 13%. The definition is “ready to eat”. At noon, the hot chickens are ready-to-eat, so taxable. The leftovers, boxed and in the cooler, go back to untaxed groceries. Similarly, Maine once had a Sunday closing law, with exemptions. Stores could sell sporting goods on Sunday, as a recreation item. So you could buy a bicycle on Sunday, but not a tricycle, classified as a toy. BTW, some countries, like Germany, still have strict Sunday closing laws. My mother lived in a town that banned Sunday supermarkets until the late 80s. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/184 "2021-06-07T03:10:12Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > > [@GreenWyvern](#): > > > > You mean that purchasers pay different prices if they are tax exempt? That strikes me as a really weird system, and highly open to abuse. > > That’s what “tax-exempt” means. You missed the point. In other countries tax-exempt organisations pay exactly the same price as everyone else when they purchase something, then later claim the tax back from the government. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/185 "2021-06-07T04:07:20Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > Also, the larger of the hotels had gender-segregated laundry facilities, which seemed odd until I realized how isolated those rooms were, especially in the middle of the night. I once saw a YouTube review of a Japanese capsule hotel that had a bathhouse (instead of just a lockerroom w/ showers) complete with pay washers & dryers. Which is actually sounds very convenient for backpackers; you could literally do _all_ of your laundry at once. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/186 "2021-06-07T06:43:23Z")
Here in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania the tax exempt buyer has to show their exemption card and then be rung up by a manager who has use of the register keys to override the tax. These are actual, physical keys, like car keys. There is NO tax exempt button on a cash register. At least, not one that can be used without the manager’s keys inserted. What often happens is the cashier will ring up an entire order (always large) and then the buyer will say, “Oh, wait. I’m tax exempt. Is that a problem?” while fumbling for their card. Much internal swearing occurs while the cashier calls for a manager, the manager voids the entire order, everything has to be unbagged and rerung because NO, I CAN’T SIMPLY PUSH A TAX EXEMPT BUTTON AT THE END OF THE TRANSACTION! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/187 "2021-06-07T10:48:46Z")
That may be practical when you are talking about tax-exempt organizations - but I’m not sure it’s so practical for individuals who are exempt from taxes in certain situations. And now that I think about it those situations also affect the practicality of tax-included pricing. For example, in some situations if you are a resident of state A and shop in state B, you are exempt from state B sales taxes -but I’m probably not going to remember/bother doing that for frequent small purchases that i made near my job in state B. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/188 "2021-06-07T11:25:09Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > in some situations if you are a resident of state A and shop in state B, you are exempt from state B sales taxes I’m sure I’ve read that this is a myth. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/189 "2021-06-07T13:58:05Z")
Nope. It depends on the exact situation but if I buy furniture in NJ and have it delivered in NY, I [will not pay NJ sales](https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/pdf/pubs/sales/su4.pdf) tax on it. > If taxable items are sold and delivered to the purchaser out of State, New Jersey Sales Tax > should not be collected. If the property is shipped out of state to a recipient other than the > purchaser (e.g., in a gift transaction), the sale also is not subject to New Jersey Sales Tax Washington exempted certain non-residents [from paying sales tax at the point of sale](https://dor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/Docs/Pubs/SpecialNotices/2019/sn_19_Qualified_Nonresident.pdf) until 2019. Now they are still exempt - but have to file for a refund, only the state portion will be refunded , the refund request must be for at least $25 and only one request can be made per year. So Washington will probably be collecting tax from a fairly high proportion of technically exempt purchases. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/190 "2021-06-07T15:27:50Z")
I think that medical billing in the US is modeled after the US tax system. Well it employs millions of people for no real reason, so we have that going for us. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/191 "2021-06-07T17:41:38Z")
I just remembered a place where the owner included the tax in the sale price. It was Aaron’s Records across from Fairfax High in West Hollywood. We’d drive up there from Culver City, because all new albums (lps – this was a looooong time ago) were a flat $3.00. Used records were less and tax had to be calculated for those. It was nice. But it wasn’t earth shatteringly better. I’d completely forgotten about that. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/192 "2021-06-07T17:56:58Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > For example, in some situations if you are a resident of state A and shop in state B, you are exempt from state B sales taxes -but I’m probably not going to remember/bother doing that for frequent small purchases that i made near my job in state B. In most cases you are expected to pay a “use tax” to your state of residence for such purchases: > **[Use tax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_tax)** > > A use tax is a type of tax levied in the United States by numerous state governments. It is essentially the same as a sales tax but is applied not where a product or service was sold but where a merchant bought a product or service and then converted it for its own use, without having paid tax when it was initially purchased. Use taxes are functionally equivalent to sales taxes. They are typically levied upon the use, storage, enjoyment, or other consumption in the state of tangible personal prop... In Michigan, you’re supposed to do this on your state income tax return. I wonder how many Michigan residents bother to confess their actual out-of-state purchases on which they didn’t pay sales tax at the point of sale. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/193 "2021-06-07T18:31:42Z")
Yes, but paying the use tax to your state of residence has nothing to do with whether you are exempt from sales taxes in the state where you made the purchase or whether prices should include sales tax or calculate it separately - sure, if I buy furniture in NJ , I’m supposed to pay NY use tax on it and it might not make a difference if I get charged NJ tax at the register . But if I buy furniture in NJ and have it delivered to Delaware , Delaware has no sales tax and therefore no use tax. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/194 "2021-06-07T22:40:25Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > Here in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania the tax exempt buyer has to show their exemption card and then be rung up by a manager who has use of the register keys to override the tax. These are actual, physical keys, like car keys. There is NO tax exempt button on a cash register. At least, not one that can be used without the manager’s keys inserted. > > What often happens is the cashier will ring up an entire order (always large) and then the buyer will say, “Oh, wait. I’m tax exempt. Is that a problem?” while fumbling for their card. Much internal swearing occurs while the cashier calls for a manager, the manager voids the entire order, everything has to be unbagged and rerung because NO, I CAN’T SIMPLY PUSH A TAX EXEMPT BUTTON AT THE END OF THE TRANSACTION! Before Ontario ditched their completely separate Provincial Sales Tax system and integrated with federal government’s GST for the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) we had these issues. Now a business just adds up all the HST paid on supplies, subtracts the HST collected on sales, and pays the difference if + or receives a refund if -. No exemptions to worry about and it helps reduce the underground economy. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/195 "2021-06-07T23:46:19Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Which is actually sounds very convenient for backpackers; you could literally do _all_ of your laundry at once. [Carling Black Label - Launderette - 1986 - UK Advert - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCemJAd3KZA) text ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2021, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/196 "2021-06-07T23:53:00Z")
I like your way much better. I’m so glad I no longer work in retail. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/197 "2021-06-08T00:02:22Z")
> Toilets with two levels of flush… THANK YOU for a post that’s on topic and isn’t just about taxes. Me? I want clean, classy trains… everywhere. Need to go from Buttefuque, WY to Bangor, ME? Well, you’ll have to get a ride to Casper or Cheyenne, but then you can catch the high-speed Empire Rebuilder from San Francisco (with a gourmet dining car) to Chicago, then a choice of a commuter train to NYC then up the coast, or the scenic route (with a live string quartet) past Kalamazoo, Toronto and Montreal… ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/198 "2021-06-08T00:03:30Z")
Toilets with two levels of flush, one for light-duty tasks and one for heavy-duty. I’m starting to see these in the U.S. but I saw them in Italy on my first trip abroad in 1990. Instead of such a common-sense solution to water conservation, the U.S. passed a federal law to limit the water used in a toilet flush. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/199 "2021-06-08T00:08:11Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Who needs a card any more? Your phone is sufficient in many places. Not at a dine-in restaurant. In the U.S. the server has to make three trips when you signal you’re ready to pay: one to give you the check, another to pick up your card, another to bring it back. And you give your card to the server and where it goes, nobody knows. I’m not saying it’s common but certainly common enough to **[be a problem](https://www.google.com/search?q=restaurant+server+uses+credit+card+skimmer&rlz=1C1GIVA_enUS918US918&oq=restaurant+server+uses+credit+card+skimmer&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160j33i299l2.7695j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)**. Everywhere else they bring the card reader to your table, and you punch in the tip yourself, and you’re done in one. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/200 "2021-06-08T00:11:07Z")
Lots of places around me are getting those little modules that sit on the table and allow you to order, pay, and play games right from that device. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/201 "2021-06-08T00:22:39Z")
Capsule hotels - specifically for travel termini. Sleepbox put one in Dulles International Airport and people love it. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094/202 "2021-06-08T00:33:56Z")
I only see that in a very specific type of restaurant ( Chili’s ,Applebees, Olive Garden) and only in chains, never in an independent restaurant. Although I have been to a couple of independent places where the servers have a device that allows them to process a credit card payment without leaving he table. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youve-seen-abroad-you-wish-were-adopted-world-wide/943094.md?page=11)