socialistexan:

greekedtext:

2-face:

madamebomb:

cephalotodd:

we should make fun of americans more. why dont their shops include tax in the price tag. like how much does this item cost? its a surprise 🙂

Honestly, tea. I’ve lived here my whole life and I have never once known what my total is gonna be at the register. Total fucking mystery.

im an ex-american living in new zealand for the past two years and it still never fails to blow my mind that i can take a $2 coin, walk up to a counter with two $1 items, and perform the expected transaction

this callout is completely deserved

Our sales tax system isn’t at the national or even sometimes state or city level, because of that states and cities have completely different rates, and some cities ad on an additional sales tax on top (Austin is 8.25% total, but Texas as a state is just 6.25%) while some states don’t have any sales tax at all. None. Zero.

So, a business that operates across state lines or even City lines puts the base price of the item so that the individual tax rates can be calculated at the point of sale, rather than having a different price tag in ever single city they operate in.

Also “small business owners” argue it allows them to advertise lower prices (ie fucking lie). It’s also why gratuity for food services workers isn’t included in the price of the food, but expected as an additional tip on top of the meal.