On 22-Jan-12 20:51, John Levine wrote:
I would be very surprised to hear of any European country where retail
prices for non-trade customers are quoted net of tax. ...

That's because VAT is standard across a country. In the US there are thousands
of taxing districts in every state, each with it's own adder to the base rate.

That's not really the case. Some states have lots of tax districts,
e.g. here in New York where every county and many cities set their
own sales tax rate. But some states like Vermont have a single rate
for the whole state, and some like New Hampshire and Delaware have no
sales tax at all. For prices in stores, everything in the store is taxed
at the same rate, but those prices are quoted net of tax, too.

Not true; some items are fully or partially tax-exempt, so the rate can
vary even within a single store. For instance, my state taxes prepared
food but not unprepared food, which are both found in grocery stores,
and automobiles are exempt from local tax but not state tax, while other
items sold at car dealerships are not exempt from either.

Many states claim that residents of their state have to pay sales tax on
products shipped by a seller in another state, whereas AFAIK no state
taxes products shipped to a buyer another state. If the seller is in
the same state as the buyer, the buyer's rate applies to shipped orders,
not the seller's rate.

And then there's Congress's Internet sales tax moratorium, so the same
product ordered by the same buyer from the same seller may by taxed if
the order was by phone or mail but not if online.

Also, some buyers do not have to pay sales tax at all, and some buyers
can have their sales tax refunded.

My understanding is that most prices in the US are quoted net of tax
for purely political reasons, that the tax sceptics in the legislature
want everyone to be aware of what the tax rate is, and how much the
state is collecting.

That's one theory.

We will leave as an exercise for the student why prices for gasoline
are invariably quoted gross, with all taxes included.

Excise taxes, eg. on motor fuels, are usually included in the price, but
sales taxes are not. Most states exempt products from sales tax if
subject to a specific excise tax, but some don't.

In short, it's a complete mess.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
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