In message , at
05:11:30 on Mon, 23 Jan 2012, Neil Williams
remarked:
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.

Presumably only one applies to any given shop?

I know of shops which straddle a State Line, and I've no idea what
happens there! It must be quite interesting living in a town that's half
in one State and half in the other. No doubt they have some kind of
local policy regarding various jurisdictional issues, although I've
heard of problems arising when two vehicles collide in one State and the
wreckage slides into the next State.
--
Roland Perry