Comments on: How Much is that 75p Soda? Sales Tax Revisited.

By: Miki

Miki — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:20:55 +0000

C’mon, Kelly, why in the world would you expect to find ANY simple solutions in the US? You know Americans are into challenge and challenge is spelled ‘convoluted’—especially when it comes to tax. After all, you wouldn’t want to to see a recession in the tax industry, would you?

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:55:18 +0000

I can’t remember where I read this, but I think I read that the non-inclusion of state sales tax comes from an ideological stance with its roots in the 30s. The idea was that a “hidden” tax is bad because it hides from citizens the cost of governance. There were objections to the withholding system for the same reason. Does that sound familiar? Of course, recent studies of happiness suggest that hiding taxes (including them in the cost) may well increase well-being in quantifiable ways. Maybe the states will catch on?

By: Thursday

Thursday — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:03:43 +0000

The boyfriend and I do our best to be completely correct on our taxes, which, unfortunately includes use tax… Considering we do a lot of shopping on Amazon and other websites, that can turn into a crazy amount when we figure our taxes.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:27:08 +0000

Hope you are all feeling better and able to enjoy the UK. It would be nice if the final price included the sales tax here in the US.