I work in retail and all the immigrants that come in always want a discount or freak out because the amount on the register is different from the price on the tag. most of them are legal because I can see in their wallets they have medicare or some sort of state ID. some even accuse me of trying to rip them off. I've seen this happen in Target or other chain stores too. Can't the goverement try to educate them once they come to this country.
2007-02-17 04:39:34 · 3 answers · asked by peonies 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ Other - Taxes
Likely because when US persons buy things in other countries that have a VAT we don't have to pay it
2007-02-17 05:51:38 · answer #1 · answered by smh60437 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most foreign visitors are not accustomed to our sales tax system. The are accustomed to the VAT system used by most countries where the sales tax is built into the shelf price of the item. That's the price that they pay at home and they are surprised that our system doesn't work that way.
If you politely explain to them that our "VAT" system adds the tax on at the point of sale, most of them will understand the concept. Just explain that we'd rather be open and honest about the taxes collected by our government instead of hiding it away on the merchant's VAT return.
FYI, most immigrants have figured this out within a few days of arrival. You're either dealing with someone who arrived within a day or two or, more likely, a tourist on their first visit to the US.
Some foreign visitors may also be looking for a rebate on the VAT or sales tax. May countries will refund VAT paid by tourists if you spend a fairly large amount of money in their country. That's not offered in the US as it would be a nightmare trying to deal with literally thousands of taxing authorities for sales tax rebates. Again, a polite explanation is all that's normally needed. If they're not happy with that, refer them to a manager; it's not your job to deal with conflict with customers.
2007-02-17 15:28:11 · answer #2 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If they have come from a culture that has no sales tax, and especially if they come from one where corruption is rampant, they are trained to be suspicious. They are used to having to be on guard against people trying to snow them. It just may take them awhile to understand what's normal and legal here.
I've traveled in countries where shenanagans were common, and bribes were required for fairly routine transactions.
2007-02-17 12:53:58 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋