I am from UK, when I was in Florida no prices seen included Tax, why do they do this?

Question

I didnt have a clue how much anything was, Is this the same in all the states, does this annoy americans or does nobody care cos everything is so cheap anyway.

Answer 1

We don't have a VAT system in the US. We have a sales tax system where the tax is assessed in full at the point of final retail sale. It massively simplifies tax reporting since only the last man in the chain has to worry about filing the tax returns and rendering Caesar his due.

Having lived in the UK and other European countries and having prepared a few VAT returns I can attest to the simplicity of the system used on this side of the pond. (And if you think a British VAT rerturn is complicated, try doing a German Mehrwehrsteurer return in German sometime. Arrrgh!!)

I can understand the confusion that our foreign visitors experience but the system is so much a part of the American culture that we barely take note of it.

Answer 2

That's the way sales tax works in the US - it's added on to the price of a few states don't have a sales tax.

Answer 3

Tax varies from ｓtate to state in the US. It would be quite simple for stores to include the tax in their pricing labels, but, quite simply, they show their prices minus tax because it makes everything looks cheaper when they don't, and American law doesn't insist on tax being included in price tags.

It's really stupid because if you see, say, a pair of jeans priced at $60, you're not walking out of the store with them unless you pay more than that price (you could RUN out...). Buy your jeans from Europe anyway, fella- there's less chance they were made by underpaid workers in sweat shops ;-)

Answer 4

No price anymore in America has the tax included, simply because the tax rate differs state to state.
It doesn't bother me... mainly because I enjoy math, and its usually never more than 3 bucks... well depending on what I'm buying.

Answer 5

You did not say what did not have prices. If you meant grocery items the prices are on the shelf. FPIRG a consumer organization tried years ago to prevent this but BIG BUSINESS and BIG LOBBYISTS won that contest.
Each State can set it's own commerce rules.

Answer 6

It can be annoying to always have to do the math,yes.

Is everything so cheap here??News to me,in Ohio.

Answer 7

Florida doesn't have state tax.