Transparent Airfares Act of 2014: A proposal based on lies

[Zanza]

They could start advertising the actual price in their retail outlets.

[Admiral Yi]

That.

[garbon]

I'm surprised that anyone on this board has been inconvenienced by having to pay a few extra cents in tax.

[Admiral Yi]

I'm surprised that anyone on this board has been inconvenienced by having to pay a few extra cents in tax.

This is retarded.  No one is bitching about having to pay sales tax.

[garbon]

I'm surprised that anyone on this board has been inconvenienced by having to pay a few extra cents in tax.

This is retarded.  No one is bitching about having to pay sales tax.

Then I'm very confused as dps example was about a retail store.

[garbon]

Note, California has a hot food tax and I always laughed at the individuals who got angry that their $5 foot long wasn't 5 dollars if toasted.

[Admiral Yi]

Then I'm very confused as dps example was about a retail store.

The issue is not the existence of a sales tax, or the level of sales taxes (though I'm glad that here in God's Country we don't have to tack on 20% VAT).

The issue is the convenience of knowing ahead of time how much you will be out of pocket when you see a price listed.

For example, say you need a new rig for the Gay Pride Day Parade.  You think to yourself, that mink jock would look sporting, and you wonder how much you'll have to pay.  You might think to yourself "at $200, that's a pretty good deal" but then it might look different when you get to the register and they add $24 sales tax.  Or maybe you only have $200 on you.

There's no downside that I can think of to including sales tax in the listed price.

[garbon]

Inconvenient for businesses and not that big of a hassle for consumers?

[Jacob]

There's no downside that I can think of to including sales tax in the listed price.

There are two alleged down-sides I've heard of:

1) It's important that people know how much tax the government is taking, so they don't blame the seller for high prices. I think this is a bullshit argument.

2) Because the US has so many different tax schemes across jurisdictions, price labelling including tax is onerous for companies producing/ selling stuff across the country. It's easier to label (and keep track of) $9.99 + tax and be done with, than have to calculate and produce labels for the same product in different stores, especially when you consider things like moving inventory from location to location and/or changing tax regimes.

Still, I prefer the tax included pricing.

[dps]

There's no downside that I can think of to including sales tax in the listed price.

There are two alleged down-sides I've heard of:

1) It's important that people know how much tax the government is taking, so they don't blame the seller for high prices. I think this is a bullshit argument.

2) Because the US has so many different tax schemes across jurisdictions, price labelling including tax is onerous for companies producing/ selling stuff across the country. It's easier to label (and keep track of) $9.99 + tax and be done with, than have to calculate and produce labels for the same product in different stores, especially when you consider things like moving inventory from location to location and/or changing tax regimes.

Still, I prefer the tax included pricing.

I think I've made it clear that I think the 2nd argument has merit.

The first one does as well in theory, but in practice the customer blames the retailer anyway.

[The Brain]

When I buy stuff in Sweden 20% goes to the government. That's whack.

[Norgy]

When I buy stuff in Sweden 20% goes to the government. That's whack.

Just 20 %? Our VAT is 25 % on most things. Half on foodstuffs. And of course extra taxes on harmful stuff like alcohol and tobacco.
I've not quite quit smoking, but at least substituted 2/3 of my cigs with "snus". Which apparently becomes ridiculously expensive even in Sweden soon.

[The Brain]

When I buy stuff in Sweden 20% goes to the government. That's whack.

Just 20 %? Our VAT is 25 % on most things. Half on foodstuffs. And of course extra taxes on harmful stuff like alcohol and tobacco.
I've not quite quit smoking, but at least substituted 2/3 of my cigs with "snus". Which apparently becomes ridiculously expensive even in Sweden soon.

Ours is 25%.

[alfred russel]

When I buy stuff in Sweden 20% goes to the government. That's whack.

Just 20 %? Our VAT is 25 % on most things. Half on foodstuffs. And of course extra taxes on harmful stuff like alcohol and tobacco.
I've not quite quit smoking, but at least substituted 2/3 of my cigs with "snus". Which apparently becomes ridiculously expensive even in Sweden soon.

Ours is 25%.

Not everyone is a nuclear physicist. 

[grumbler]

They could start advertising the actual price in their retail outlets.

They could.  Why they would want to do something so bad for business is a different question.

If every business were required to post price including tax, that would be one thing.  However, noting that Wendy's could advertise higher prices than the competition is just stupid.  Of course they could.  They could triple the price on all of their products, as well.  They could lock their doors so no customers could get in.  They could change their corporate name every day.  There is an unending list of stupid things they could do.  Why even mention just one?