Back in Osoyoos, on an Omak Walmart run with Donna, I asked the cashier what the sales tax was in Washington state. The cashier had no idea what I was talking about.
Tonight, desperately needing a leg stretch despite the gale-force winds, I marched to the nearby c-store (c-store? I’m starting to sound American!) to get some drinking water and asked the cashier about North Dakota sales tax. She had no idea what it is.
I am confused by this. How can you work with money and not have any idea of the sales tax?!
As it turns out, ND sales tax is the same as AB sales tax, 5%.
Sometimes they don’t know because it is included in the cost of the merchandise (like the Canadian Maritimes)
Other times, the receipt only tells you how much the tax is, but not the percentage at which it is calculated, so only the management who program the cash registers would “need” to know.
Because they’re ignorant.
Gypsy, what about consumers, then? Don’t they care that they are paying more than what the sales price says?
Bast, I was expecting that response from you. 😉
Bwahahahaa. You know me SO well.
Just so you know: sales tax rate for Virginia is 5 percent and some food has a tax rate of 2.5 percent.
After more than 12 years, I sure hope I know you. 😉 And yay for VA having a reasonable tax rate!
LOL, for response, see Bast’s comment 😛
I agree with Bast as well. Come on people!!! Living in Ca where the sales tax is very high I certainly know what it is in my county.
Like Bast says!
In Texas, I as looking for a new laser printer and I asked the clerk what the sales tax was. He did not know so he asked another teller who said there was none. It turned out there is a sales tax but neither of them knew that. It does make you shake your head!
Perhaps Americans call it something else??? That’s crazy!
Re: Texas sales tax. It’s 6.25% BUT some various localities charge a local tax (up to 2%). So the maximum that you can be charged in Texas is 8.25%. However, food (at the grocery store) was NOT charged tax, at least whilst I lived there. It may have changed by now.
You mean all food is taxed in Virginia? In Canada, there’s a whole host of food that can’t be charged tax (chips yes, fruit no, for example). I know how well I’m eating by the amount of tax on my grocery bill!
Yes, not only is food taxed in Virginia, but when you’re on Food Stamps and use coupons most stores make you pay the tax on those coupons in cash.
Wal-Mart DOES NOT. Thank you, Wal-Mart.
That’s crazy!
I would expect most people to know the local sales tax, and maybe nearby shopping areas. Sometimes it varies by county or even city. Knowing the sales tax rate helped me from being overcharged on my RV, apparently the tax is charged on the rate where it will be registered rather than where purchased, and the city the dealer was in had an extra 0.5%.