5/10/08

I hate $19.95 plus tax

I referenced in an earlier post that I am always keeping my eye out for things that Ukrainians have right. I was reminded of one that I noticed earlier but forgot to mention while in Yalta.

In the US everything is $___.95 or $_____.99 plus tax. We end up always paying amounts like $7.14 and $11.83 with bills and receiving change that only serves to annoy people with excess weight in their pockets and make purchasing things more difficult.

Here they have a 20% sales tax but they factor it in to the cost of the item. So if something costs 6 hrivna and you pay 6 hrivna - the vendor just reverse-computes to give the necessary portion that must be rendered in tax. It's not as simple as taking 20% of the purchase price as that would come out to a higher amount than what is actually owed, but it is a simpler system than we have.

How is it that Americans invented the telephone, the automobile and the computer and yet we can't figure out how to invert a simple mathematical equation to eliminate the cumbersome addition of sales tax?
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3 comments:

  1. AaronMay 12, 2008 at 7:45 PM

    Taking a shot at this one...maybe it's because sales tax varies by state.

    Also, I think it's easier for accounting purposes to not have to add it in upfront and then have to take it back out when reporting on sales, etc. It's kept separate.

    Plus, consider the basic psychology behind not listing the sales tax. The price looks lower...which is also the reason why everything is .95 or .99. It appears cheaper.

    I don't know if the Hrivna is dealt in decimals, but it doesn't sound like it. If everything were in whole dollars over here, it would also be much simpler.

    I could go on, but I won't bore you all with more. I'm going to chalk it all up to it's a giant conspiracy by the bubblegum ball vending machine companies.

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  2. AnonymousMay 12, 2008 at 8:14 PM

    Actually, I think we can figure it out. Some venders at sporting events and the such do just that. However, we are the land of deception and stupidity. It sounds cheaper if I don't talk about the sales tax so we don't, until after that is. Likewise it is why we think it is so great when we get stuff on sale. The problem is at many places (Kohls, JC Penny etc) everything is always on sale. So as a business owner: The sale price is the full price and the full price is, man are you an idot if you actually pay this. We are always thinking we are getting such a great deal by seeing the lowest price (including no tax) then we add add add.

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  3. MattyMay 12, 2008 at 10:58 PM

    The sales tax could still vary by state. It would just be reverse tallied. The receipt still shows the tax paid and the total amount so when you give them money they have just as accurate a record of what portion of that is sales tax, it is just computed off an even number instead of being added to it. I realize there is a understood value to having a cost "under $20" even if it's only by 5 cents, but we have gotten to where we round up on that cost anyway ("look, it's 20 bucks").

    They have change...called Copeks, but they understand that there's an easier method by which they don't have to use them all the time.


    I guess my main point was that this is a better method, not necessarily one which is feasible. Eastern Europe isn't the only place where people are products of their culture and find it difficult to escape. We're stuck in our consumerism...

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