[anamax]

> The £.99 pricing also makes people in shops operate the till every time to make change, preventing theft.

In most US states, the listed price isn't the amount that the customer actually pays. In most retail establishments, sales tax isn't included. In most online sales, there's some shipping and handling fee.

As a result, even a "round number" price ends up being something like $12.31.

[wazoox]

AFAIL this is a very specific (and weird) US idiosyncrasy. In all other countries I can remember, you pay the price displayed.

[detst]

Sure, it sounds nice to have a price and know that's exactly what you're paying but I prefer the US way. I want to be reminded how much of a cut the government is taking. I don't want taxes to be hidden in the price of my purchase. I want to know that an increase in price is due to some business factor or if the government is taking a larger cut.

[jarek]

Meanwhile, the rest of the world will be over here not having to do mental math every time we go to buy something with a $/£/€5 bill. And we'll still know how much tax the government is charging if we really care - it's printed on the receipt.

Wondering - how do you feel about gas prices? Do you support advertising airline tickets net of 30-50% surcharges so you can know exactly how much of your ticket goes to fuel, airport charges, taxes, and "fees"? And for the other side of the coin - what about not being reminded exactly how much value you got out of the government every time you drive down a road?

[detst]

> Meanwhile, the rest of the world will be over here not having to do mental math every time we go to buy something with a $/£/€5 bill. And we'll still know how much tax the government is charging if we really care - it's printed on the receipt.

Doing a little mental math is an awfully small price to pay for a little more transparency. Having it on a receipt, although good, doesn't quite cut it because most people will never look at one. I believe it to be important for every person be in tune with the cost of government.

> Wondering - how do you feel about gas prices?

Good that you mention that because I don't like the hidden taxes in gas prices and that's precisely the point I'm making. They can up the tax rates on gas here and no one would know the difference because it's built into the price.

All I'm suggesting is that we have very clear transparency in taxes and make sure everyone knows the cost; don't hide them.

> Do you support advertising airline tickets net of 30-50% surcharges so you can know exactly how much of your ticket goes to fuel, airport charges, taxes, and "fees"?

I'm not talking about surcharges; fuel, airport charges, and fees are nice to know but have nothing to do with taxes so have nothing to do with my point. However, they are nice to have itemized.

As for the taxes: yeah, I would like them clearly separated from the advertised price. It's annoying but are you seeing the pattern yet? Taxes that are hidden away in the price tend to be ridiculous and easily increased without the average person noticing. I'm fine with taxes but this isn't what I would call transparency and that's a bad thing.

[Side note: this wouldn't be so messy if we didn't have absurd taxes. "Sept. 11 Security Fee"? Why isn't that a service charged to the airport/airlines? Oh, because then it would have to be reasonable and the airlines would simply price their tickets with this cost in consideration and the TSA wouldn't be spending millions on privacy-invading machines that don't improve security. But they're the government and can just charge the passengers directly and when they need more money, instead of having to justify it to a for-profit company as actually improving security, they can do whatever they want and increase the tax.]

> And for the other side of the coin - what about not being reminded exactly how much value you got out of the government every time you drive down a road?

I suppose this question is because you think I object to taxes; I don't. I'm fine with them but with as much transparency as possible.

[jarek]

>> And for the other side of the coin - what about not being reminded exactly how much value you got out of the government every time you drive down a road?

> I suppose this question is because you think I object to taxes; I don't. I'm fine with them but with as much transparency as possible.

I'm not sure I follow. You want transparency for government revenue and for every person to be in tune with the cost of government. Do you think it is important for people to be in tune with the expenses of said government? You could easily make the claim that explicit transparency in terms of how much money is spent on $government_service would be beneficial (true cost of "free" roads, money spent on each military base, etc). Sure, you could look it up in the budget, but most people will never look at one.

[frobozz]

Various countries manage this without requiring the customer to keep themselves up-to-date with local tax laws.

The sticker price is the actual price paid (including tax), but the receipt shows the itemised pre-tax price, with tax added on at the bottom.

[aisi]

In Australia, we have a single tax for goods and services, the "GST". It is 10%, (or put otherwise, 1/11 of the price of an item). Only a few categories are excluded, such as fresh food and beverages, healthcare, and education services.

There are a few things with different/additional taxes, but generally tax is pretty transparent here, so prices are usually inclusive of tax.