[samatman]

European VATs are routinely much higher than any state sales tax in the US.

I can't prove it, but I suspect this is directly related to the fact that in the US system, we see the tax on every purchase.

I admit it's annoying to not have a single number to work with, having to juggle sticker price and real price sucks (the same argument applies to tipping).

But sales taxes are regressive and I don't want them to creep upwards indefinitely. A compromise would be to always display both prices, and make the price-at-register larger.