[michaelpb]

I mean it's just a tax the business has to pay to the government, calculated based on products sold. Any business could conceivably do something similar with any tax if they wanted, e.g. add a "XYZ fee" that's added at the register to compensate for XYZ tax. (And in fact many businesses in the US do exactly this, listing each tax as an excuse to tack on arbitrary extra hidden fees at check-out!)

I think this also doubles as a political statement. Basically a subtle way to shift "blame" and make consumers feel upset about a tax, and more likely to put pressure on governments to reduce said taxes. Ultimately it's all anti-consumer.

[weberer]

Its not shifting the blame. Its placing the blame squarely on where it belongs. If you're in New Hampshire and buy something listed as $1, then you only have to pay $1. Why? Because New Hampshire does not charge any sales tax. But if you were to cross the border into Massachusetts, then suddenly everything has an extra 6.25% tacked on at checkout solely because the Massachusetts state government decided to tax each transaction at 6.25%.

>I mean it's just a tax the business has to pay to the government, calculated based on products sold

No, its explicitly a tax on each transaction to be paid by the buyer. You're probably thinking of corporate tax, which the company also has to pay, but is completely separate from sales tax.

From their site:

>The buyer pays the sales tax, as an addition to the purchase price, to the vendor at the time of purchase. The vendor then sends the tax to Massachusetts. For motor vehicle and trailer sales, however, the buyer pays the sales tax directly to Massachusetts.

https://www.mass.gov/guides/sales-and-use-tax

>Ultimately it's all anti-consumer.

Yeah. Fortunately, New Hampshire is a lovely place to live.