[SeanLuke]

> Every country I've ever been to except the US includes VAT in their prices and I've been to over 30. It's not just a European thing but a world thing, where the US once again is the odd one out.

Only for local purchases, at least in Europe. In fact for non-local purchases, the US is much simpler.

I am, right now, in Italy, ordering an item from Germany, and it priced at N euros "plus 19% VAT". Because receiving countries differ in amount of VAT, vendors outside those countries cannot include it in their prices.

But it's "0% VAT" shipping to US -- that is, the primary country where you pay the vendor exactly what's stated is the US.

[cycomanic]

Well the shop you're ordering from is crap. Many of the shops I order from calculate vat based on where you ship to. So what you see is what you pay. I think even if the advertise the wrong VAT you still pay what is on the sticker. How is that not better than having to always add some value yourself whose percentage differs based on where you are atm?

[JumpCrisscross]

> Many of the shops I order from calculate vat based on where you ship to

This is a good illustration of valid trade offs between two cultures. I find it absurd to have to enter my address before even being shown pricing (let alone deciding to purchase). You, on the other hand, prefer all-in pricing.

These are both reasonable takes! They’re just different.

[cycomanic]

But you don't have to put in your address, just your country. For many websites you likely have to do that anyway because you might not speak the default language.

Moreover, most of the websites change the location based on IP addresses anyway.

[JumpCrisscross]

> you don't have to put in your address, just your country

In America, you would. Various municipal and county lines can create separate sales tax obligations based on address. Even barring that, I would find it intrusive and absurd for someone to demand my state of residence prior to even being shown price. (My IP address only loosely correlates with my residence.)

But again, that’s a preference. One most Americans share. Multiple equilibria.

[brewdad]

You keep saying it's a preference. It's not my preference but it's become something I've been conditioned to accept like not being able to know what a medical procedure will cost until after I get the bill. That doesn't make it preferable nor desirable.

[boring_twenties]

That is a completely bogus comparison. You can easily determine the total cost inclusive of sales tax yourself, and you almost certainly know your own local tax rate already. You cannot determine the cost of a medical procedure ahead of time no matter what you do, even to within an order of magnitude.

[rescbr]

Until the recent explosion on direct online shopping from China, you, the importer, were responsible for collecting import duties/VAT. To avoid tax evasion the customs authorities started requiring import duties to be paid in advance.

The US is one of the counties where the value that is duty free is high, and as I understand it, there’s no tax collection in advance. Most/all purchases will be 0% tax from the vendor side, but you are still responsible for assessing and collecting this tax yourself.

[tpm]

> Because receiving countries differ in amount of VAT, vendors outside those countries cannot include it in their prices.

They can and they do; smaller shops who don't sell as much abroad use their country VAT while larger ones include buyer country VAT. Works fine.

[jcbrand]

VAT isn't charged on goods exported outside of the EU, so it has nothing to do with the US except for the fact that the US isn't part of the EU.

[Gare]

Most large EU-wide online stores just ask you where you're from and calculate VAT accordingly.