[lostlogin]

> sales taxes are something people innately understand if they have spent any time in the US

The way they are done in the US is maddening. You go to the counter and find the price is higher than the tag price by some random amount. It seems to vary wherever you go and depend on what you buy.

A tariff might actually be better.

[peterfirefly]

There's actually a really good argument in favour of that -- and in favour of paying income tax not as a direct tax (withheld from wages) but with a delay.

It makes the taxes visible and painful and they will therefore (potentially) not rise as fast or as much.

[snotrockets]

It also puts more tax burden on the less wealthy. Sales tax is regressive; income tax is progressive.

But yes, that’s exactly why the American right makes taxation so cumbersome and horrible: to make people think that taxes are bad, as there’s this assumption you can have civilization without paying for it.

[milesskorpen]

I think that's an argument, but not necessarily a good one

Need to balance transparency in pricing vs. visibility of taxes. I don't think sales taxes are actually all that visible most of the time- it's not like the cashier is telling you "and your taxes are $X." But it does make it much harder to detect if the store is charging you more than list price.