3mo ago

[USA] How can sales tax brackets affect purchasing behavior when prices are pre-tax?

I was looking at a grocery receipt, and there are three different tax rates depending on the items. The receipt doesn't even specify which items are taxed at which rate - just the total at each percentage.

I understand the goal of lower or higher taxes on groceries is to incentivize purchasing healthier options over more processed foods, but does it really affect purchasing decisions when the final price of the items is opaque to the consumer?

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As a regular European I never even understood why US shops list prices without tax. It feels just dumb. When I go to store here the store is required to show final price on tag - meaning including tax and recycling/author fee if there's one. Seems much more user friendly.
- As another European, I can at least understand why tax isn't represented on a US (and Canadian) website since the US is as truly united as a dysfunctional family come inheritance time and tax rates are different from state to state, but to pull that in local stores is something I can only ever see as fraud.
  
  Yeah, I was talking about local stores mainly. Online it's understandable as every state has its own view on taxes, same as each state in EU (we're not federation though).
  
  Even then the website can ask where are ye from and then display the appropriate prices if they really wanted.
  They can do that for delivery costs, why not for taxes
  
  Yeah same in Europe with different VAT rates between the countries, select where you're from and shops will show price including local VAT which the shop will take care off
- I think part of it (not a big part, but part) is that taxes differ so greatly in the US because of so many governments’ hands in the pots that it would discourage business in one town and have everyone flocking to a nearby town with less taxes.
  As it is, you pay what you pay and don’t really realize the difference unless you take time to notice. I’ve only become aware of it because I realized how different my usual order at McDonald’s will differ when I’m in different cities.
  In one city, my Big Mac meal will be $10.62 but in the next, it’ll be $9.35 because the taxes differ depending on where you are buying this with local city, county, and state.
  If McDonald’s in Everytown, Maine showed their actual Big Mac meal price of $10.62 but the next city over in Somewhere, New Hampshire showed their Big Mac meal price at $9.35, more people would drive a little further to Somewhere for the obviously cheaper price with Everytown McDonald’s locations would suffer.
  
  So you're saying it's not ok to let people do informed decisions? Or are you saying that the city that charges less wants also to sell less?
  
  No, I’m saying that a business has something to gain in not showing customers the actual price because it can be a detriment to their profits if the customer has the full information at their disposal before making a purchase.
  I’m not at all in favor of this, because this hurts me as a customer. I’m just saying this may be part of a reason for businesses to not show the actual price to the customer.
- I agree it's dumb, but I'm also trying to understand how politicians think changing the tax rate for healthier or less healthy foods can possibly affect behavior in the USA when it's set up this way in stores
  There's some evidence it somehow works https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/news-media/research-highlights/do-soda-taxes-work
  But I've never known what I'll be taxed on a specific item
  
  That's what's so dumb with it! As I said, in EU you see the final price, including tax. So "healthier option" with lower tax would instantly be seen as cheaper than "unhealty" one with heftier tax. This way it could actually work.
  
  Sales tax rates and fees are well known. In my locale, I know food and clothing (necessities) do not have sales tax while prepared meals and most other items do. I also know there’s a deposit on carbonated beverage bottles, vice taxes on cigarettes and alcohol and tourist taxes on downtown restaurants and venues.
  I try not to go where the tourist taxes are. I used to try to avoid bottle deposits but realized that many small cans and bottles help my moderation while fewer larger ones do not. Although I do agree that integrating the taxes into the price would help with comparisons, having it called out separately helps with changing habits on entire categories
  Actually the gas tax being integrated into the price probably has the opposite effect. I have no idea what I’m even paying for gas tax: it’s just included. But that also means that while I’ll compare gas prices to find the cheaper price (within reason), I never think about whether I should buy gas or not (well, that used to be true but knowing the many reasons not to buy gas’s means now I have an EV - taxes were no part of that)
- Its to entice people to spend more.

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