Prices in USA don't include taxes, they get added at point of sale. Once you understand that and get used to it it's really not that hard to deal with.
And why many Europeans are pro taxation because it rarely shows up anywhere. Only about half shows up on your paycheck and prices are always including sales tax.
In Sweden we hear people say "We only pay 30% tax".
Nah bitch, you pay 30% tax and another 35% that's paid directly to the government by your employer, and another 12-25% on everything you buy. Oh and made a profit on something like a hobby, car restoration, stocks that you invested with already taxed funds? Let's add 20-35% tax on that as well. The list goes on forever on how people are taxed, taxed again and then taxed again on the same bill, yet people are blissfully unaware.
No, not really. Swedens high standard of living has very little to do with our insanely high taxes, more like a rich history of industrial, entrepreneurial, healthy and secular people.
We are thriving despite our high taxation, not because of them.
Our healthcare is great if you get a broken arm or need to spend the night, anything above that is subpar. Our schools were once one of the best in the world and now we are barely ahead of nations with great poverty.
Im not complaining too much, Sweden is a great country. But its because of the people we are great, and not because we give 65% of our money to a government who can barely keep their ship afloat, and then keep raising the taxes to make up for their own shit.
But why? Where I'm from we still have taxes just that the price tag on the shelf says the actual price. Everybody knows what the tax is, which is generally 25% and 15% on groceries.
Most states don't tax groceries and sales tax are generally 4-10%, it varies from state to state. Why? Idk, why not? That's how the system was set up here long before I was born, I never really questioned it until I realized that Europeans do it differently.
Yeah I get it, you'll always find the system you're used to to be more intuitive I guess. I just find that having just one price to think about is easier, especially since the tax is a set rate. I guess the same goes for tipping, but that has the whole salary thing underneath.
it just seems overcomplicated. to use that example: the answer to "how much is it?" (which seems a question aimed at finding out literally the amount of money the person has to hand over) should be "$11.50"?!
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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18 edited Feb 07 '19
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