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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Uncharted Bundle PS4: $284.99 / (un)official tax discussion thread

SvennoJ on 09 October 2015
Hiku said:

It does seem like that is the case. But I'm surprised that this kind of confusing thing is accepted in the US, and pretty much no where else in the world that I know of, except Canada.
When I go shopping, I'd like to know exactly how much I have to pay. If I'm strapped for cash and only have $5 and want to eat, I have to count on a buffer of at least 10% in the US, depending on where you are.

I looked into this further on Google, and it seems like what you mentioned is the primarily mentioned reason. But there also seem to be some sort of concerns about implementing VAT, but I'm seeing many more counter arguments to that.
And I read this on Wiki:

"Another avenue of criticism of implementing a VAT is that the increased tax passed to the consumer will increase the ultimate price paid by the consumer. However, a study in Canada reveals that in fact when replacing a traditional sales tax with a VAT consumer prices actually fell."

Anyway, I thought perhaps there was a quick and logical answer to this. That's why I asked.
But it seems the answer is not particularly clear, so maybe I'll make a separate topic about this issue later instead.

It makes sense the prices go down cause of the psychological factor in pricing. $9.99 is $11.29 here after tax. Chances are it would be priced $10.99 instead.
$1 drink promotions would not become $1.05 promotions.
So it really is beneficial to stores to advertise without tax (and environmental fees and other stuff that comes on top)

I  moved from the Netherlands to Canada and got used to it. It was a bonus to go down from 19.5% VAT to 13% HST as well.
And there are a bunch of exceptions to wave the 8% provincial portion http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/tax/hst/#pos
At least they don't mind you paying with a credit card here for everything, even if it's just a couple dollars. In Holland stores charged extra for using a debit card under a certain amount. (The bank charges you extra here for using a debit card... always use a credit card)