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Comment by MWinther | Hacker News Reader

People in Europe usually have the VAT included in the advertised price, so I can see how people would be getting their hopes up when seeing the american prices.

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OK, but the price differences are not just "before tax" vs "after tax". For instance, a friend of mine broght me this N900 from USA to Spain. After-tax comparison: 400€ vs. 600€.

this absolutely freaks us out in US - that we never see actual prices we're supposed to pay, only share of what seller is supposed to get (before paying her taxes).

As annoying as it can be I actually think its a good thing that the amount you're paying in taxes is listed separately because then you are forced to see what you're paying in taxes.

I live outside Chicago and in some areas around me the sales tax is >10% (10.25 in the city I believe). The fact that you see what your paying in taxes every time you buy something makes it harder for the politicians to raise it too high.

Edit: Fixed Typo

of course, it's so easy to raise tax when everyone knows it's at 18% across the country, not when nobody has any friggin idea what your municipality's tax is!

VAT is always listed separately in Europe as well (on the receipt) - it just has to be included in the advertised price.

How often do people actually read their receipt?

It's good that they do have the charge listed but I still feel like most people are not aware how much of their bill went to the VAT whereas in general around here you can't possibly miss it.

I can only talk about Germany, and any change in VAT, be it the raise from 16 to 19% in 2007, or a recent cut to 7% for restaurants and hotels, generally gets a lot of publicity.

People may not be reminded about it constantly, but they are definitely aware of it.

If you bought an iPad (or pretty much any other item online) it is unlikely you would spend any taxes on it. If you did, many states require the purchaser to report and pay the taxes themselves, not the retailer.

Additionally, sales taxes vary widely state-to-state, so for an that has the same MSRP everywhere in the US, it seems to make sense not to advertise actual tax amount.

If you buy it from apple.com, Apple will apply state sales tax for your state of residence (if Apple has a physical store in your state). Local sales taxes are your responsibility.

In the US, Apple calculates sales tax based on your location and displays it before you buy.

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