Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
No, I do take your point Nat. And you're right in saying that reclaiming 5% (or whatever) sales tax is rather less significant than reclaiming VAT of between (I think) 16% and 25% in the different countries of the EU.
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Sales taxes that I am aware of range between 0% (nothing!) and 9% or so. And don't forget that this may well include county-level add-ons, so that there are significantly more than 50 different taxing districts. Somewhere between 50 (the states) and five-thousand or so (all counties in all states).
Also, each taxing district has a different idea of what is taxable. Pennsylvania, for example, exempts non-prepared foods and all clothing. Utah (used to) tax alcohol at a different sales tax rate than other purchases -- although I have no idea whether or not they still do. Note: this not the same as their "sin taxes" on alcohol. They really had a different %age sales tax too!
It could indeed all be sorted out, but the distinctions are messy enough that no one has been motivated to do so.
Xenophon