[afv011]

Originally Posted by Faterson

20%, I think.


Really? So when Google announces the price of $349 in America, no one actually gets to pay that price? I thought I saw on some American websites statements like, "Residents of this or that state pay ..% of sales tax; residents of all other states pay the listed price."

$349 plus 12% tax would be $391; plus 20% tax would be $419.

PS: See an Amazon example here...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...?nodeId=468512
with some explanations:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwo...-ways-to-know/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwo...ure-not-alone/

I wonder in what states, then, Google applies the sales tax. All of them?

In the States, the tax is set per State. For instance, Oregon has no sales tax, so you'd pay $349. Most US states have tax (for electronics) in the 8% range or thereabouts.

Amazon is a bad example. The law is changing, but until recently it was the buyer's responsibility to report the purchase and pay the tax on the tax return, the seller only had to collect sales tax if they had a physical presence in the buyer's home state. So, for any state other than Washington Amazon did not have to collect taxes and most people "forgot" to pay those in their returns. To avoid this, the law is changing to force sellers to collect tax even when they do not have a physical presence in the buyer's home state.