Quote:
Originally Posted by auspex
Of COURSE it's true. How many people actually read that part of the receipt (in fact, I've been back here a year--left before there was a VAT--and hadn't realized it was there, but I did at least know what the general rate was before I got here). You certainly CAN find out what the tax rate is, but ask a random five people you work with what the VAT rate is.
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For the countries that have GST/VAT that I travel in regulalrly and shop in their stores a lot, and have a great deal of interaction with the general public (Australia and NZ) I can assure you that most people have an excellent idea as to what the local GST rate is even though it is not shown in the display price. Because many NZ'ers shop in Australia many NZ'ers are even very well informed as to what the Australian rate is.
In Australia a few supplies are GST free but again that is pretty common knowledge (as some basic foods and medical expenses are the only ones most would commonly deal with). NZ has no such GST free supplies.
On that basis, while I have spent much less time in the UK than in the above countries, I have no doubt that Harry's claim is correct.