California rockets into first place – highest sales tax in America, as of April 1st.

Photo above - Foreign visitors have vowed to cancel trips to the USA. Thank goodness . . . I'd be ashamed to have them see this - Main Street, Los Angeles California. Don't worry, higher taxes will fix this, right?

How much is too much, when it comes to sales tax? There’s a new champ in town. Forget New Jersey’s 6.625%, New York’s 8.875% and Seattle’s citywide 10.35%. California leapfrogged them. The tax everywhere in California will be over 9%. In some locations it will be 11.25%. See link below.

What’s with all the decimal positions? Do politicians think that 8.875% is misread as only 8% by high school grads who have 5th grade math skills? Those tax rates look shadier than the fine print on a car loan or mortgage contract.

Imagine shopping where there’s an 11.25% sales tax. You’re paying about double what Social Security withholding takes out of your paycheck. Just for the necessities of life. Of course, you can always sell your car, eat from the food bank, and shop at Goodwill if the new taxes are unbearable.

In case you want to figure out what the tax hikes apply to, and how much they went up on various types of purchases, you might need a college degree in math. There are different rates for groceries, gasoline, clothing, dining out. And they all went up. All of them.

The extra tax money is going to be used to “fight homelessness”. Well, not all of it of course. 60% of the haul will be used to fight homelessness. The other 40%? It’s disappearing down the spending rabbit hole. But California shoppers will hear “homeless” and feel good about those higher taxes, right? Imagine their chagrin next year when there as many, if not more, people living in tents on Los Angeles' sidewalks. “Where did the 60% of the100% of those higher taxes go?” some wise guys will ask. The state’s politicians will remind everyone that fixing this stuff takes time. They’ve been working on for more than a decade already. It should start getting better any year now . . .

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Millions of shoppers forced to pay new fee on groceries and goods under April 1 law and they're not happy about reason | The US Sun

exchrist · 31-35

The decimals on interest rates is a psychological ploy. Same as when an item at the store is. 13.99 instead of 14.00 it makes the consumer think the merchant has saved them as much money as possible. I bought it for 12 have to make 3$ to make it worth my time (and labor) so if i list it was 14.95 and say "price reduced" now will you buy it?

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@exchrist @exchrist originally (in the days of mechanical cash registers) it was to force the cashier to physically open the drawer for a purchase, instead of pocketing the bills received in tender. it was a way for auditors and store detectives to deter and document fraud. The register tape is another part of that process.

today, when you scan a barcode, the price and transaction is recorded (if it's card payment), so the opportunity for theft is greatly reduced. unless you're waitstaff with a card-skimmer.

exchrist · 31-35

@SusanInFlorida wow very interesting. Now its just to ensure sales tax is paid and to keep record of sale; for returns? Yet what appears as a lower dollar price is must be part of it?