The price with tax is 770??? dang that's crazy.
there is no federal sales tax. somehow that is "unconstitutional". so at the national level taxes are taken from my income.
...but the constitution doesn't apply directly to state and local governments. they can tax however they want but in general they are funded via a mixture of income, sales, and property tax. so basically how you are taxed varies depending on where you live.
I found this on the internet. I'll assume it is at least close to accurate:
https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/2024-sales-taxes/
My state is 8% but I'm also taxed by my local government which is why my total sales tax is about 12%. i'm in chicago so my taxes are quite a bit higher than the national average.
also sales tax can vary depending on the item. like for instance when I lived in Mn there was 0% tax on "essential" items (clothes and groceries mostly) but "luxury" items were taxed at something like 150% the tax rate for "standard" items. i might be wrong but i believe consoles counted as a luxury. tobacco in particular is generally taxed at a high rate.
anyways. the point is this. many times a year i see people making a direct comparison between US and European items using currency conversion completely ignoring that it is an apples to oranges comparison. in general,.. European taxes are much higher than US taxes but in the US you can't just look at the list price. you have to do a bit of math in your head to figure out how much you're actually going to pay.
...and don't immediately turn around and complain about your high tax rates. you guys get health care. i have to pay
at least $10,000 a year for health insurance. it's more if i actually go to the doctor or need medicine.
