Originally Posted by
Panchita
My prices include VAT (which is currently 20% here).
That's something I find difficult to get my head round in the States - here the price stated on the price label tends (not always, but usually) to be the price you pay at the till. If it is an exception (e.g. excluding VAT) then that is usually stated, and quite often the price including VAT is also on the sticker, albeit in much smaller print.
It takes a while for me to get used to remembering that sales tax needs to be added to the sticker price when in the States (and all states seem to have different rates - extra complication!). You must all have seriously impressive maths skills!! Even at my best my mental process is: "So that's $10.50... and a bit..."
Ok, then ... working with that system, I would typically pay US$12-14.50/meter for fabric here including tax and adjusting by nearly 10% to account for the extra 3" of fabric in a meter vs. a yard.
As for our math skills ... that just really depends on the person, but it's no different than calculating a tip for a waiter at the restaurant. It's part of the reason STEM is pushed so heavily in the new national standards for education. I remember one time I went to a Dollar Store (small mom & pop store where everything is priced in $1 increments) and the computer for the register was down. The salesclerk initially refused to sell me the item because he didn't know how to calculate 6.75% sales tax long-hand. I was finally able to convince him to use his cell phone to calculate the total so I could make my purchase and return to work.
The tricky part for me is shopping at Super Wal-Mart because most food is taxed at a much lower rate than other items. They have two lines on the receipt for tax -- one for the rate for food items & a second for the rate for non-food items. Throws me off every time. Besides that, the sales tax within Chicago proper is different than the rate in the surrounding suburbs and if you drive another 20 minutes north or west, the next county over has an even lower rate on non-food items. The reason is because Chicago & Cook County offer a lot of free services that the surrounding towns/counties do not (e.g., free health clinics & nearly free public hospital). There are almost no other cities in the US that are willing to offer free public healthcare in exchange for higher taxes, so it gets paid for via the local portion of the sales tax (State base rate is 6.25%, but counties/cities can add on up to another 3.5% to fund their programs).
But I
have to have my beautiful fabrics so usually I just estimate 10% on top of the price on the bolt & if it's a bit less at a particular store, I'm pleasantly surprised.
