Watching a documentary, there was aremark from the journalist on how, due to how wildly taxation on goods may vary, from area to area, in the US, most retailers do not put the full prices on the shelves and instead just tally it at checkout.
This made no sense to me, a european, as when I go to any regular shop, prices already include all taxes applicable to the product.
There are specialty stores where VAT and other taxes may not be applied on the price on the shelf but those are usually wholesellers, selling for professionals, that already know what additional taxes will be added and at which rates, at checkout.
Not having the full price you’ll be paying, on display, seems very underhanded and a bad practice. The client should know how much they are going to pay from the moment they pick an item.
Sure if we started the whole tax thing today we may do it different. But it’s culture created over time. Our sales taxes all started during and shortly after the Great Depression in the 1920s. I’m sure store owners likely preferred people realize what they were charging vs the govts take. This is why I like it now. It’s very clear what the govt is taking and what the store is charging. It doesn’t bug me at all to have it added on at the register. It’s all I’ve known for 40 years. Currently I even live in a state with no sales tax (recently moved here), but I’m in a small tourist town that implemented a “resort sales tax” of 1% to help pay for city services related to tourism.
I think there’s also a fundamental cultural difference in that “govts take”. We don’t normally see taxes as “taking” in that sense, but I fully understand where you’re coming from - it makes sense and seems to work for you guys.