Taxing

Another interesting aspect of paying for routine small purchases in Australia occurred to me. We bought a (very) cheap, may not last even our three weeks, beach chair for $9. The total bill was ... $9. No tax! Well, yes tax (10% GST, I think), but unlike in Canada, it's always included in the price. We paid cash so no credit card fee.

So:

Australia: credit card fee separate, tax included (also: no tip).

Canada: credit card fee included, tax separate (also: tip).

Only charging credit card fees to credit credit card users (and therefore making them separate) is a hill I would die on, but I'm less sure about separately itemized taxes.

It seems to me like a good idea to make people aware of what things attract a tax and what things don't, as well as, how often we pay taxes (even though I would also die on the hill that taxes are, in principle, a GOOD thing). (Though one can easily argue that consumption taxes are the least-good good thing).

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