For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for March 11, 2012

And the expression on Elly’s face says, “Yes — someone finally GETS it!”

I HATE when things aren’t marked the actual price you have to pay.

This is the truth about taxs

You know its true. In the UK the official line is if it moves then tax it but if it doesn’t move then tax it anyway, Then waste all the revenue.

@hildigunnur: I believe in Europe (some countries anyway), the price marked INCLUDES tax. Wish they would do that here.

Sales tax is what the Gov Mint charges you for the Privilege of buying.

I’ll never forget my stepchildren visiting from Wyoming where it is 4% tax to Alabama where it is 10% tax. The look on their faces the first time when they had to pay more money than they were expecting to was priceless.

Might as well learn at an early age. Well done!

I’ve always wondered why they call it a Sales Tax when it’s obviously a Purchase Tax.A Sales Tax would be paid by the store when they Sold Something, and would be included in the Selling Price.A Purchase Tax would be paid by the buyer and would be added on to the Selling Price.Expecting retailers to be unpaid Tax Collectors is another problem.

Out of the mouth of babes!

The kid’s got it exactly right.

I live in Northern Canada, and after we get a good foot of snow dumped on us, I like to see that the highway is ploughed so that I can get to where I’m going. I also like that when I’m sick and need medical attention, I can just show up at the hospital ER and they will look after me, and I don’t have to worry about getting a bill that tells me I need to quadruple mortgage my house. Do you know what makes these kinds of priviledges possible? TAXES. Whenever you want to complain about them, just think of the literally thousands of ways that you benefit from paying taxes! Trouble today is everyone wants everything but they don’t want to have to do anything to get it. The story of the Little Red Hen, no one would help her bake the bread, but they sure as hell wanted to eat it after she had done all the work. Taxes are not the enemy people!

This strip would have come out about the time the GST (often called the gouge and screw tax) first came out. Most provinces had a povincial sales tax, then the federal gov. introduced the GST at 7%, it is now 5%. Alberta is the only povince that only has the GST.

a sales tax is when it sales out of your hand to someone ele’s

No sales taxes here in Oregon… Just high income tax. Sigh.

so pretty much the price tag is the world’s biggest baddest lie.

Lawrence is wise beyond his years!

I have to charge sales tax to my customers…But I don’t get that money. The government does. :(

Everywhere, Susan!

“People want more services; they just don’t want to raise taxes.” Yes – and these are the same people who complain that OTHER people want somethiing for nothing.

They should move to Delaware; we don’t have sales tax.

“That’s when the government makes you pay for somethin’ than it’s worth”…Like the Chevy Volt….on the taxpayers’ backs…

They tax me on the money I earn… Then they tax me on the leftover I spend….vicious circle!

It really bugs me when people that don’t need the help try to get government assistance and then complain when it doesn’t pay as well as they had hoped. They think they should be able to buy whatever they want with their food stamps, or Medicaid should pay for more. They don’t seem to realize it’s you and me that’s doing the paying – not the government. Where do they think the government gets the money from in the first place? OK, end of rant. Sorry, I just had this discussion with one of my co-workers, and I’m still a little steamed.

Yes, the kid does have it right, but we also have to remember the taxes also pay for our police, fireman and other services we want and need.

In Hawaii, sellers pay the state 4% tax on their total sales. They can show it as a tax charge on the buyers receipt. But some sellers (like me) just build it into the price.

Michael will have to pay $3.05 for that little airplane. Can’t Elly just explain that to him?

They do not produce, they do not transport, they do not sell, the Gov’t does nothing, but they make you pay so that you can.

WENDY & JOHNNYBGOOD: I have nothing against paying the taxes for the services the government provides, but it should be based on income. A sales tax forces people with lower incomes to pay the same tax as people with higher incomes. Now an excise tax on luxury items is another thing.

No one like paying taxes but we all know they are necessary. What I and a lot of people don’t like is having it added on top of the listed price. It should be calculated into the listed price. By the way, does anyone have any idea just how much tax we are paying all together? Including all the hidden taxes as well as the sales tax.

I get the whole “Tax Bad” thing – and sales tax (or purchase tax, if you will) is certainly not the best way to go, but…. countries DO need governments. Somalia or Sudan are what countries without viable governments look like. Bet their taxes are low…

Rikulau: sometimes they do factor it into the price ahead of time. It depends on what store it is.

I love the idea of right-wingers getting their own personalized vocabulary when they need it to support their own personal worldview. You kids (meaning the wingnuts) just please play quietly in your own room for a little while; the grownups have work to do.

all I can say is …AMEN.

Out of the mouths of babes!

The kid pull no punches. He just tells it like it is.

Sadly, the government has to resort to adding all these extra taxes onto our consumer goods because they know taxpayers get really angry when their personal taxes are raised instead. They could raise our personal taxes 12% and keep other retail prices tax free….but….would that really please taxpayers?

We all know taxes are an unwanted but necessary evil. We all would like to know how much it would actually cost to buy an item we want. Why not mark everything with the selling price of the item, the added cost of the taxes, and the actual cost at the register? Oh, yeah, The same reason telemarketers promote everything at $19.95 (plus s&h), and if you call now we’ll send another of the last one of these you’ll ever need (??- if it’s the last one I’ll ever need, what do I want with another one for just the cost of shipping and handling?). At under 20 bucks I might be tempted to buy; at 30 or so when all is said and done, I might pass, as I do on the certified copies of genuine gold coins clad in 14 milligrams of pure gold. Pretty coin, made for well under a buck, and worth every penny the seller asks for it- to the seller. At least I get SOME value from the taxes I have to pay.