US Residents to begin paying Sales Tax

[Coffee Pancake]

I love how everyone presumes LL weren't paying the tax man before this announcement.

[Liaa Nova]

On 2/28/2022 at 10:21 PM, SarahKB7 Koskinen said:

Here in England, the displayed (real world) store price already includes the VAT as default, so there's no extra charge to pay at the point of transaction.  All store reciepts have a VAT registration number printed on them, so the customer may claim back the VAT from HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) should they need to for business tax reasons.

I like our VAT system. We all pay in and we all get something back in return, such as our free access to doctors and hospitals with no medical bills. Ever.

Not totally true, some of us have to pay a fortune for medical care not covered on the NHS but essential

[LittleMe Jewell]

2 hours ago, Coffee Pancake said:

I love how everyone presumes LL weren't paying the tax man before this announcement.

Not everyone.  I did comment a while back that, based on the phrasing in the blog post, that I was assuming LL has been paying these taxes for a while. 

On 3/1/2022 at 11:35 AM, LittleMe Jewell said:

The way I read the blog post, LL has been paying these taxes all along, but no longer want to absorb them and thus will be passing them on to us, the consumer.  

 

In this thread or the other one, I'm pretty sure a few other people made similar comments.  They just get swallowed up by all the other stuff.

[Sid Nagy]

That this new policy is only a way for LL to get more profit out of us, was clear from the first pages of this thread.
LL doesn't want to pay the taxes any longer themselves. They were included in the fees they charged. Now they are excluded, which means yet another profit optimization of their cash cow called Second Life.

They know we are not going anywhere any time soon.
There is still no real alternative for Second Life after all these years.

[LittleMe Jewell]

1 hour ago, Sid Nagy said:

They were included in the fees they charged. Now they are excluded

Well, given that the annual inflation rate in the US is currently at 7.9%, the highest since 1982, I can't say as I blame them. It started climbing last year and most businesses are doing things to pass some of those costs on to the consumer.

[Silent Mistwalker]

1 hour ago, Sid Nagy said:

That this new policy is only a way for LL to get more profit out of us, was clear from the first pages of this thread.
LL doesn't want to pay the taxes any longer themselves. They were included in the fees they charged. Now they are excluded, which means yet another profit optimization of their cash cow called Second Life.

They know we are not going anywhere any time soon.
There is still no real alternative for Second Life after all these years.

LL wasn't supposed to be paying those taxes for us in the first place. Legally the government could fine LL for what they have been doing. The government just has never made an issue of it.

Edited March 15, 2022 by Silent Mistwalker

[Solar Legion]

5 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Well, given that the annual inflation rate in the US is currently at 7.9%, the highest since 1982, I can't say as I blame them. It started climbing last year and most businesses are doing things to pass some of those costs on to the consumer.

In some cases, businesses are simply cutting out optional costs.

Linden Lab did not have to absorb the monetary hit.

1 minute ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

LL wasn't supposed to be paying those taxes for us in the first place. Legally the government could fine LL for what they have been doing. The government just has never made an issue of it.

This, exactly.

A concept oh so simple that it is amusing that it is missed. One that should not need to be explained nor pointed out.

[LittleMe Jewell]

For the most part, governments doesn't really give a crap as long as they get their money.  

Incorporating the sales tax directly into the price shown for items is common for some things here in Colorado, especially food trucks and festivals.  It is just easier for them to list a flat dollar price for things, stating that sales tax is already included in the price, and then have the accounting figure out how much needs to go to the State to cover the sales tax (not a difficult calculation at all).

So, on a food truck, an item costs a flat $5.00, with a note on the bottom of the price sign saying sales tax is already include.  In reality, the item costs $4.86 and Colorado get 14 cents for their 2.9% sales tax.  While it might make for some odd pricing once the sales tax is taken out, it is much easier on the vendor at the point of sale and as long as the State gets their due, they are happy.  

The problem with LL doing such a thing is that since they are selling Premium to people living all over the place with varying tax rates, it ultimately means that the Premium membership itself actually costs a different amount for different people depending on where they live and what their sales tax rate is.

Edited March 16, 2022 by LittleMe Jewell

[Solar Legion]

8 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

For the most part, governments doesn't really give a crap as long as they get their money.  

Incorporating the sales tax directly into the price shown for items is common for some things here in Colorado, especially food trucks and festivals.  It is just easier for them to list a flat dollar price for things, stating that sales tax is already included in the price, and then have the accounting figure out how much needs to go to the State to cover the sales tax (not a difficult calculation at all).

So, on a food truck, an item costs a flat $5.00, with a note on the bottom of the price sign saying sales tax is already include.  In reality, the item costs $4.86 and Colorado get 14 cents for their 2.9% sales tax.  While it might make for some odd pricing once the sales tax is taken out, it is much easier on the vendor at the point of sale and as long as the State gets their due, they are happy.  

The problem with LL doing such a thing is that since they are selling Premium to people living all over the place with varying tax rates, it ultimately means that the Premium membership itself actually costs a different amount for different people depending on where they live and what their sales tax rate is.

Online retailers and software companies will list the "base Price" and then add in the tax before the sale completes, often showing you the difference/amount to be collected.

[Arielle Popstar]

31 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

So, on a food truck, an item costs a flat $5.00, with a note on the bottom of the price sign saying sales tax is already include.  In reality, the item costs $4.86 and Colorado get 14 cents for their 2.9% sales tax.  While it might make for some odd pricing once the sales tax is taken out, it is much easier on the vendor at the point of sale and as long as the State gets their due, they are happy.  

For the food truck it just makes for a much faster sale as customers would be able to calculate the total themselves and have the monies ready without a need to dig for pennies. When the vendor knows the clients and their usual order, they can go through a good size lineup like an assembly line, maximizing total sales on a limited break time. Guess that might be a little more hassle now with so many using debit and credit cards but perhaps they discourage their use.

[Silent Mistwalker]

39 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

For the most part, governments doesn't really give a crap as long as they get their money.  

That's why they aren't worried about going after those businesses that eat the cost of sales tax. One way or the other they get the money.

[Silent Mistwalker]

3 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

For the food truck it just makes for a much faster sale as customers would be able to calculate the total themselves and have the monies ready without a need to dig for pennies. When the vendor knows the clients and their usual order, they can go through a good size lineup like an assembly line, maximizing total sales on a limited break time. Guess that might be a little more hassle now with so many using debit and credit cards but perhaps they discourage their use.

 

It doesn't work that way. Using debit or credit cards has absolutely no bearing on how much tax you are charged.  Kindly leave the straws for drinking through.

[Arielle Popstar]

6 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

 

It doesn't work that way. Using debit or credit cards has absolutely no bearing on how much tax you are charged.  Kindly leave the straws for drinking through.

Paying with cash is faster then with a debit or credit card regardless of taxes.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

10 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Paying with cash is faster then with a debit or credit card regardless of taxes.

Which has absolutely nothing to do with sales tax... Same tax either way you pay.

[Solar Legion]

8 minutes ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

Which has absolutely nothing to do with sales tax... Same tax either way you pay.

Not to mention that many stores now utilize Point of Sale systems that include chip and NFC readers. Oh yes and the fact that you can - often enough - simply skip the PIN entry to process as Credit.

In both instances, you are still pulling you wallet out to fish out your payment method. Cash is - contrary to what some like to think - not "faster" as a payment method. At best it takes just as long as it does to pull your wallet out, pull out your card, use the relevant Point of Sale section and - again for many but not all - simply bypass the PIN entry.

To contrast: Pull out wallet, wait to be told the total, fish out cash (and potentially change), hand over money, wait to receive any change.

Seems "faster" thanks to having less steps, doesn't it? Not really. Not even at a self-checkout (where it just might break even).

If I am at a normal register I can have everything I intend to buy, set up right there and have the card I intend to use already out and ready to go. Even if I wait to be given the total it still takes me far less time to use a card than to use actual cash.

[Rowan Amore]

Someone obviously hasn't been behind the little old lady in the express checkout rummaging around in her handbag for her chain purse to give exact change.  Yeah, so much faster my a**.

[Solar Legion]

5 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Someone obviously hasn't been behind the little old lady in the express checkout rummaging around in her handbag for her chain purse to give exact change.  Yeah, so much faster my a**.

To make a singular correction: That sort of behavior knows no gender or age.

[Rowan Amore]

6 minutes ago, Solar Legion said:

To make a singular correction: That sort of behavior knows no gender or age.

It was just my recent experience.  In the EXPRESS lane.  The one store's express lane states, No Cash Transactions...for a reason.

[Solar Legion]

8 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

It was just my recent experience.  In the EXPRESS lane.  The one store's express lane states, No Cash Transactions...for a reason.

Oh I figured.

Add to it that the cashier often cannot (or will not) tell such people that they must either pay with a card or go to a different lane.

As a general bit, if you're going to go the exact change route, you'd best be able to either keep a running tab of your cart items and apply the relevant tax to that total - be it in your own head or through the use of a normal and sales tax calculator app.

Heck, I've been known to add things up in said app and then get the tax total just so I know how much is actually going to come out of my bank (for such purchases that require it to come out of my monthly SSI - food is partially handled by SNAP and those transactions cannot be taxed).

ETA: To forestall any attempts at a "gotcha" on this oh so lovely side topic - I do not carry cash on hand. I do not use an ATM to pull cash out of the account said benefit goes into - the fees simply are not worth it. When I did carry cash on hand it was still easier and often faster to use my cards. Safer as well as in order for it to be "easier" or "faster" to use cash, I'd have to pull said cash out before even getting to the register.

No, thank you. Not becoming a target, thanks.

Edited March 16, 2022 by Solar Legion

[Silent Mistwalker]

1 hour ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Paying with cash is faster then with a debit or credit card regardless of taxes.

Ya think? Still has nothing to do with paying sales tax. Regardless of the form of payment, if your state, county/parish or city charges a sales tax, applicable to whatever a customer may pay LL for, you will have to pay that tax to LL for remittance to that tax agency. The only control you have is to not buy. Good luck with that.

[Silent Mistwalker]

54 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

Someone obviously hasn't been behind the little old lady in the express checkout rummaging around in her handbag for her chain purse to give exact change.  Yeah, so much faster my a**.

One of these days you're going to be that little old lady. 🤭

[Rowan Amore]

29 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

One of these days you're going to be that little old lady. 🤭

It's not that far off.  ☹️

[Silent Mistwalker]

1 hour ago, Rowan Amore said:

It's not that far off.  ☹️

I'm closer to it than you are. 💀

[yestothis]

Tax day starts today. How much more are YOU paying? 

[Sid Nagy]

7 minutes ago, yestothis said:

Tax day starts today. How much more are YOU paying? 

Same as for years already. So tax doesn't start today.
The world is bigger than the USA.