>I don't understand why so many people use the discounted price as reference.
Or when they only use it to make the Apple pricing seem more favorable and ignore it when it comes to PC pricing. Most PC manufacturers also have educational pricing, whether directly or through some portal provided by your institution. I know my son's college had a deal and also had a list of the tax free days in the state so that you could pre-order and then pay and pick up on the day the tax didn't apply.
i'm sorry, tax free days?!? am i too european to understand this? does this apply to everything, like groceries, tech, flowers, wood etc., or just corporate transactions?
I can't say for all states but here in Massachusetts we have an annual tax free weekend where sales tax (6.25%) is not applied for "most retail items of up to $2,500, purchased in Massachusetts for personal use" (https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-sales-tax-ho...).
Also groceries never have a sales tax in Massachusetts but, again, that varies by state.
> tax free weekend where sales tax (6.25%) is not applied
that's such a strange concept for me. i wonder what the historic reasoning there is for it, as it seems like one of those legacy things which were started to increase sales during difficult market times :D
> Also groceries never have a sales tax in Massachusetts
also interesting :) what i knew was that some or most states display the prices without tax, so you'll only know the total of your grocery trip at the checkout. never seen this here over the pond, prices always include taxes.
what's common is that different things are taxed differently. food and beverages have lower tax than non-essential things, except of course if the beverages contain alcohol, etc. yada yada blabla.
>also interesting :) what i knew was that some or most states display the prices without tax, so you'll only know the total of your grocery trip at the checkout.
It comes up on /r/askamericans all the time, but it's not realistic to include tax on the prices because there are so many different taxing zones. A large city may have multiple. Most places you can figure it's going to be ~10% and might be pleasantly surprised when it's less. Everyone knows to figure roughly 10% extra, so it's not a chore or anything, even children figure it out.
We don't have tax free weekends in Australia but fresh produce is also exempt from GST (our version of VAT). Anything that has had any "processing" done on it incurs GST though, so oranges are tax free but orange juice is not.
Some places it's anything with sales tax, or maybe just goods in general if they already have low or no tax on food. Other places have it on specific goods that would be considered 'school supplies'. I think where my son is, it's a week or weekend where it's all sales tax is waived. Definitely not a corporate thing, it's to give parents and residents a break and to help stimulate the economy with spending.
Or when they only use it to make the Apple pricing seem more favorable and ignore it when it comes to PC pricing. Most PC manufacturers also have educational pricing, whether directly or through some portal provided by your institution. I know my son's college had a deal and also had a list of the tax free days in the state so that you could pre-order and then pay and pick up on the day the tax didn't apply.