Originally Posted by
dieuwer2
How did it come about?
How did the US sales tax come about? The same way most sales taxes came about. The US differs in that we didn't switch to a VAT, partly because we did not have the same problems with tax avoidance as other jurisdictions. Additionally, the administrative burden on enterprises is higher for VAT than for sales tax - the payment/reclaim process is, frankly, stupid and serves only to minimize leakage of tax revenue.
Now why does the US have the tradition of not including sales taxes? Part of it is retailers wanting to show the best possible price. Part of it is a belief that you should know how much tax you are paying and the much lower levels of consumption taxes in the US suggests that making them clear and obvious has some effect on reducing public acceptance of them. Finally, the sales tax in the US is a hodgepodge of local and state laws and national or even regional advertising would be difficult in an environment of all-in prices.
Honestly, unless you are completely inept at basic arithmetic, I fail to see the big issue with not including taxes in the listed prices.