Hotel resort fees
Apr 15, 2023, 5:37 pm
#46
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 1,891
Hiding absurdly high VAT rates is intentional because politically, seeing what you're paying the government leads to more resistance to those taxes.
For online sales it's dependent on the shipping destination. 50 states set their own sales tax policies. Even within a state, other levels of govt can impose additional sales taxes. NYC is a prime example.
Still, at its worst it's about 10% in NYC while my state of New Hampshire doesn't charge sales tax at all.
I'll take the mental math challenge over the simplicity of a 20% Aussie sales tax, er, "Value Added" tax any day.
For online sales it's dependent on the shipping destination. 50 states set their own sales tax policies. Even within a state, other levels of govt can impose additional sales taxes. NYC is a prime example.
Still, at its worst it's about 10% in NYC while my state of New Hampshire doesn't charge sales tax at all.
I'll take the mental math challenge over the simplicity of a 20% Aussie sales tax, er, "Value Added" tax any day.
Someone who lives 5 blocks west of me would pay a lower sales tax rate because they are outside of the city limits but inside fire protection and police protection. Half a mile farther west, police protection ends, but fire protection continues for another two miles in that direction.
With recent changes to online shopping rules, sales tax is assessed at the location of the transaction if it's in-person, or at the location of the delivery if it's online. A couple of years ago I helped a client set up an online presence to allow his customers to place orders for his products via a website. He's in a smaller town than mine, approximately 16,000 people in the city and another 10,000-ish in the surrounding county. We identified 35 different sales tax rates for customers in his county. That doesn't include customers who live across the river in Oregon - they pay no sales tax if the product is shipped to them, but *do* pay tax if they pick it up at his store.
It's easy for Europeans to say "Why doesn't the USA do it the *simple* way, like us????" While not recognizing that each of the entities in the EU is a *country* with its own government, while the US is a single country with 50 different states - many of which are equivalent to European countries in both population and land area.
Apr 16, 2023, 9:15 am
#47
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 2,094
When will this problem ever be addressed? I understand that in most places, the tax on the resort fee is less than the occupancy rate so the hotel evades some of the tax. But it's getting ridiculous. Not that I'd stay there, but I saw this rate recently at the Stratosphere in LAS.
$16 average per night
$48
Taxes and fees
$6
Resort fee
$42 per night
$126
Total
$181
So the room rate is $16 and the resort fee is $42. Most of the time the resort fees will include local calls. Like, who doesn't just use their cell phone? Anyhow. This practice really needs to stop. Check out Kill Resort Fees.
Price details
1 room x 3 nights$16 average per night
$48
Taxes and fees
$6
Resort fee
$42 per night
$126
Total
$181
So the room rate is $16 and the resort fee is $42. Most of the time the resort fees will include local calls. Like, who doesn't just use their cell phone? Anyhow. This practice really needs to stop. Check out Kill Resort Fees.
Apr 16, 2023, 9:22 am
#48
formerly known as Tad's Broiled Steaks
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,421
It's easy for Europeans to say "Why doesn't the USA do it the *simple* way, like us????" While not recognizing that each of the entities in the EU is a *country* with its own government, while the US is a single country with 50 different states - many of which are equivalent to European countries in both population and land area.
