WHOA ! 10% Ten Percent Sales TAX here in Newark (Frisco) CA. No wonder there's no recovery here. The gov't is stealing the profits from businesses. They should lay off firemen and cops, get volunteers to fill in, and stop ripping off small business owners. If not there's no profits to hire workers. I'm here on a temp contract myself.
Duh - stop buying stuff. Go buy everything in Nevada.
NV is five hours away over Donner Pass. I'm surviving on $1 McChicken sandwiches. ...Just kidding. I have a good job in Semiconductiors and feel fortunate. But damn, how can people make a profit when the police and fire unions have blackmailed the mayors of Newark, Hayward, Union City, & Fremont around here.
Why do you live in Cali? What did you expect? How else is the state going to pay for all the liberals and minorities?
I don't live in CA. It seems CA belongs to the civil service unions.
8.25% is the state rate. The local rate is only 1.75%. That's less than the 2.5% local rate I pay in NC. If anyone is ripping you off it's the state, not the local government.
The good thing about sales taxes is that paying them is quasi voluntary. You only pay it if you buy retail. If paying it really bothers you then figure out ways to buy things without going to a retail outlet. For example, buy used cars, buy things off Ebay. Cook your own dinner instead of going to a restaurant, etc.
I'm a retiree. I tutor physics/math/EE at a JC for free, and do consulting part time for the travel perks. I shopped at Walmart in Pigeon Forge TN a few years back, the sales tax was 9.5% I recall, that was a shock. Now today I paid a sales tax of 10.0% in Newark CA. They charge sales tax on hot food here, whether in a restaurant or grocery store. That sucks. There should be no sales tax on essential items. If they keep taxing people like this how are they going to create more jobs for people.
How else are they going to pay for all those pensions for city employees that sit on their ass 99% of the time anyway. Case in point...Ever try to go to a post office 1 minute after closing time? Good luck. Meantime you see UPS and Fedex workers sweating like crazy trying to get through their route.
20% in UK !
Yeah. No kidding. Did you know FedEx/UPS drivers get a huge monthly bonus if they meet their delivery times. Incentives work. In the meantime USPS clerks just happen to all go to lunch at noon when customers are on their lunch breaks and in line. The police use sworn officers to push paper and manage office tasks while other nations hire clerks at 1/4 the cost and shove the fat cops and old cops out on the street to do patrol work. Not to mention pension spiking which inflates their salary upon retirement. A practice that may be illegal. Certainly it is being struck down by the state legislatures now.