New sales-tax rate is unworkable

Let me preface this letter by letting you know I'm part owner of a liquor store.

[Bronson]

You know I was thinking about this last week, so I told a friend of mine how it will work. The retailers will just round it off to the higher amount i.e. we will all actually be paying 7% sales tax, because I do not expect the retailer to cut himself short and just charge $1.06 on a dollar purchase, that 1/4 of a cent will add up quite a bit when it comes time to tabulate the receipts and pay the D.O.R. Nice move legislature, vote these nitwits out.

[Southie]

Gee, back when I was in third grade, I learned about an arcane mathematical concept called "rounding." This concept is secretly being used every day by the IRS and other taxing authorities. They do such complicated things as "round up" and "round down."

For example, if you purchase something for $1.00 and the sales tax is 6.25%, you would round DOWN to $1.06. That is because the total with tax would be $1.0625. See that digit next to the "6"? It's less than half. So you round down.

On the other hand, if you purchased an item for $1.05 at the same sales tax, your total would be $1.0656. See that digit next to the "6" again? That's a 5. When that number is 5 or greater, you round UP! So you would be charged $1.07.

See how easy that is?

Now I understand that the fringe-dwellers out there will insist that the government is going to take your hard earned money and always round up, or that this is just another example of the man trying to keep a brother down, I think we would all agree that anyone who starts down that whiney path is just a worthless trolling tool.

I agree with Bronson that we should always try to vote the nitwits out, but I think it would behoove us to make sure that those we vote in would have the capacity to understand the advanced concept of rounding.

Viva la Whole Number!!!

[Bob]

Well, how does it work now if you buy something that is $1.05 with a 5% sales tax (the sales tax amount would be 5.25 cents)? Whatever the answer is for that, it will be a similar answer for the 6.25% sales tax. I assume they currently round to the closest cent - so everything less than half a penny would be rounded down, and everything half a penny or more would get rounded up. If that is the case, then a $1 item will cost $1.06 with the 6.25% sales tax applied (to compute the cost of anything with 6.25% sales tax, multiply the cost before sales tax by 1.0625 and then round to the nearest penny).

I think the idea is that, on average, half the time the tax amount would get rounded up and half the time it would get rounded down - therefore, it would be a wash over many sales. You would "lose" 0.25 cents on $1, but you would "gain" 0.5 cents on $2 (tax is 12.5 cents, which you would round up to 13 cents) and "gain" 0.25 cents on $3 (tax is 18.75 cents, which you would round up to 19 cents). So I'm at a bit of a loss on why this would be a huge issue for a retailer (other than the actual increase sending customers over the border to NH).

[Amused]

Those whacky mathemeticians!

[Inquiring minds]

How does this guy stay in business? Selling liquor to minors? He seems to have trouble with numbers so how would he tell if someone is old enough to buy? Or--and this seems likely-- he drinks up the profits.And is the Sun just publishing this letter to make fun of this guy? They should edit these letters so people like this guy and Gagnon don't look so foolish. Either way one of them or both should apologize to us for the waste of time.

[Wondering]

Please list everything you sell for $1 or less.
The tax won't work because it will drive your customers to NH. Besides, you don't turn over sales tax collected on each purchase. You do it monthly, quarterly, or annually, depending on your sales.

[KSM]

Details on the sales tax calculations:

http://masalestax.blogspot.com/

[Southie]

KSM, you ruined this thread with facts!!!! Oh the horror!

[Kevin]

I don't care I buy all my stuff in NH to save the money. Drive up on Saturday, hit home depot, lowes, hanaford, gas station and liqiuor store. I do turn the bottles in in Mass, they give you a nickle for everyone, even if you buy the beer in NH.
The Gov of NH was good enough to sign a bill protected the consumers of Mass against the nazi DOR.
Funny about the idiot patrick, he is stimulating the economy, but it is in Southern NH. He will probably get reelected, with all the campaign money flowing from retail in southern NH.
Now are you glad you voted against question one.

[Tony]

What makes you think that the Mass. voters will vote the bums out? Last November Kerry won, and the state income tax was upheld.
Here's a few more math equations:
Majority of Mass. voters = sheep
Drive to NH = no sales tax = no problemo with having to round up or ound down the new Mass. 6.25% sales tax rate = no brainer.

[Bagdad Harry]

Tony wrote:

What makes you think that the Mass. voters will vote the bums out? Last November Kerry won, and the state income tax was upheld.
Here's a few more math equations:
Majority of Mass. voters = sheep
Drive to NH = no sales tax = no problemo with having to round up or ound down the new Mass. 6.25% sales tax rate = no brainer.

NH has a 2 party system....
Massachusetts...like North Korea...has a one party system.
Kim Ill is a Democrats Democrat!

[Patriot]

That's what we at www.cleansweepbeaconhill.com have been yelling about, Bagdad Harry!
This system of one-party domination in Massachusetts is killing us. It has shifted the entire economic scale downward. It used to be: rich, middle-class, working poor and trifling poor. Trifling poor were those new to the country and didn't want to work and those born here and just as lazy.
Anyways, now it stacks up like this:
Obnoxiously wealthy, working poor and dirtpoor. Middle-class has been wiped off the map! Dirtpoor qualify for all kinds of things here in Mass. Harry, heck, we even give those folks a vehicle, free of charge, fully paid insurance on that car and a fully paid AAA membership to boot! Not too mention a free phone as well. Only in Mass. does it pay to be dirtpoor. The rest of us? We be screwed until we vote these bums out and replace them with men and women who have no personal agenda. They just want to do the job correctly. So, Harry, help us out. Check out the site. We're not going away. Matter of fact we plan to launch in early September. Look out, pols!!! You're time is a coming!!!!

[Kevin]

Things are SOOOOOOOO much better now that Patrick is Gov and Obama is president. Maybe it wasn't Bush and Romney, but the idiot Dem legislature

[Wondering]

Kevin wrote:

Things are SOOOOOOOO much better now that Patrick is Gov and Obama is president. Maybe it wasn't Bush and Romney, but the idiot Dem legislature

It was the Chinese. Bush & Romney are not worthy of leadership positions.

[Right Today]

If you're so smart, how come you can't get any Republicans elected?

And if you think you're so much smarter than everyone else, why do you chose to live in a democracy where the majority rules?

[Wondering]

Right Today wrote:

If you're so smart, how come you can't get any Republicans elected?

http://www.youtube.com/watch...
Don't blame anyone but the republicans.

[inconveinent facts]

Wondering wrote:

<quoted text>
http://www.youtube.com/watch...
Don't blame anyone but the republicans.

.....sure pick on an american hero like mccain and elect a socialist, neophyte, dufus like prez erkel who thinks there are 57 states but worse thinks there are no spending limits

[Tony]

There are 57 Islam states. That's what Obama was really talking about.

[NH Here I Come In August]

With the new sales tax starting August first you know they will always round it up never down because that will defeat the purpose of them pushing this law to go threw. As of August 1st I don't really care because I will now do all my shopping in NH and not Massachusetts. Thanks for giving our money to NH you idiots lol.

[Southie]

inconveinent facts wrote:

<quoted text>
.....sure pick on an american hero like mccain and elect a socialist, neophyte, dufus like prez erkel who thinks there are 57 states but worse thinks there are no spending limits

And that just gets your panties in a twist every day, doesn't it?! LOL!!!!