20 September 2011

The State of Illinois and Cook Co., IL., V. Sophia M. Ball

We just got back from ACE Hardware where I had to pick a few things up for husbandry duties - three children in tow.

Sophia had brought along $1. She had earned this money by pulling weeds from her mother's garden. She found that $1 doesn't really buy $1 worth of goods.

I had to explain to her that even though the price said $1 she would have to pay taxes to the State of Illinois and the County of Cook totalling 10cents and that she would not have enough money to make her purchase.

This was worth a total tantrum - tears aplenty in the van ride home and the need of a hug from mom.

Big government ruining the day of a child.

Her mom did tell her though that if she lived in Montana she would not have to pay sales tax.

4 comments:

Drewe said...

Australia has this right. We still pay tax here (in our case, 10% GST), but all printed and advertised prices MUST be gst inclusive, and if both prices are quoted (for example for business who purchase GST free), the inclusive price must be the most prominent.

So there is never any question about the 'actual' cost of what you are getting, and if there are differing taxes (for example, fresh foods are GST free), you don't need to calculate it all in your head to see if you have the cash - the printed price is what you pay, and then the tax is just shown on the receipt.......

I lived in the USA for 2 years and always found it difficult to work out exact costs, because each county and state had different rules for each category. Frustrating!

The Rev. BT Ball said...

Drewe-
thanks for comment...
But once again a post supposed to be for my family blog ended up on here. I have to watch that dashboard a bit closer.

But yes it is frustrating here, especially at dining out...to tip with the tax included or not?

Rev. Larry Beane said...

Dear Ben:

A painful but important lesson for the little lassie to learn. Wait until she learns about the Federal Reserve, fractional reserve banking, and the Social Security ponzi scheme!

So many painful lessons about government and the state, and nary a word about it on Sesame Street! :-)

The Rev. BT Ball said...

Father Hollywood-
to make matters worse, the reason why the tax was 10 cents is because it was a "sin" tax. She wanted to purchase candy, and so the tax rate is higher in Illinois and Cook County - 10% than other items.

I always have to remind myself - "this is where the Lord has put me."