Not that long ago, online purchases didn't charge sales tax on a lot of sites. Amazon always did, but the rule (from what I recall) was that if a website was based in the US (or at least had an office of some kind), sales tax had to be charged. There are a lot of places that aren't in the US, that sell US keys for games (Greenmangaming, GOG, Fanatical, Voidu, etc.). Even ebay and Steam (if I recall) didn't charge it at first. But as new laws got passed in various states, more online sites began charging sales tax. Ebay started charging sales tax a few years ago (on used items no less... that's like charging sales tax at a garage sale), along with Humble Bundle. Now there are some sites like Fanatical and GOG that have started charging sales tax as well, despite not having any kind of basing in the US (at least, I don't believe they do).

As I said, it's not much of a issue with cheap games, but when the games start costing $19.99 or more, that sales tax gets more noticeable... especially on games that are $49.99 and up.

Edit: Cleared up a spot or two.

Complaining about taxes must be universal but is it not fair if most all products sold have added tax. Luxuary products should not be exempted, in my humble opinion, but we can discuss what should carry lower or no tax.

Okay, I understand. Must be a bit chaotic over there, in the EU it's much easier, as far as I know.


As far as I know, if you buy something on a website, the taxes are already included in the total amount. It's much like shopping in an offline store, you don't get taxes on top because they're already in the price of the product.

I seem to remember the rule being per state, in that sales tax is charged only if the business has a physical presence in the state in question. Hence, you might need to pay sales tax in one state but not another because it just happens to be where the business has a physical location. Also, not every state has sales tax; apparently 5 states do not.

This is specifically about sales tax in the U.S. If you want some idea of what's involved, read this. Here's a quote: Also relevant: Nope. Advertised prices in the U.S. do not include sales tax, it's too complicated. You only get the "real" price upon final checkout, both online and offline.

Yep, I can confirm the same thing has been imposed to my purchases for my province ("state") in Canada. I noticed this about a month ago. All these years, no taxes. And now suddenly, yes. First world problem or not, I'm not happy about this. :( Given the current context that prices for everything has gone up, every penny hurts.

This is also true in person. In most US states, you can't just walk into a store with a $1 bill and purchase something that has a displayed cost of 99 cents, as the sales tax will raise the actual price to over a dollar.

Indeed, that's why I said "both online and offline". Well, it depends. Is it food? Then yes it is 99¢. Except...is it "bad food" like candy? Then no, it's taxed. Except...is it "baking goods" like chocolate chips, which has the same ingredients as candy but somehow isn't candy? Then yes, it's 99¢.

Seeing as taxation is essentially (legalized and often begrudgingly accepted) theft, it is better to have less and not more.

(before someone says something like "they need money to fix roads and whatnot", remember that production of various goods along with many other things are already taxed above and beyond all reason. My take? The garfields in fancy suits can do more easily without the extra pocket change per purchase than consumers can)

Sitting in my armchair in front of the telly, eating dinner, when I caught sight of a mouse scurrying along the floor baseboard. With everything else going on in my life, that's the one thing I could have done without. :(

Beginning of every winter, the mice move in but unless there is a warm period during winter, if you trap all the mice in your house, they should be gone until the next winter.

They are kind of cute too .... but of course we do not want them indoors.

Cute they are, but they do poop. As do we all, I guess. xD Thus far, no sign they've found my pantry..., yet. My apartment can get a bit chaotic and disorganized at times, but there's one thing I never, ever leave littering about and that is food. Maybe they'll notice and leave me alone.

A classic! Thx for the laugh! xD

They won't. If they're in, then they're happy they found a nice warm place to stay while they forage for food elsewhere, and they won't leave on their own. You'll have to get some traps I'm afraid.

p.s. Bro, I think yer micez followed yer post to my home(pic attached) o.0 ;)