Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Shopping Is Easy In Mexico

Shopping is easy in Mexico. There is a sales tax (VAT) but it is added to the price before it is posted. If you pick up something off the shelf that is marked $195 Pesos, that is what you pay. You hand them a $200 Peso note and get $5 Pesos back. Simple. Not like home in BC where you pick up something posted at $19.95, go to the till where they ring in the marked price and then start adding all the different taxes until they finally take about $23 off you. At home you never really know how much anything costs until they tell you. In Mexico it is easy. Why can't we do that at home? If some poor tourist from Mexico (or almost any other country) picks up something in Canada labeled $19.99, hands the clerk $20 and walks out the door he quickly finds himself in handcuffs. Welcome to Canada, eh.
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2 comments:

  1. drtee3February 6, 2009 at 5:40 PM

    I recently spent a few months in Mexico. I believe that when you look carefully at the cash register receipt at most modern stores with computerized systems will print the net price and then add the VAT to get the total price. That's the price they post with the product.

    They use a similar procedure in most of the EU.

    I frankly like to be able to see how much of my purchase goes toward taxes. I think the folks in Mexico like to see if they have enough pesos to pay for the product(s) they are considering buying and computing the 15% VAT is a bit tough for them, considering the general lack of education.

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  2. CroftFebruary 6, 2009 at 7:12 PM

    I agree drtee3, it does make it easier for the consumer. But as I recall, it is the price tag that separates the item cost and the VAT, not the receipt. No matter. When I consider buying an item, I want to know how much it will cost to walk out the door with it. I could care less how much each component costs, including the tax(es). If there is a reason for knowing the tax, I can always determine that later. In the meantime I just want to know if I have enough cash for that pair of shoes without mentally having to compute the 6% Federal tax and then the 7% Provincial tax and then adding them all together with my 64 year old brain cells.

    If they would do this on the price tag and also post the total as they do in Mexico, I would have no problem. In Canada we do not know the price until the cashier holds out her hand.

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