>>>I had to pay taxes on top of that, I was stunnedm . it just does not make sense to me
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>Sales tax is very different in different states but a lot of retail is run and advertized by national chains, so they have to advertise and quote a pre-tax price and expect locals to know what it means. FWIW, Amazon prevailed over national bookstore chains by relying on interstate commerce to sell books without sales tax... and having won, now they are starting to add sales tax in many states. Cynics say it's to prevent anybody pulling the same stunt on Amazon. Do books attract sales tax in the Netherlands?

Sure, If think its 21% (for food an a couple of other things its 6%), but that is all consumed in the price they advertise with.