Anon creates a business plan

You are the one actually paying the tax to the government, you work it out

Also they would only have to do it once per item, shoppers have to do it every time!

Not being an American the whole idea of not including tax in the stated price just seems so alien. You expect me to work out what 12.5% of my bill is on the fly as I’m shopping?

well, no.

They do that when they ring you up. The price on the shelf is pre tax. The price at the register is post tax. So you just do a mental adjustment as you shop, adding about 10% or so on top of what you're buying.

It's not ideal, but it's not impossible.

I think realistically, sales tax should probably be at the distributor side. But it's kind of nice being explicitly aware of what the sales tax is.

We generally tip 15% or 20%, depending on quality of service, 10% if it's bad but not atrocious. And that's pretty easy:

• 10% - just move the decimal place once
• 20% - move the decimal place once and double
• 15% - in the middle of the first two (or move decimal place once, cut in half, and add that to the 10% figure)

All hail Kermit, the Japanese restaurant

Sugarfish. They have to two in NYC. I've been to both.

I have 1 credit card on my phone. I carry 1 debit card, my driver's license, and about 4 other credit cards with me.

I really don't like the idea of losing my phone and my only way of paying for things at the same time. At least if I lose my phone, I can still pay for stuff. If I lose my wallet, I can still use my phone to pay for stuff or to call.

I have a physical copy of my car insurance and I also have it on my phone.

Oh man how I wish to tell you all about Belgium's healthindex.

Yup, something like $2.50/hr, when federal minimum wage is ~$7.50. If a server doesn't make minimum wage, the restaurant is required to step them up.

It's a stupid system IMO, because not leaving a tip is a giant slap in the face, when it really should just mean "you did just okay." If the service is really that bad, I will complain and expect a comp or something on the bill, so the bill should reflect "good enough" service. I'd actually like to pay tips if it actually meant "fantastic service," like putting up with my screaming children, convincing the cook to make something off-menu, or still providing good service when we're not spending much (we don't drink, and that's like 50% of the bill). I'd prefer to tip based on the service, not on the size of the bill.

Oh, and if we had such a system, not taxing tips would make a ton of sense since it's pretty literally a gift.

Totally, waiters don’t expect a tip at all. So if it’s given, it’s appreciated even more.

You’re right, I made the same mistake as OP. There is no “European system of tipping”.

You both said the same thing. If tip is included in the price, then there is no need to tip additionally.

You misunderstand. I'm willing - excited, even - to have restaurants that charge more upfront. I'm not willing to pay double the expected tip just because the restaurant hoped to hide additional costs in the bill and hoped that the payer wouldn't see it. In case my original comment was not clear enough, that was what they tried doing. 15% gratuity tacked on in small letters at the end of the bill, and this charge was never mentioned at any point, and there was additional space to add tip (of course, with the recommended option being 15% after the 15% gratuity). The sum of the pre-included tip and the tip that I gave is equivalent to tip that I would have given had restaurant not tried this kind of shady bullshit. So I fail to see how I've done the workers of the restaurant any wrong.

I choose not to revisit that restaurant for their shady business practices, not because I was unwilling to pay a mandatory tip. Given the original post, I figured that that was clear that that was what I had meant. Clearly I was mistaken.