What taxes are on a can of NOS in California?

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Kolanaki@pawb.social⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

I need to know if I am stupid or crazy or what here…

As far as I am aware, non-prepared food items no longer have sales tax or a snack tax like they did when I was a kid. The only taxes I know I would be paying for a canned soda would be the CRV/California Redemption Tax, which is a flat $0.10 per aluminum can ($0.15 for glass bottle).

If the can of NOS is priced at $1.98, I expect the total price to be $2.08. However, the price ends up coming out to $2.21. Where the fucking hell is the other goddam $0.13 coming from? Are they charging me the fucking bag fee even when I don’t get bags?

I know it is classified as a tax and not just the price being mislabeled because when I pay for it using foodstamps, I am only actually charged $1.98 period since the system automatically removes taxes from the payment (I only see this reflected by the SNAP balance, not the POS system at the store, BTW). It’s still disconcerting to clearly see a discrepancy in what is attempting to be charged, tho.

Is there some other tax I am not aware of or something?

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some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Was reading NOS as “nitrous oxide” and was very confused

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- Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  It does use the branding. It used to even come in a plastic bottle shaped like the tanks you use in a car.
  
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  - some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Was more thinking of the inhalant gas used medically by dentists and otherwise known by enthusiasts as “hippie crack” or (more recently) “Galaxy gas”
    
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litchralee@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Some background: retailers in California that sell taxable goods have the choice of either including sales tax in their posted prices (“tax incl”) or not (“+tax”). Whichever they choose, they must disclose which method they use and must be consistent. Retailers of tax-free goods obviously don’t need to make this choice. Vending machines invariably always include the sales tax (and CRV if packaged beverage) to make the price a round number.

non-prepared food items no longer have sales tax

This is mostly correct, since the sales tax on food is generally on hot food that is otherwise unprepared. If any other preparation occurs (like with a sandwich from a sandwich shop), then that added preparation makes the whole sandwich taxable, even though the individual food ingredients would have been tax-exempt.

The only taxes I know I would be paying for a canned soda would be the CRV/California Redemption Tax, which is a flat $0.10 per aluminum can.

Minor quibble: CRV is California Redemption Value and is a refundable fee. The tiny distinction from a tax is that fees are potentially refundable (and this is, upon recycling the container) whereas a tax is virtually never refunded in any scenario. That said, the California Constitution specifies that taxes and fees have the same requirements when it comes to approving them, since the payment of a tax or fee is mandatory. But I digress.

Anyway, the rates that you described is not correct. The current rates are:

5 cents for containers less than 24 ounces 10 cents for containers 24 ounces or larger

And only applies to aluminum, glass, plastic, and bi-metal.

So on a can of NOS (16 fl oz) pays just 5 cents, but a 24 fl oz can will pay 10 cents. I’m not sure which size can you were looking at, but I’m going to guess it was a 16 fl oz can.

If 16 fl oz priced at $1.98, then add 5 cents CRV, that’s $2.03. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) writes that:

Sales of noncarbonated drinks are generally not taxable, but their containers may be subject to the CRV. On the other hand, sales of carbonated and alcoholic beverages are generally taxable, and the CRV fee that is charged for their containers is taxable

And:

Under SNAP, we consider items purchased with CalFresh benefits as sales to the United States government, and those items are therefore exempt from tax in California.

And:

Sales of eligible food items purchased with CalFresh benefits are exempt from tax, even if the sale of the food item is normally taxable. For example, the sales of carbonated beverages, ice, and food coloring are exempt from tax when purchased with CalFresh benefit

So if you’re somewhere within, say, San Francisco where the sales tax rate is 8.625%, then that brings the $2.03 up to $2.21 if bought without CalFresh, since both sales tax and CRV apply, and CRV is itself taxable. But on CalFresh, neither sales tax nor CRV apply, which would just be $1.98.

This all appears to align with your observations.

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- Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  
  Anyway, the rates that you described is not correct. The current rates are:
  
  In my defense, I am going by what is printed on the can itself. It says ten cents for CA, and 5 cents for ME, VT, MA, NY, HI, ans IA.
  
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  - litchralee@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Overstating the tax and then being charged less, that’s going to be less jarring to consumers than the opposite situation, where people are charged more than what it says on the can haha
    
    But I get it: taxes are hard, since even the supposed simplicity of a “flat tax” rate still requires exemptions and exceptions everywhere. Otherwise, people will get away with paying less tax than they ought, or more tax than is reasonably fair, or that the purpose of the tax is wholly defeated.
    
    Taxation systems: simple to administer, easy to understand, fair. Pick at most two. Anyone who says they’ve come up with a system that achieves all three perfectly is a liar or a conman.
    
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Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
tar’ge charges a soda can tax, while WF does not. eventhough are buying Sparkling water, and not SODA.

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Blaze@piefed.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
!askusa@discuss.online

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solrize@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
www.drinknos.com/en-us/products/original/

Had to look that stuff up. Yuck, stay away!

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Nemo@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Is there sweetened drink tax?

Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if a ready-to-drink beverage counted as prepared food.

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- Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Not afaik. There used to be both regular sales tax and a “snack tax” on things like soda, candy and chips but that was nixed when I was still in school and not that far after sales tax on packaged food items was dropped.
  
  And these taxes I am being charged on the soda are not being added everywhere I shop. Which is what makes me suspicious.
  
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  - Nemo@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Ah! IDK if it’s legal in CA but here in Chicago many small businesses used to charge the credit card fees to the customer. That was made illegal a year or so ago, so those stores switched to charging 4% higher prices but offering a 4% discount for cash.
    
    If it’s not every store, they might be charging you that CC processing fee.
    
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