[Vision2020] Tax on newspapers

[Kenneth Marcy]

On Monday 23 July 2007 19:08, Janesta wrote:
> Greetings!
>
> This has been niggling at me for a quite some time.
>
> Would someone please clarify why Safeway charges tax on newspapers, and
> Winco, Rosauers, the newspaper box, and other stores  do not.

Safeway charges sales tax on newspapers in locations other than Moscow, so 
it is probably a Safeway policy to collect sales tax on newspapers just as 
on any other general merchandise item.

Why do other stores not collect sales tax on newspapers? Perhaps because 
they are tired of losing money answering the question "Why do you charge 
sales tax on newspaper sales when I can buy the paper without tax from the 
newspaper box in front of the coffee shop?" Perhaps because they know that 
if a customer comes in for a newspaper without sales tax charged, the 
customer will, more often than not, buy something else as well, the profit 
margin on which more than offsets the newspaper price reduction by the 
amount of the sales tax on it. Perhaps because they prefer their customers 
to not have niggling feelings about doing business with them. Or they 
prefer not to give a customer another reason that motivates comparison 
price shopping for grocery store items other than newspapers, to their 
detriment.

On the other hand, you could choose to subscribe to the newspaper, read the 
advertisements of Safeway's competitors, then selectively shop in those 
stores, saving at least enough money to justify the newspaper subscription, 
and possibly the gasoline to drive weekly to and from a competitor's store.

> It was my understanding newspapers were not taxed.

 Newspapers do not have an exemption from sales tax, so it is not illegal to 
collect sales tax on newspaper sales. Whether or not collecting the tax is 
the wisest customer-oriented business practice is another matter.

 
Kenneth Marcy