Sales tax

OK so I searched the forums and found lots of passionate debate about transparency in pricing practices. And I love civil discourse but what I really need right at the moment is a definitive answer about how much tax is added to items at DHS. Since apparently some parts of WDW are in one county and some in another? Kiddo wants to know EXACTLY how much he needs for a new personality chip for his droid, and at Savi’s. (We’ve explained the part where the prices can randomly go up. But he still wants to calculate his savings target.)

I always thought the sales tax on item purchases is uniform between parks, while the hotel taxes do change.

I tried verifying that with a search and found is 2016 Mom’s panel answer that says they would use the Orange county 6.5% across the theme parks
https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/tax-rate-disney-world-321954/

BUT, I then found a newer one from 2021 that seems to say they do follow the county tax rate. If that’s the case, then it looks like DHS is in Orange, which is 6.5%.
https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/tax-rate-disney-dining-merchandise-resort-stays-465325/

Putting on my Dad hat, I think I’d point out that the difference is $1 per $100 spent, so a good lesson that planning is terrific, but over saving to cover unexpected expenses is also something we all have to do in life. :slight_smile:

2016

2021

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Hollywood Studios is in Bay Lake, which is in Orange County. So, 6.5%.

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In the UK the sales tax is 20%. This is why I’m bitter and angry all the time.

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Geez!!

Basically, the county line between Orange and Osceola counties is Osceola Parkway, which runs east/west on the southern end of WDW. None of the parks are in Osceola county, the major things in Osceola are the three All-Star Resorts and ESPN Wide World of Sports.

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It’s not on everything! It’s supposed to just be for luxuries, though it makes no sense - for instance it’s charged on chocolate covered biscuits but not chocolate covered cakes. At least we manage to include it on the price tag though and we don’t get stung at checkout.

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NHS though.

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This luxuries bit is interesting. Is luxury actually luxuries, or luxury as in not a necessity? We (Canadians) pay sales tax on everything except necessities.
Apples? No. Restaurant food? Yes.
Potatoes? No. Potato chips? Yes.
Children’s clothing? No. Or less. Depending where you are. Adult clothing? Yes. Because we don’t need clothes obviously.
Grapes? No. Wine? Yes.
House? No. New house? Yes. Contractors to fix your house? Yes.
Bus tickets? No. Car? Yes.
Prescriptions? No. Advil? Yes.

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Ah, the joy of GST and remembering which items are taxable and which aren’t :slight_smile:

Quebec has 9.975% QST for added fun :sunglasses:

We have similar nonsense.

Cakes: no. Biscuits (i.e. cookies): yes
Tampons: yes (clearly a luxury)
Gas (i.e. to heat your home) and electricity: yes

Reminds me of the Sunday trading laws we used to have. I seem to remember you could buy porn but not bibles.

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Top historical tidbit.

NS has HST, instead of GST & PST… Totals 15%, so I feel you. And we don’t get any quirky exemptions because it’s all just in line wirh federal guidelines. Llke in BC, bicycles and books were PST exempt. Stuff like that. Here there’s no extra exemptions, and i miss that! I mean plus it was lower overall. And income tax too… its like an exrra 15% here. But thats what happens when your tax base is so small I guess.

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Yeah, but at least all the price tags show it so you don’t have to remind yourself that you’re paying it by doing the mental maths for every purchase :crazy_face:

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On restaurant checks, I write down the tip but not the total. I write in “I’m on vacation. You do the math.”

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I know that’s in jest (or at least I’m choosing to read it that way) but I don’t think it’s in the spirit of these forums to make such comments. I’m not easily bent out of shape but I see no reason to cut others down.

Apologies. I presumed the smiley was enough to convey jest. I deleted my post since you were bothered by it.