Posted by Bill's News on 07/20/06 01:10

jayembee wrote:
> "Jack Torrence" <room217[at]overlook.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> "jayembee" <jayembeenospam@snurcher.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> HOWEVER, what they don't tell you until you've actually
>>> "checked
>>> out" and placed your order is that for the US, they deduct
>>> the Value
>>> Added Tax (VAT), which is normally built into the item
>>> price. So,
>>> you get to deduct 15% off the above price.
>>
>> The standard rate of VAT in the UK is 17.5%
>
> True, but when you take the base price and multiply it by
> 1.175 to
> get the VAT-included price, you can't get back to the original
> price
> by multiplying the VAT-included price by 0.825.
>
> For example, a DVD priced at �19.99 will be lowered to �17.01,
> which
> is closer to a 15% deduction (�16.99) than to a 17.5%
> deduction
> (�16.49). But �17.01 multiplied by 1.175 gives to �19.99.
>
> -- jayembee

The sad thing here is that this should not have to be explained
to anyone who is over 11 years of age!!! The state of education
(in the U.S. for certain, apparently England as well) is
wretched. This isn't even math, it's just basic 1/3 of 3 added
= 4, 1/4 of 4 subtracted = 3. Ergo 1/3 = 1/4 ;-0) No wonder
MacDonald's puts pictures on their cash registers and requires
entry of the amount tendered!

Reminiscent of those who reckon 4:3 and 16:9 as being the same
ratio!!!

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