Guild Wars 2

The tax is based off of where you live, it’s mandatory sales tax.

I live in texas, so it’s $8.75 for a $100 purchase.
I used to live in mississippi and there was no sales tax.

Yes, amazingly enough. Governments tax you. They tax everything they can think of. There are places that even tax the rain that falls on your property. Taxes on digital items are not new.

Accusing Anet of keeping the tax without any evidence is just offensive. Pretty sure this thread will end up closed.

CaptainDerp.2167:

Just think about it why is their tax when purchasing gems or expansions? i Just bought ultimate edition for $100 and tax was almost $10. why? theirs no tax on steam or other games with micro transaction that i know of. Does the tax of buying stuff in guild wars 2 go to the government? Im pretty sure it doesn’t and they just want more money. Im not mad or anything but thats kittened up that they included tax unless correct me if im wrong but im pretty sure im right that they give it to the government lmao. I mean thier isnt even tax on amazon.

Where do you live?

And yes, if they are charging you tax, it is because they must charge tax based on the tax laws of where you live. You would need to study the tax laws of where you live to learn why Arenanet must charge tax and why Amazon doesn’t have to. Scenarios like yours is not unusual. When I was playing WoW and Age of Conan I was being charged tax on my subscription, but when I was playing SWTOR I wasn’t being charged. On Guild Wars 2 I am not charged any tax, same with Amazon and Steam. I recently bought shoes on a website and I was charged tax, but from another website where I bought a car part I was not charged a tax. Tax laws can be confusing and make things look inconsistent.

CaptainDerp.2167:

I mean thier isnt even tax on amazon.

Maybe not when you buy from Amazon but when I buy things from them they do tax me at my local rate.

Knowledge (Base) is powerful!

https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/30901687-Taxes

Good luck.

CaptainDerp.2167:

Just think about it why is their tax when purchasing gems or expansions?

I did think about it and remembered that companies hate having to ask for taxes, because it’s a pain to do correctly (the rates vary from place to place and year to year, as do the items to which they apply). Accordingly, businesses never do it unless they are required to by law.

NekotTheBrave.2013:

The tax is based off of where you live, it’s mandatory sales tax.

I live in texas, so it’s $8.75 for a $100 purchase.
I used to live in mississippi and there was no sales tax.

where i live there used to be no sale tax online in michigan . up till just this year the state passed a into law we got to pay tax for stuff online. mi state tax being 6% the game cost me $3.00 tax for the pack i got. i do not like it but i will say for that price iam ok with it . at lest i did not have to wait till the pack came out in the store . and still got no disc,s for it . lol

Guess this is a US issue? Didn’t get any aditional fees in the EU.

If you don’t like seeing tax added to things you buy move to Europe.

You’ll still pay tax, but it’s included in the displayed price. When I bought the Ultimate Edition of HoT it was priced at £79.99 and I paid £79.99.

Yeah, here in Europe the tax has been showing since day one, it’s just been included in the checkout. When I bought Gems for 50€ as advertised as the cost, it charged me 50€. Does it work similarly in the states where you see some tax added? If so, what is the problem?

In most countries it is illegal to tax people without really giving that money to the government.
For example. in my country, in all purchases they have to say how much tax is involved (and yes it goes to the government). This is important cause if you are a company, you can get this tax back from the governement. But you obvious need proof. That is why they have to say it and why it really has to be correct. (and yes, there are situations where a company would buy GW2 for their business, e.g. there are game review magazines and websites in the netherlands).

These rules change per country and in the US also per state.
So while e.g. Amazon hides the tax when they don’t have to (depending on where you live), arenanet knows there is a lot of talk in the game chat and on here bout the price and want to make sure people know what they pay for the game and what they pay for tax. This makes it a lot easier to see why some people pay more or less for the purchase.

Absconditus.6804:

Yeah, here in Europe the tax has been showing since day one, it’s just been included in the checkout. When I bought Gems for 50€ as advertised as the cost, it charged me 50€. Does it work similarly in the states where you see some tax added? If so, what is the problem?

In the US, prices are generally listed without relevant sales taxes applied, except in the case of fuel for some weird reason. Receipts for purchases made in the US are usually a list of the items pre-tax, then a line item for sales tax following that, then a total.

Sales tax varies by state or county, as there is no federal sales tax so it’s up to local governments to decide what and how much they want to tax. For instance, I live in atlanta, and there’s no sales tax for online purchases, but the state run lotto and tax hikes on booze and tobacco balance it out.

I am really surprised that anyone would think Arenanet would deceitfully charge a sales tax illegally. That is a pretty serious insinuation if not accusation to allege against a company. It’s ok to not know the tax status of digital items but, to outright accuse people of committing tax fraud is serious and should not go unnoticed.