This is less about "show full breakdown of price in final bill",which is what I see debating here and what level should that be taken to,and more "don't advertise $X and then show $x+$y+$z unexpectedly" on final bill which I assume is less controversial .
I'm somewhat sympathetic to billboard advertising, as that is something that can't really do this. But the vast majority of advertising can, in fact, show this level of detail quite easily.
This is what is done now, and what the FTC/FCC are trying to make illegal. The sticking point is that these specific industries have gotten very creative about what constitutes a tax or government fee, so it isn't as simple for consumers as knowing you have to tack on sales tax.
At least in MA, you have to pay the sales tax in order to register the vehicle. It doesn't matter what state you bought the car in.
The regulators aren't letting that loophole slip in. Everyone here goes to NH to skip out on sales taxes, including the regulators that pass the sales taxes.
While there are a vast number of people from different localities laws and regulations here,for most people the issue we are trying to solve here is simple and the surcharge is not tax or regulation based. In particular, when buying vehicles dealer surcharges are one massive entry and taxes are a) already separately listed b) in great detail and c) not typically that variable. Similar with various telecom completely BS charges which are variations of "we need this money to actually be profitable" - which is fine as such,you're a business and need to be profitable,cool. But don't make me drive 50km or spend 3 hours signing up based on advertised price and then add on BS surcharges that have nothing to do with local regulation and everything to do with your business and marketing plan.
that is the problem we are trying to solve,and again,arguments here seem to veer from "let us definitely let the perfect be enemy of the good and not solve anything until my favourite clever unlikely edge case is addressed" , to "shirley I have a vested interest somewhere to be protesting this much" :)
P.s. and then there are Ticketmaster convenience fees and other companies service fees. I want to see somebody stand up and defend them here as a complicated problem and undue business burden and the right thing for the consumer :)
Which is all to say that dealing with variable costs is part of doing business. That they are currently able to dodge responsibility for some things by attaching them after the fact as "fees" is kind of upsetting to me. Consider if you had them send out a service unit to fix a line in the neighborhood, and they decided to line item send you a fuel bill for the work. Was something they always had to deal with, but finding a way to keep an expense from cutting into profits by directly passing it to users is a touch crazy.
It is EXACTLY that easy: "$PRICE + applicable tax".
It's truly bizarre to see people here hurling themselves to defend slimy, deceptive business practices and acting like in 2024 this is some utterly complex insoluble problem.
And finally: too fucking bad for the businesses. Prices should be completely transparent, consumers should know precisely what they're going to be asked to pay upfront, if that creates a burden for businesses tough shit.
What next? McDonald's $2.00 value menu plus $5.99 Oxygen and Water Fee at checkout?