I placed the order, noticed the price and drove around to the window where José took my dinero. He asked for more than what was on the menu board and when reading the receipt, I discovered that McDonald's now charges a "takeout tax". What the hell is that? Don't we pay enough taxes, not to mention all the ridiculous fees on every bill we pay such as the insane "taxes" on a cell phone bill, the ludicrous taxes on a car rental at the airport, etc. I eat Mickey D's MAYBE twice a year and have never noticed this charge before. I wonder if there is a "eat in tax"? Then I start thinking, is this tax going towards healthcare due to the high obesity rates from people (me excluded of course) eating McDonald's every day?
So once I got home I went on the all knowing Internet to research this new charge on my receipt. Here is what I found from a Houston news report:
That tax is just the straight sales tax. If you notice the next time you eat in at a McDonald's, the line will say "Dine In" or "Eat In." It's the same tax rate, whatever your state and local sales tax rate is. Steve Lykins of McDonald's Memphis restaurants says the company has a uniform receipt software package. He says every McDonald's in America will have the "take out" or "dine in" line-items on their receipts. The reason, he says, is some states like California actually have a separate take out tax. So the software has to be able to accommodate those states so their revenue departments can accurately collect those taxes.
So I brushed my ruffled feathers back into place....and started looking in the medicine cabinet for some Zantac. So much for calling it a "happy" meal..... tell that to my waistline.Oh well, as Scarlett O'Hara says, "there's always tomorrow".
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