Variable Sales Tax

For lunch yesterday, I stopped at the Raising Cane’s in Santa Ana instead of the one I usually go to in Orange. I got a box combo and the total came out to $9.12, which was slightly more than what the exact meal cost in Orange. Both restaurants had the same price so the difference was in the sales tax. In addition to state and county sales taxes, cities can also add to the rate to raise funds. By checking here, you can see that the sales tax in Orange is 7.75%, and in Santa Ana it is 9.25%. The Orange location is further from my house: 7.1 miles vs. 5.3 miles. At 3.3 miles/kWh in my Tesla, the extra 1.8 miles will need an additional 0.55 kWh, which comes out to 11 cents assuming $0.20/kWh. That’s pretty much a wash, unless I use the Supercharger and get my car battery charged for free.

For a small $8 purchase, the difference was only 12 cents. But if you were making a large purchase, you probably should go to a store in Orange instead of Santa Ana, which will cost you 1.5% more. Here is a more detailed breakdown:

Out of the total, California takes 6.0% and Orange County takes 1.75%. I guess City of Orange is not charging any extra sales tax. You can see how heavy the tax burden is in California. The state income tax ramp is pretty steep and you get to 9.3% pretty quickly. Add the 6.0% sales tax (assuming you buy a lot of stuff), most Californians pay 15.3% in state taxes, before property tax. That’s why I typically vote no on any bond propositions on the ballot. They’re already takin 1/6 of my salary already… do a better budget. With the federal government taking ~1/3 of my salary, that’s half my income gone.