sales tax is back!?

UGGGH. What the freak, New York!?

Last weekend, my sister and I made our usual Sunday trip to Anthropologie (yes…we’re up to weekly visits now) when I spotted a GLORIOUS dress I had had my eye on for months. It was marked down nearly 75% off, so of course I had to buy it. Good thing it fit and looked nice, too.

So as I waited through the check out, I calculated my savings and grinned at such a good steal. But! Lo and behold! My total rings up, and the price is a good $15 higher than what I expected. Now, I know my math skills aren’t exactly college-level (it’s the truth, I took no math in college), but I queried the sales girl anyway.

“Ohhhh, riiiight, starting today there’s a sales tax on all retail items,” she says.

What the—! Sales tax!? Sorry, I haven’t heard those words in almost 5 years. Sure enough, there is now a 4% statewide sales tax on everything, through April 2011. After April, the tax only applies to items over $55.

Pssshh. This is ridiculous. Get it together, New York! I’m sick of paying for your hideously unbalance budget!