(RANT WARNING)

I own a small business in California. it's an auto repair shop, considered retail sales of merchandise and services.
the rate here (for the time) is 8%. it has changes 3 times inside one calendar year before.
so if you go buy a new CD, you expect to pay 8%......
if you go to a grocery store and buy some milk and a loaf of bread, you pay no sales tax, but add a fire log, soap or a mop and you pay tax on those parts of the purchase.
this makes sense to me, not that I like it.
weird stuff: (and I'm a little foggy on what may have changed in the last few years)
if you walk into a store and buy a pre-made sandwich that's pre-wrapped from the cooler you pay no tax, but if they offer a microwave to heat it, and you do, you pay tax.
for a short time about 8 years ago they got so nitty-gritty about what was a snak-food (taxable) and what was real-food(not a snak-food, no tax) was absurd. beyond belief.
cupcake- tax...muffin- no tax.

things I know for sure:
if you sell a taxable item and don't collect the tax, you are responsible for that tax.
if you charge too little tax, you must make up the difference.
if you charge too much tax, you must pass it on.
the basic rule in my business for what to tax on is if you can hold it in your hand, tax it. (including gases like freon or r134 for air cond.)
repair labor is not taxed, but they want you to charge sales tax for anything you 'make', like if you're in a pinch and have to make a pipe from household plumbing from two or more pieces. or if you weld two or more things together to act as a single component, such as a bracket or support. if this is the case you should tax both the amount of the supplies used and the labor. and I suck at welding !!

for the past 15 years I have handed them about $20,000 per year of someone else's money. not once have they ever said thank you.

get this-
I rent my business location.
I have paid off all of my equipment years ago, and I paid tax on it when I got it.
the city requires me to pay more tax on all of it every year, I think it's about .75%.

not only did I pay tax on the money I made to purchase the tools, and paid tax on the purchase itself, I will continue to pay tax on the tools for as long as I own and do business with them. If I live long enough, that'll really add up.

it bothers me that if you make money they tax it and they tax it again when you spend it. tax is ok, but the problem with sales tax is that if you imagine the amount of equipment involved to get a lemon to the fruit stand, and all of the equipment that supports the businesses that own the equipment that got the lemon to the fruit stand, as you can see it's nearly endless. in the cost of a lemon is the tax on truck tires, fuel, a screw driver, work boots, machines that produce glue, office supplies, you name it. the cost of the lemon also includes the cost of all the salaries of the workers involved. no problem, but the amount of the salaries should (!) be at least enough for them to live a good life, and in doing so they must make enough (after taxes) to be able to buy the things in life that they should be able to, such as a music CD. so the salaries must be inflated somewhat to account for the sales tax they(we) pay on a CD, kids shoes, toasters, a heated sandwich, lemons..............