31–40 of 259 posts
I live in New York. Thank God I quit smoking in 1980. A pack of cigarettes in New York costs about $15, in some stores, and no less than $10, outside of the local Native American facilities/reservations. That's almost all taxes.
> That's almost all taxes. I mean, that’s a good thing, right? Smokers should pay for the externalities their habit has on society as a whole.
I'm sorry but other than brand value, what do Apple products get Indian users that simply cannot be got from other companies? If the price from a trillion dollar company is this costly, then vote with your wallets for god's sake. Simply don't buy. There are (fortunately) plenty of viable alternatives to Apple that are more reasonably priced.
Why don't you use something cheaper instead?
This goes for many products and services, because of different tax and import rates. From Europe it is often still cheaper to fly to a different country to buy clothes, electronics, etc. Problem is that you still have to pay the import tax once you cross the border back into your own country. Hence why many airline crew ran (run?) side hustles of buying and selling luxury goods, since they were (are?) rarely checked…
This piece of taxation engendered tidbit is getting too much attention in India. Now it’s on HN front page. It’s seems unlikely but I wouldn’t put it past Apple. OTOH I don’t mind these high taxes, for a country like India an iPhone is indeed a luxury, if only the tax money didn’t go directly to party funds and offshore accounts one way or the other.
> It is no secret that the taxes and duties that are applied to imported phones are highest in India. The taxes are so high that for an important iPhone that you will end up paying an average tax of Rs 24,000 for something like an iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Mini. > However, despite the sky-rocketing prices, iPhone still sells best in India and the buyers give whatever price Apple asks them to pay. So for a business, that…
If people were willing and able to fly, the free market would close this arbitrage by ... driving up the cost of flying to Dubai. The other prices are controlled.
This goes for many products and services, because of different tax and import rates. From Europe it is often still cheaper to fly to a different country to buy clothes, electronics, etc. Problem is that you still have to pay the import tax once you cross the border back into your own country. Hence why many airline crew ran (run?) side hustles of buying and selling luxury goods, since they were (are?) rarely checked…
Can't you just buy some electronics, throw away all receipts and such and simply claim to customs that you had it already for a while? For example, when I bought my Audio Technica ATH-M50X in the US for about $100 (while in my country they were about twice as expensive) I just had it around my neck as I was listening music through it. No one asked a thing. In all fairness, I went to the US for fun and got a chance to…
You can also simply hold a knife to a stranger and ask them to empty their wallet.
Both happen to be illegal, however.
> It is no secret that the taxes and duties that are applied to imported phones are highest in India. The taxes are so high that for an important iPhone that you will end up paying an average tax of Rs 24,000 for something like an iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Mini. > However, despite the sky-rocketing prices, iPhone still sells best in India and the buyers give whatever price Apple asks them to pay. So for a business, that…
Not despite.
People don't understand the Apple brand.