Buying Mac in US much cheaper than in Europe?

https://www.government.nl/topics/vat/vat-rates-and-exemptions says that the standard VAT tax rate is 21%. Here in the U.S., I believe sales tax rates might range up to 10%, possibly a bit more, with 5% to 7% being common. Maybe the Netherlands uses VAT to raise money for some of the types of things that would be funded (if they were funded) by Federal/State income taxes and local property taxes here.

Time to play with an example.

The cheapest 14" M3 Pro MacBook Pro (11/14-core M3 Pro, 18/512 GB) on the Apple Netherlands site is € 2.549,00. I'm guessing that's Euros. A VAT calculator says that a gross price of € 2.549,00 and a VAT rate of 21% translates to a net price of € 2106.61 and a tax of € 442.39. A currency converter claims these correspond to $2290.93 USD (before tax) and $481.10 USD (21% tax) for total damage equivalent to about $2772.03 USD.

On the U.S. Apple site, that 14" M3 Pro MacBook Pro is $1,999 USD before sales tax. If you lived in a state that had 7% sales tax, you'd pay $139.93 USD on top of that in tax for total damage of $2138.93 USD.

I don't see a $1000 USD or € 1000 difference here – and when you take the VAT and sales tax out of the equation, it looks like you are paying about 14% – 15% more in USD terms. Maybe due to currency exchange rates?!?

Servant of Cats has done a nice analysis.

US stated prices are BEFORE State Sales tax is added, and the tax is always charged and never refundable. Rates are based on place of delivery. The rate in New York City is higher than average at 8.875 percent due to additional city Sales tax.

One other consideration is you must pay using a method acceptable to the US store. Some Credit cards based in certain countries may not be acceptable, be sure to check first.

European prices are generally including VAT, and if you take the item outside EU the tax MAY be refundable.

European law provides additional consumer protections for a longer period than US.

a new-in-box computer may have to pay an import duty. A used computer in hand is not as likely to pay import duty.

kaz-k wrote:

I think purchase tax in Europe is higher than US.

In large parts of Europe, there is Value Added Tax.

This is a tax that is added on to the incremental value at every stage of production and distribution. I could be mistaken, but I believe that retail prices in countries with V.A.T. already have this tax built-in.

The United States does not have Value Added Tax. On the other hand, most states, and some localities, have sales taxes. The buyer pays these in addition to the retail price – even when buying a computer from a seller located in another state.

So part of the reason that European prices might seem high compared to U.S. ones is that the European ones already have the tax built-in, and the U.S. ones don't.

Hi,

This is different story, though because of weak Yen, you can purchase MacBook Pro much inexpensive than purchase in US or Europe at least right now.

I think purchase tax in Europe is higher than US.