How do you add tax to things?

I'm confused by ontario tax while buying groceries, help?

• I'm not originally from Ontario. I shop on a tight budget. When I go to the grocery store, sometimes I only have $10 or $20 to pick up the bare essentials. When calculating how much I'm going to pay, I always find it confusing to know how much tax is going to be applied to what items. It seems some things have the full 13% HST, some things don't, etc... It would be really great if there was a phone app that calculated & added it up by scanning bar codes, that would be my ideal solution. I can't find anything like that. So I'm forced to (gasp) use my brain! How exactly are different items in a grocery store catagorized in terms of tax? Fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen foods, meat/cheese from the deli, pre-packaged meat/cheese, shampoo and cosmetics, baby food, baby diapers, pet food, boxed cereal, flour, margarine, canned soup, etc, etc... I'm not sure what's supposed to be considered a "staple" and what isn't. There are different rules about whether things come in packages or not - I'm really confused. I just want to be able to add up my purchases as I go, so that I know how much I owe at the checkout :( I really wish the total price was displayed with/instead of just the price before tax. Would make everyone's life a whole lot easier.

• Answer:

  Yes,, it would be nice if taxation were simple, but politicians don't work that way. Some items are subject to neither HST nor GST Some items are subject only to GST Some items are subject to HST The best way to figure out which is which is to look at old grocery bills. They will identify the taxation of individual items. Then trust your memory.