*3.30... (10% GST).... but then there was also the issue where you had to remove a particular tax/taxes off the business's purchase cost of the goods, add your margin then add GST.
It created an anomoly at my family's general store... specifically with sales of Coca Cola.
Our shop bought coke by the pallet. The next nearest store bought a few boxes here and there.... so we paid significantly less than they did (close to half) but our sale prices were identical...
When GST came in, their sale price went down by 5 or 10c when GST kicked in and ours went up by a few percent.
Why? The 10% GST applied to the sale price. The removed taxes applied to the business's purchase price. If you had large profit margins you now had to apply a tax across more of the sale price and were only removing taxes to compensate from a fraction of the price...
I don't recall the exact figures, but it went a little like this.
$5.99 for two-pack 2L coke. (in the 90s we sold dozens of these a day... nearest supermarket was 20km away)
Cost to us, 1.15 per bottle including taxes. Excise, 15%. Gross profit was $3.69.
Ie: 1.15 was 115%. Our new cost price became $2 for the twin pack. Add on our $3.69 and you get a sale price of $5.69 plus GST... $6.26
Cost to other store, $2.30 per bottle leaving a profit of 1.40 on the twin pack.
New cost: $4. Sale price with same profit is $5.40 plus GST... $5.94
It is not always as simple as it seems - it could be (and I am only surmising) that the funeral home has had costs passed to them and rather than adjust their pricing, they are showing the added cost seperately and legitimately.
They could also be gouging.
I guess my point is don't immediately assume it is a gouge...