Q. I ordered a custom-made item and agreed with the seller on the price; we did not explicitly discuss the associated tax. When the item was delivered, the seller added tax to the price we agreed on, but I claim that the price we agreed on should include the tax. What is the halachah?
A: On this issue, we follow the minhag hamedinah of that locale. Therefore, in the United States, the price quote typically does not include the sales tax, which should be added to the agreed price.
On the other hand, in Israel, the price quote generally includes the VAT (ma’am). Therefore, in regular purchases, the agreed price includes the VAT, unless stipulated otherwise beforehand, or in professions where it is common to quote the price of labor before the addition of VAT (Pis’chei Choshen, Kinyanim 3:[39]).
Similarly, we follow the minhag hamedinah regarding various taxes associated with real estate purchases, whether they are incumbent on the seller or the buyer (ibid.).
