Avoid the tax at Apple and ATT buy from Wal-mart
Yes, in many states Att and Apple are required to charge tax on the full price of the phone. The law does not, however, require them to pass that cost on to the customer. In the case of ATT, they make that back in the first month of service. If you want to avoid this absurd practice, buy it from Wal-Mart, they charged me tax on the discounted price, not the full price. This practice was started when Cingular originally purchased ATT several years ago. There are several pending suits against them since they do not disclose this information until after you have signed and been charged. They don't tell you up front, as many would buy the phone from a 3rd party vendor and avoid it. Hopefully the exclusivity agreements will expire, and there will be more 3rd party vendors other than Wal-Mart and choices in carriers. But then again, Apple has always been very controlling, that's why they lost the original pc-mac war, even with a superior product.
