[CSM]

"Then you thought wrong. Economically, a credit-invoice VAT is no different than a NRST."

Except that one is clearly visible to every citizen and the other is hidden.

[Your Nightmare]

Except that one is clearly visible to every citizen and the other is hidden.

You are mistaken. A credit-invoice VAT is not hidden. It would appear to a customer just like a NRST, the pretax price and the tax collected would be the same. Only the collection method is different.

Example:

	Price	20% VAT	Gross Payment	VAT Credit	Net Tax Paid (Tax - Credit)
Raw Materials	$10	$2	$12	$ 0	$2
Manufacturer	$ 35	$7	$42	$2	$5
Wholesaler	$55	$11	$66	$7	$4
Distributor	$70	$14	$84	$11	$3
Retailer	$100	$20	$120	$14	$6
TOTAL TAX PAID					$ 20

$20 tax charged on a $100 item sold at retail, just like a 20% NRST.

[OHelix]

Except that one is clearly visible to every citizen and the other is hidden.

Not necessarily. There are many types of VAT implementations, and the one YN seems to favor would be just as visible as a NRST. If we were to do a VAT, I would prefer the credit invoice type YN favors. However, I think the FairTax is cheaper in terms of compliance and enforcement, and less intrusive, and does, at least a little bit, move power out of DC and puts it into the state and the people.