I lived in Britain for 4 years, they have a VAT. I once argued with my economics professor that it was this fact that sapped away their potential GDP and he dismissed my comments.
An institutionalized professor who never worked in the private sector much less experienced the sting of a VAT.
Everyone is correct. VAT is NOT a national sales tax, which even our dense media doesn’t understand.
In fact, it is another Sarbanes-Oxley type accounting disaster waiting to happen. Just figuring out the accounting aspects will be brutal: deadweight gain for accountants and lawyers.
But, if you are great at what you do, the government punishes you with a value added tax. It is a tax on productivity.
And wait for the exemptions! This where it will get really twisted. Prediction: minority firms and unions controlled businesses will be exempted.