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A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared with, a sales tax.
VAT is an indirect tax because the tax is paid to the government by the seller (the business) rather than the person who ultimately bears the economic burden of the tax (the consumer). [4] Opponents of VAT claim it is a regressive tax because the poorest people spend a higher proportion of their disposable income on VAT than the richest people. [5]
The co-ordinated administration of value-added tax within the EU VAT area is an important part of the single market. A cross-border VAT is declared in the same way as domestic VAT, which facilitates the elimination of border controls between member states, saving costs and reducing delays. It also simplifies administrative work for freight ...
The relative importance of trade taxes in developing countries in recent years is on decrease due to trade liberalization, however, the drop of importance of indirect taxes in developing countries was partially offset by increases in the relative importance of domestic consumption taxes such as VAT. [6]
The EU VAT system is imposed by a series of European Union directives, the most important of which is the Sixth VAT Directive (Directive 77/388/EC). Nevertheless, some member states have negotiated variable rates ( Madeira in Portugal ) or VAT exemption for regions or territories.
For a VAT and sales tax of identical rates, the total tax paid is the same, but it is paid at differing points in the process. VAT is usually administrated by requiring the company to complete a VAT return, giving details of VAT it has been charged (referred to as input tax) and VAT it has charged to others (referred to as output tax).
Taxes provide the most important revenue source for the Government of the People's Republic of China. Value-added tax (VAT) produces the largest share of tax revenue in China and corporate income tax producing the next largest share. Tax is a key component of macro-economic policy, and greatly affects China's economic and social development.
The existing general sales tax laws were replaced with the Value Added Tax Act (2005) and associated VAT rules. A few states (Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh) opted to stay out of VAT taxation system during the initial introduction of VAT but adopted it later.