KILO NOVEMBER
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,068
- Location
- Hurricane Coast Florida
I'm indifferent to the VAT vs Sales Tax concept - gotta pay either way.... It does, however, drive me up the wall when in the US, having to remember everything costs more than it actually says it does on the label.... I assume when that's your cultural norm you don't notice it, but I found it a real pain!
They harmonised the mechanism with VAT (all to do with the single market), but the actual level at which VAT is set remains up to individual nations. I've never been aware of it being lower than 15% in the UK, though it has varied between that, 17.5% and 20% in the last couple of decades. I certinly wouldn't miss paying it myself, though to be fair I also want the services it pays for!
While I understand the general workings of a VAT, I would like to understand how the value added is computed at the first instance. For example, suppose I operate a coal mine. The value of the coal in the ground is zero. It's only value is potential. No one can use it until it is extracted. So it seems to me that the value added is infinite, or at least not calculable.
Any European tax wizes here?