Quote Originally Posted by Dreadnaught View Post
Actually I used "mostly" primarily because it fit within the haiku structure.

However, because VAT taxes every level of production (and each level of subsequently more valuable and costs more, offsetting VAT refunds), some of the underlying cost of a final-sale product includes some level of taxation. So, while you may brush off a 12% or 23(!)% VAT, a larger portion of the good is also being taxed. This is part of why VAT taxes are so perfidious and harmful, especially to the poor.

This pretty obvious point may not be clear to someone whose common sense has been dulled into submission by generations of big government fiscal abuse, and instead chooses to constantly lash out. IE, you.
Wait what now? As EJ says, VAT is only on the added value as the name implies - there's no double taxation. There's a reason why all business pricing and contracts pretty much always are prices excl. VAT, because VAT doesn't matter to businesses until the final product (cash flow issues aside, I suppose, since it has to be paid first - you can keep whatever you collect first too, though, so I think that's only an issue if you have long times between buying supplies and selling your product).