Business Quote by T.R. Reid
“The Value-Added Tax, a sales tax that applies at every level of business transactions, is an easy tax for governments to collect, and a hard tax to evade. So it makes the job of raising revenue easier. The revenues from the VAT can then be used to lower taxes on income and saving and investment. The Value-Added tax doesn't penalize work or saving; it's a tax on buying stuff.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Taxation in the United States, T.R. Reid, 1995
VAT is a consumption tax collected at each transaction stage, making revenue collection efficient and evasion difficult, allowing governments to shift tax burden away from income and savings.
In simple terms: VAT taxes consumption, not income, easing revenue collection.
Key Takeaway
Use VAT to fund lower income taxes.
Themes
tax policy
public finance
efficiency
equity
Mood
analytical
critical
neutral
Type
policy
economic
explanatory
When to use this quote
- budget planning
- government revenue
- tax reform
- economic policy
Key Concepts
consumption tax
revenue generation
tax shifting
Questions to Reflect On
- How does VAT impact different income groups?
- Can VAT revenue truly offset higher income taxes?
A Different Perspective
VAT may be regressive, affecting low‑income households disproportionately.
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)
