A value added tax (VAT) is a form of consumption tax. From the perspective of the buyer, it is a tax on the purchase price. From that of the seller, it is a tax only on the "value added" to a product, material or service, from an accounting view, by his stage of its manufacture or distribution. The manufacturer remits to the government the difference between these two amounts, and retains the rest for themselves to offset the taxes he had previously paid on the inputs.
The "value added" to a product by a business is the sale price charged to its customer, minus the cost of materials an...
On Podcast #58, Joel and I had a disagreement. Not the first, and certainly won’t be the last:
Joel says that the only bad simple question is a duplicate simple question. I say simple questions are OK as long as they’re actually interesting (in some way) for other users to consider and answer. To prove his point, Joel actually asks the question on Stack Overflow: How do I move the turtle in LOGO? Do you think this question adds value?
We still have this disagreement. Our community is now struggling with the very same issue across multiple network sites: …
