United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2008-04-04 monographic deposited born digital 67 p. GA 1.13:GAO-08-566 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-566 P0b002ee180378f0d f:d08566 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-566 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-566 GAO-08-566 Consumption taxes Policy evaluation Program evaluation Program management Records management Reporting requirements Risk assessment Sales taxes Standards Strategic planning Tax administration Tax administration systems Tax law Tax refunds Tax violations Value-added taxes Voluntary compliance Program goals or objectives Program implementation Other Written Product A81573 Dissatisfaction with the federal tax system has led to a debate about U.S. tax reform, including proposals for a national consumption tax. One type of proposed consumption tax is a value-added tax (VAT), widely used around the world. A VAT is levied on the difference between a business's sales and its purchases of goods and services. Typically, a business calculates the tax due on its sales, subtracts a credit for taxes paid on its purchases, and remits the difference to the government. While the economic and distributional effects of a U.S. VAT type tax have been studied, GAO was asked to identify the lessons learned from other countries' experiences in administering a VAT. This report describes (1) how VAT design choices, such as exemptions and enforcement mechanisms, have affected compliance, administrative costs, and compliance burden; (2) how countries with federal systems administer a VAT; and (3) how countries that recently transitioned to a VAT implemented the new tax. GAO selected five countries to study--Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom--that provided a range of VAT designs from relatively simple to more complex with multiple exemptions and tax rates. The study countries also included some with federal systems and some that recently implemented a VAT. GAO does not make any recommendations in this report. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-566/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-566.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-566/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-566.pdf GAO-08-566 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-566 Other Written Product GAO-08-566; Value-Added Taxes: Lessons Learned from Other Countries on Compliance Risks, Administrative Costs, Compliance Burden, and Transition; Consumption taxes Policy evaluation Program evaluation Program management Records management Reporting requirements Risk assessment Sales taxes Standards Strategic planning Tax administration Tax administration systems Tax law Tax refunds Tax violations Value-added taxes Voluntary compliance Program goals or objectives Program implementation