Many countries already have VAT. And in the US, state and local governments levy taxes on a percentage of sales, which are paid by the buyer. If this were going

Many countries already have VAT. And in the US, state and local governments levy taxes on a percentage of sales, which are paid by the buyer. If this were going to massacre gigantic numbers of businesses, or cause the number of people willing to go into business to drop to zero, it would have already and we'd have noticed. So if a tax on money made from selling products is what's desired, this -- rather than an avoidable tax on profit -- is a way to do it.