There is a distinction to be made between VAT and sales tax, though. Not necessarily in the regressive nature, but its still important to make because the US re

There is a distinction to be made between VAT and sales tax, though. Not necessarily in the regressive nature, but its still important to make because the US really should adopt VAT taxes. It is perfectly feasible to impose VATs on the sales of stocks, bonds, or the accumulation of dividends, etc. Those are still goods, they are just treated differently and artificially to give tax breaks to investors. There is no real reason why you cannot VAT a corporate share as much as you VAT a car, just most countries do not do so because TPTB want to maximize their profits off traditional investments.