I cannot comment on the sales tax explanation, but the VAT one is completely wrong. Businesses don't pay VAT (unless they are not in the VAT system, e.g. when t

I cannot comment on the sales tax explanation, but the VAT one is completely wrong. Businesses don't pay VAT (unless they are not in the VAT system, e.g. when they are too small or their business is exempt for other reasons), when they charge other businesses VAT they have to pass it to the tax authorities and when they are charged by other businesses, they get it refunded by the tax authorities. The (consumer) customer will pay the VAT surcharge, unless he exports the product to a country with no VAT (or different VAT), in that case he gets a refund and will typically pay the VAT of his country of residence. Whatever the VAT advantages/differences over sales tax may be, the EU has lost many billions in VAT fraud schemes.