Companies don't pay VAT, it is a consumer-only tax. In countries having VAT, companies always treat VAT as an item-in-transit in their books. In your Apple exa

Companies don't pay VAT, it is a consumer-only tax. In countries having VAT, companies always treat VAT as an item-in-transit in their books. In your Apple example, the consumer pays the $1000 plus the 5% VAT to Apple, and Apple sends the 5% VAT to the IRS. If Apple bought components for that phone that included VAT, the supplier providing the components sends that VAT to the IRS, and Apple can claim that VAT from the IRS.