My understanding (based off a French accounting class from many many years ago) is that VAT also can be deducted for things like factory equipment or, say, desk

My understanding (based off a French accounting class from many many years ago) is that VAT also can be deducted for things like factory equipment or, say, desks for your office workers. It's not purely a "if it's for resale you don't pay sales tax" thing, but a "if this is used for business then you can get a deduction for your VAT" (with some exceptions). I would not really describe VAT as an income tax. It's not a tax on an income, it's a tax on the value add. Income tax means something specific, and perhaps VAT is one degree away from that, but money is fungible! On a long enough time scale everything is inheritence tax and income tax I guess! EDIT: rereading my original post at the start of this thread I now feel a bit silly saying the explanation is "VAT-like". Metaphors and similes are bad!