That actually was the point, in colonial economies, (declared) income taxes hit colons way more than locals for a lot of very good reasons (and one bad, undecla

That actually was the point, in colonial economies, (declared) income taxes hit colons way more than locals for a lot of very good reasons (and one bad, undeclared work that prevented owners to pay social security contribution), and for a lot of very bad reasons, French government/business owners wanted that to stop, hence VAT. What's funny is that the families behind the fast implementation of VAT in colonized Africa are still two of the most powerful and rich French families.