Recent global VAT trade distortion data

 121220_VAT_map_copy_2.png

(Map showing countries with a VAT in red.  Countries without a VAT in blue)

Here is a valuable table showing VAT/consumption tax rates across the world for 2013 courtesy of Stewart and Stewart, a DC law firm specializing in international trade issues.

While other countries have lowered tariffs, they have raised their VATs.  Thus, US exports are double taxed.  The goods have US taxes embedded in their price, and also must pay foreign taxes. See this CPA issue paper for further information.

This is one way other countries lower tariffs but substitute other barriers.  The result is unilateral trade disarmament by the US and 40 years of persistent trade deficits.

 

VAT Distortion to Goods Trade by Country, 2013

Millions of Dollars

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indirect

U.S. 2013

U.S. 2013

Assessment on

Rebate to

Total

% of

Country

Tax Rate (%)

Exports

Imports

U.S. Exports

U.S. Imports

Distortion

Total

Afghanistan◊

3.5

1,229.46

40.05

43.0

1.4

44.4

0.010

Albania 

20.0

72.33

22.54

14.5

4.5

19.0

0.004

Algeria 

17.0

1,770.87

4,604.32

301.0

782.7

1,083.8

0.247

Angola

10.0

1,392.33

8,902.44

139.2

890.2

1,029.5

0.234

Antigua and Barbuda

15.0

125.74

8.47

18.9

1.3

20.1

0.005

Argentina 

21.0

8,681.65

4,603.25

1,823.1

966.7

2,789.8

0.635

Armenia 

20.0

82.81

101.39

16.6

20.3

36.8

0.008

Australia 

10.0

23,976.41

9,519.27

2,397.6

951.9

3,349.6

0.762

Austria 

20.0

3,334.98

9,127.67

667.0

1,825.5

2,492.5

0.567

Azerbaijan 

18.0

324.24

1,126.31

58.4

202.7

261.1

0.059

Bangladesh 

15.0

696.59

5,303.45

104.5

795.5

900.0

0.205

Barbados 

17.5

398.22

55.00

69.7

9.6

79.3

0.018

Belarus 

20.0

83.30

103.79

16.7

20.8

37.4

0.009

Belgium 

21.0

26,735.98

18,779.01

5,614.6

3,943.6

9,558.1

2.174

Belize

12.5

226.95

134.21

28.4

16.8

45.1

0.010

Benin 

18.0

601.73

3.13

108.3

0.6

108.9

0.025

Bhutan●

20.0

2.02

0.54

0.4

0.1

0.5

0.000

Bolivia

13.0

839.75

1,288.48

109.2

167.5

276.7

0.063

Bosnia-Herzegovina

17.0

36.89

56.11

6.3

9.5

15.8

0.004

Botswana 

12.0

77.25

283.39

9.3

34.0

43.3

0.010

Brazil 

17.0

37,627.42

26,860.55

6,396.7

4,566.3

10,963.0

2.494

Bulgaria 

20.0

284.61

520.57

56.9

104.1

161.0

0.037

Burkina Faso 

18.0

74.59

6.11

13.4

1.1

14.5

0.003

Burundi

18.0

141.70

29.92

25.5

5.4

30.9

0.007

Cambodia 

10.0

218.12

2,748.82

21.8

274.9

296.7

0.067

Cameroon 

19.3

316.41

272.93

60.9

52.5

113.4

0.026

Canada 

5.0

251,685.05

332,886.86

12,584.3

16,644.3

29,228.6

6.648

Cape Verde

15.0

9.00

2.13

1.3

0.3

1.7

0.000

Cent. Afr. Rep.

19.0

4.01

2.79

0.8

0.5

1.3

0.000

Chad 

18.0

39.53

2,413.29

7.1

434.4

441.5

0.100

Chile 

19.0

16,139.28

10,387.16

3,066.5

1,973.6

5,040.0

1.146

China** 

17.0

114,313.23

438,146.83

19,433.2

56,959.1

76,392.3

17.375

Colombia

16.0

16,482.05

21,364.17

2,637.1

3,418.3

6,055.4

1.377

Comoros◊

9.6

3.53

2.84

0.3

0.3

0.6

0.000

Congo (DROC)●

13.0

164.27

75.56

21.4

9.8

31.2

0.007

Congo (ROC)

16.0

219.09

1,265.21

35.1

202.4

237.5

0.054

Costa Rica 

13.0

6,476.59

11,885.45

842.0

1,545.1

2,387.1

0.543

Côte d’Ivoire 

18.0

156.49

1,005.19

28.2

180.9

209.1

0.048

Croatia 

25.0

296.14

413.72

74.0

103.4

177.5

0.040

Cuba◊

12.1

357.97

0.00

43.5

0.0

43.5

0.010

Cyprus 

18.0

111.60

43.41

20.1

7.8

27.9

0.006

Czech Republic 

21.0

1,501.48

3,747.38

315.3

786.9

1,102.3

0.251

Denmark 

25.0

1,987.93

6,478.99

497.0

1,619.7

2,116.7

0.481

Djibouti◊

13.3

161.91

3.95

21.6

0.5

22.1

0.005

Dominica Island

15.0

74.10

2.61

11.1

0.4

11.5

0.003

Dominican Republic 

18.0

6,737.28

4,205.76

1,212.7

757.0

1,969.7

0.448

Ecuador 

12.0

6,634.07

11,453.87

796.1

1,374.5

2,170.6

0.494

Egypt 

10.0

5,084.80

1,629.19

508.5

162.9

671.4

0.153

El Salvador 

13.0

2,782.36

2,433.49

361.7

316.4

678.1

0.154

Equatorial Guinea

15.0

732.17

920.50

109.8

138.1

247.9

0.056

Eritrea◊

7.5

11.02

0.09

0.8

0.0

0.8

0.000

Estonia 

20.0

272.49

422.44

54.5

84.5

139.0

0.032

Ethiopia 

15.0

665.34

193.57

99.8

29.0

128.8

0.029

Fiji 

15.0

63.41

174.04

9.5

26.1

35.6

0.008

Finland 

24.0

2,066.11

4,850.49

495.9

1,164.1

1,660.0

0.378

France 

19.6

28,350.86

44,697.36

5,556.8

8,760.7

14,317.5

3.256

Gabon 

18.0

230.82

1,045.68

41.5

188.2

229.8

0.052

Gambia

15.0

34.43

1.69

5.2

0.3

5.4

0.001

Georgia 

18.0

485.17

167.99

87.3

30.2

117.6

0.027

Germany 

19.0

42,371.89

112,232.71

8,050.7

21,324.2

29,374.9

6.681

Ghana 

12.5

1,048.34

308.51

131.0

38.6

169.6

0.039

Greece 

23.0

654.86

951.94

150.6

218.9

369.6

0.084

Grenada

15.0

89.42

9.46

13.4

1.4

14.8

0.003

Guatemala 

12.0

5,093.46

4,160.54

611.2

499.3

1,110.5

0.253

Guinea 

18.0

74.18

90.05

13.4

16.2

29.6

0.007

Guinea-Bissau 

15.0

6.27

3.22

0.9

0.5

1.4

0.000

Guyana

16.0

299.47

460.22

47.9

73.6

121.5

0.028

Haiti 

10.0

1,209.08

809.09

120.9

80.9

201.8

0.046

Honduras 

12.0

5,040.95

4,396.61

604.9

527.6

1,132.5

0.258

Hungary 

27.0

1,466.37

3,676.32

395.9

992.6

1,388.5

0.316

Iceland 

25.5

452.16

291.22

115.3

74.3

189.6

0.043

India

12.5

16,911.39

41,458.90

2,113.9

5,182.4

7,296.3

1.660

Indonesia 

10.0

8,914.82

18,775.89

891.5

1,877.6

2,769.1

0.630

Iran

4.0

302.33

2.21

12.1

0.1

12.2

0.003

Ireland 

23.0

5,659.07

31,336.39

1,301.6

7,207.4

8,509.0

1.935

Israel 

18.0

7,826.77

22,660.51

1,408.8

4,078.9

5,487.7

1.248

Italy 

21.0

15,362.22

38,273.59

3,226.1

8,037.5

11,263.5

2.562

Jamaica 

16.5

1,872.07

400.26

308.9

66.0

374.9

0.085

Japan 

5.0

59,688.69

137,953.87

2,984.4

6,897.7

9,882.1

2.248

Jordan 

16.0

1,966.89

1,195.97

314.7

191.4

506.1

0.115

Kazakhstan

12.0

1,020.16

1,120.88

122.4

134.5

256.9

0.058

Kenya 

16.0

619.87

432.05

99.2

69.1

168.3

0.038

Kiribati◊

5.0

2.99

1.02

0.1

0.1

0.2

0.000

Korea

10.0

39,008.21

61,978.84

3,900.8

6,197.9

10,098.7

2.297

North Korea◊

8.5

6.58

0.00

0.6

0.0

0.6

0.000

Kuwait

0.0

2,303.65

10,961.16

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.000

Kyrgyzstan 

12.0

103.53

3.40

12.4

0.4

12.8

0.003

Laos

10.0

20.58

29.73

2.1

3.0

5.0

0.001

Latvia 

21.0

460.18

269.50

96.6

56.6

153.2

0.035

Lebanon 

10.0

966.94

91.67

96.7

9.2

105.9

0.024

Lesotho 

14.0

0.56

358.87

0.1

50.2

50.3

0.011

Liberia

7.0

167.47

92.63

11.7

6.5

18.2

0.004

Liechtenstein

8.0

16.67

294.30

1.3

23.5

24.9

0.006

Lithuania 

21.0

718.13

1,519.02

150.8

319.0

469.8

0.107

Luxembourg 

15.0

1,764.96

633.56

264.7

95.0

359.8

0.082

Macedonia

18.0

55.13

61.85

9.9

11.1

21.1

0.005

Madagascar 

20.0

62.92

178.23

12.6

35.6

48.2

0.011

Malawi 

16.5

41.23

63.92

6.8

10.5

17.3

0.004

Malaysia

10.0

11,132.03

27,241.13

1,113.2

2,724.1

3,837.3

0.873

Mali 

18.0

47.05

3.69

8.5

0.7

9.1

0.002

Malta 

18.0

528.27

213.55

95.1

38.4

133.5

0.030

Marshall Islands◊

7.5

63.93

16.97

4.8

1.3

6.1

0.001

Mauritania 

14.0

240.83

130.69

33.7

18.3

52.0

0.012

Mauritius 

15.0

38.06

338.02

5.7

50.7

56.4

0.013

Mexico 

16.0

181,690.19

277,663.68

29,070.4

44,426.2

73,496.6

16.717

Micronesia◊

4.0

40.63

1.79

1.6

0.1

1.7

0.000

Moldova  

20.0

41.80

34.91

8.4

7.0

15.3

0.003

Monaco

20.0

296.39

64.85

59.3

13.0

72.2

0.016

Mongolia 

10.0

261.94

19.61

26.2

2.0

28.2

0.006

Montenegro

17.0

20.56

1.51

3.5

0.3

3.8

0.001

Morocco 

20.0

2,277.82

998.59

455.6

199.7

655.3

0.149

Mozambique 

17.0

301.15

75.90

51.2

12.9

64.1

0.015

Myanmar◊

17.5

15.28

4.30

2.7

0.8

3.4

0.001

Namibia 

15.0

195.21

262.50

29.3

39.4

68.7

0.016

Nepal 

13.0

29.61

77.87

3.8

10.1

14.0

0.003

Netherlands 

21.0

37,136.95

18,850.29

7,798.8

3,958.6

11,757.3

2.674

New Zealand 

15.0

2,948.84

3,476.26

442.3

521.4

963.8

0.219

Nicaragua 

15.0

948.87

2,747.03

142.3

412.1

554.4

0.126

Niger 

19.0

45.22

2.32

8.6

0.4

9.0

0.002

Nigeria* 

5.0

6,335.34

11,942.45

316.8

0.0

316.8

0.072

Niue

5.0

0.22

0.31

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.000

Norway 

25.0

4,322.80

5,435.33

1,080.7

1,358.8

2,439.5

0.555

Oman◊

0.0

1,423.45

1,022.45

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.000

Pakistan 

16.0

1,608.74

3,665.64

257.4

586.5

843.9

0.192

Panama 

7.0

10,176.27

429.86

712.3

30.1

742.4

0.169

Papua New Guinea 

10.0

162.05

129.04

16.2

12.9

29.1

0.007

Paraguay 

10.0

1,766.80

273.74

176.7

27.4

204.1

0.046

Peru

18.0

8,857.20

8,143.09

1,594.3

1,465.8

3,060.1

0.696

Philippines 

12.0

7,885.71

9,238.57

946.3

1,108.6

2,054.9

0.467

Poland 

23.0

3,654.08

4,820.88

840.4

1,108.8

1,949.2

0.443

Portugal 

23.0

769.17

2,808.64

176.9

646.0

822.9

0.187

Romania 

24.0

669.43

1,687.10

160.7

404.9

565.6

0.129

Russia 

18.0

10,352.04

25,930.82

1,863.4

4,667.5

6,530.9

1.485

Rwanda

18.0

24.23

24.45

4.4

4.4

8.8

0.002

Saint Kitts and Nevis

17.0

124.50

54.41

21.2

9.3

30.4

0.007

Saint Lucia◊

22.5

648.15

16.49

145.8

3.7

149.5

0.034

St Vincent & Gren.

15.0

88.64

2.89

13.3

0.4

13.7

0.003

Samoa* 

15.0

27.34

4.44

4.1

0.0

4.1

0.001

Sao Tome & Principe◊

8.0

1.95

0.25

0.2

0.0

0.2

0.000

Senegal 

18.0

223.90

16.98

40.3

3.1

43.4

0.010

Serbia

20.0

132.55

517.11

26.5

103.4

129.9

0.030

Seychelles◊

13.5

10.64

5.76

1.4

0.8

2.2

0.001

Sierra Leone

15.0

78.03

41.56

11.7

6.2

17.9

0.004

Singapore 

7.0

26,690.14

17,671.43

1,868.3

1,237.0

3,105.3

0.706

Slovak Republic 

20.0

275.57

1,752.35

55.1

350.5

405.6

0.092

Slovenia 

22.0

256.90

564.78

56.5

124.3

180.8

0.041

Solomon Islands◊

10.0

8.48

8.83

0.8

0.9

1.7

0.000

Somalia

14.0

14.85

1.19

2.1

0.2

2.2

0.001

South Africa 

14.0

6,699.79

8,395.05

938.0

1,175.3

2,113.3

0.481

Spain 

21.0

9,835.73

11,615.48

2,065.5

2,439.3

4,504.8

1.025

Sri Lanka 

12.0

295.48

2,381.89

35.5

285.8

321.3

0.073

Sudan 

10.0

83.15

10.24

8.3

1.0

9.3

0.002

Suriname◊*

9.0

430.09

302.64

38.7

0.0

38.7

0.009

Sweden 

25.0

3,922.43

9,138.36

980.6

2,284.6

3,265.2

0.743

Swaziland

14.0

21.67

58.91

3.0

8.2

11.3

0.003

Switzerland 

8.0

22,040.10

28,094.93

1,763.2

2,247.6

4,010.8

0.912

Taiwan 

5.0

23,269.68

37,538.74

1,163.5

1,876.9

3,040.4

0.692

Tajikistan 

20.0

50.74

0.67

10.1

0.1

10.3

0.002

Tanzania 

18.0

414.16

70.32

74.5

12.7

87.2

0.020

Thailand 

7.0

10,638.84

26,089.48

744.7

1,826.3

2,571.0

0.585

Timor-Leste◊

3.8

1.23

0.12

0.0

0.0

0.1

0.000

Togo 

18.0

949.29

7.72

170.9

1.4

172.3

0.039

Tonga

15.0

19.02

1.72

2.9

0.3

3.1

0.001

Trinidad and Tobago 

15.0

2,200.84

6,376.38

330.1

956.5

1,286.6

0.293

Tunisia 

18.0

803.98

736.06

144.7

132.5

277.2

0.063

Turkey 

18.0

11,683.79

6,556.96

2,103.1

1,180.3

3,283.3

0.747

Turkmenistan 

15.0

257.53

31.12

38.6

4.7

43.3

0.010

Tuvalu

5.0

0.55

0.03

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.000

Uganda 

18.0

111.04

47.02

20.0

8.5

28.5

0.006

Ukraine 

20.0

1,892.22

1,020.72

378.4

204.1

582.6

0.133

United Kingdom 

20.0

41,227.87

52,165.30

8,245.6

10,433.1

18,678.6

4.248

Uruguay 

22.0

1,379.61

420.49

303.5

92.5

396.0

0.090

Uzbekistan 

20.0

318.30

26.59

63.7

5.3

69.0

0.016

Vanuatu 

12.5

33.85

4.14

4.2

0.5

4.7

0.001

Venezuela 

12.0

12,410.94

27,035.86

1,489.3

3,244.3

4,733.6

1.077

Vietnam 

10.0

4,713.87

24,396.84

471.4

2,439.7

2,911.1

0.662

Yemen

5.0

451.31

65.59

22.6

3.3

25.8

0.006

Zambia 

16.0

131.44

37.35

21.0

6.0

27.0

0.006

Zimbabwe 

15.0

49.84

13.88

7.5

2.1

9.6

0.002

Total

1,278,564

2,165,440

166,111

273,550

439,661

100.000

U.S. Trade with World

1,372,038.64

2,239,750.40

 

 

 

 

% Trade Affected

93.19%

96.68%

 

Total Distortion:      $440 Billion

 

Avg Rate on U.S. Exports

12.11%

 

 

 

Avg Rate on U.S. Imports

 

12.21%

 

 

Avg Unweighted Tax Rate

15.08%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes regarding the table.

 

Notes:

 

Indirect taxes include value-added taxes (VAT), turnover taxes, general consumption taxes (GCT), and general 

sales taxes (GST).  Only countries with border adjustable indirect tax systems are included.

 

◊ Indirect tax rate is average of multiple rates provided by Deloitte.

 

● Multiple indirect tax rates listed; the one used in this chart is the “most common rate” or “main sales tax rate”

   according to Deloitte.

 

“Assessment on U.S. Exports” is an estimate for each country equal to the product of the country’s standard 

indirect tax rate and the value of U.S. exports to that country.  

 

“Rebate to U.S. Imports” is an estimate for each country equal to the product of the country’s standard indirect tax 

rate and the value of U.S. imports from that country.  

 

Lower or higher rates for individual products are not accounted for, nor is the fact that border assessments at the 

indirect tax rate are generally assessed on the U.S. export’s landed duty-paid value rather than the FAS value. 

 

* Country does not zero-rate exports, and thus the rebate to U.S. imports is calculated at zero.

 

** China’s export rebate is calculated at the more 13% rebate rate that is more prevalent for exports rather than 

    the standard 17% VAT rate assessed on most imports. 

 

 

Sources:

 

1. Country classifications are from the U.S. Department of State’s list of independent states in the world.

 

2. Imports for consumption and domestic export statistics are from the U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics.  

Numbers are on a census basis. Export numbers are F.A.S. values, and import numbers are customs values.

 

3. Except as indicated below, all indirect tax rates are from Deloitte, “Global Indirect Tax Rates,” available at: 

http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/tax/solutions/global-indirect-tax-rates.html

 

The Deloitte website “Global Indirect Tax Rates” does not say when it was last updated, but seems to have been 

updated to 2014 (see Japan’s rate). Despite this, by reference to the KPMG’s “Indirect Tax Rates Table”, rates for

2013 and 2014 are the same for most countries, so this chart continues to use Deloitte as the main source of data, 

except for the following: 

 

(1) Rates for Japan, Cyprus, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan and Samoa are from KPMG, “Indirect Tax Rates Table (2013),” available at:

http://www.kpmg.com/global/en/services/tax/tax-tools-and-resources/pages/indirect-tax-rates-table.aspx  

 

(2) Rate for Cameron is from the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business 2014’ website, available at 

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/cameroon#paying-taxes. 2013 data are not available.

 

(3) Rates for Malaysia and Columbia are “main sales tax rates” according to both the World Bank and KPMG.

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