Bertram wrote:And it isnt a tax that adds value, but a tax on the added value. So if you buy something for 10 simolians, and sell it for 15 simolians, you pay taxes over 5 simolians.
That was actually an improvement over some previous systems, that just taxed the value of items sold, and where the first buyer had to pay taxes over 10 simolians, and the second over 15 simolians. That tax punished distributors and long distribution chains, and drove prices up considarably.
I believe that you are probably correct in that the ACW Value Added Tax would have been based on the total value rather than the added value, ie your second example. However, it was called a 'Value Added Tax' at the time. Probably for VGN purposes the difference does not matter. The tax was assessed on manufacturers rather than consumers (as in a sales tax), although the consumers would have paid for the tax by increased pricing.