Not the whole ICC but the sanctioned prosecutor has been disconnected !
>A Microsoft spokesperson said that it had been in contact with the court since February “throughout the process that resulted in the disconnection of its sanctioned official from Microsoft services.” The spokesperson added that “at no point did Microsoft cease or suspend its services to the ICC.”
>Does the Gabonese leadership really have the geopolitical know-how to make sure this stays as a boost to the economy and not an invitation to a series of US military assaults?
Well, they've had oil for the past 60 years.
They have experience.
Careful: The rate mentioned for alcoholic beverages (and confectionery) may include Excise Duty.
Excise Duty usually have the non-discriminatory aspect of VAT : they’re also applied on local production.
Tariffs on services are much harder to enforce. There's point of entry so it's harder to check.
However, some countries have a withholding tax for services provided by foreign companies. The client is responsible for withholding the amount from any payment and paying the government.
And banks play a role in the enforcement if needed.
> So if you were a farmer you might find you were exempt on fertilizer and tractors but not on a pickup truck.
There are items that generate a non-deductible input tax in VAT countries (often entertainment items or cars).
But usually, those will be the exception and deductible would be the default.
>either you don't pay it when you purchase and are invoiced by a business
As a business you pay VAT when you purchase. And you collect VAT when you sell.
Then you pay to the government the difference between collected VAT and paid VAT.
That's what the "Value Added" part means.
No, if you provide a VAT number, in business to business transactions, companies will not normally charge VAT in the first place, so you don't pay it when you purchase in many cases as a business.
However if you go into something aimed at consumers, and make a purchase, they're normally not set up for this, which is why you're able to reclaim when you have paid it.
VAT countries apply VAT on all domestic transactions (and that includes imports).
VAT countries do not apply VAT on exports because they _rightly_ assume that the importing country will apply VAT or whatever sale tax equivalent is in place in their territory.
This is not a distortion. There's really no other way to make it work.
It's an issue of "this could happen to us".