Indirect tax in the context of "Taxes"

A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax compliance refers to policy actions and individual behavior aimed at ensuring that taxpayers are paying the right amount of tax at the right time and securing the correct tax allowances and tax relief. The first known taxation occurred in Ancient Egypt around 3000–2800 BC. Taxes consist of direct or indirect taxes and may be paid in money or as labor equivalent.

All countries have a tax system in place to pay for public, common societal, or agreed national needs and for the functions of government. Some countries levy a flat percentage rate of taxation on personal annual income, but most scale taxes are progressive based on brackets of yearly income amounts. Most countries charge a tax on an individual's income and corporate income. Countries or sub-units often also impose wealth taxes, inheritance taxes, gift taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, use taxes, environmental taxes, payroll taxes, duties, or tariffs. It is also possible to levy a tax on tax, as with a gross receipts tax.

Factor income (also called primary income and earned income) is the flow of income that is derived from the factors of production, i.e., the general inputs required to produce goods and services. Factor income on the use of land is called rent, income generated from labor is called wages, and income generated from capital is divided between profit for equity owner and interest for creditor. The total amount of factor income received by the residents of a country is referred to as the national income, while factor income and current transfers together are referred to as disposable income.

In contemporary national accounting, Indirect taxes minus subsidies are treated like factor income despite not meeting the definition. In earlier system like the 1953 SNAdefined to concept of GDP : the sum of all factor income called GDP at factor cost, and the sum of all expenditure called GDP at market price. (GDP at market price = GDP at factor cost + Indirect taxes minus subsidies). Factor cost measured have being abandoned by the SNA.

Although the actual definitions vary between jurisdictions, in general, a direct tax is a tax imposed upon a person or property as distinct from a tax imposed upon a transaction, which is described as an indirect tax. There is a distinction between direct and indirect taxes depending on whether the tax payer is the actual taxpayer or if the amount of tax is supported by a third party, usually a client. The term may be used in economic and political analyses, and may have legal implications in some jurisdictions. In the United States of America, the term has special constitutional significance because of two provisions in the U.S. Constitution that any direct taxes imposed by the national government be apportioned among the states on the basis of population. It is also significant in the European Union, where direct taxation remains the sole responsibility of member states.

In national income accounting, net national income (NNI) is net national product (NNP) minus indirect taxes. Net national income encompasses the income of households, businesses, and the government. Net national income is defined as gross domestic product plus net receipts of wages, salaries and property income from abroad, minus the depreciation of fixed capital assets (dwellings, buildings, machinery, transport equipment and physical infrastructure) through wear and tear and obsolescence.

It can be expressed as

A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared with, a sales tax. VAT is an indirect tax, because the consumer who ultimately bears the burden of the tax is not the entity that pays it. Specific goods and services are typically exempted in various jurisdictions.

Products exported to other countries are typically exempted from the tax, typically via a rebate to the exporter. VAT is usually implemented as a destination-based tax, where the tax rate is based on the location of the customer. VAT raises about a fifth of total tax revenues worldwide and among the members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). As of January 2025, 175 of the 193 countries with UN membership employ a VAT, including all OECD members except the United States.

The Gross Domestic Income (GDI) is the total factor income payment done by all residents within a country. It includes the sum of all wages, profits, and indirect taxes, minus subsidies. Nominal GDI and Nominal gross domestic product (GDP) are exactly identical, yet real GDI and real gross domestic product (Real GDP) are different; real GDP is calculated by keeping the price of each domestic production constant between two years, while real GDI is calculated by deflating GDP with the purchasing power of money. As such, real GDI introduces a trade balance term; real GDI increases when the price of imports goes down or when the price of exports goes up, while real GDP is not affected.

For oil-export-dependent economies, there could be substantial differences between real GDP and real GDI, due the effect of oil price volatility on the purchasing power in those countries.