AnAfrican

And the oil-producing countries' budget. Most countries have production sharing agreements. And those agreements usually have a clause in which the split on super-profits is much more favorable to the country (like 70/30 instead of 60/40) than normal profits.

>You'll even hear about a discount around VAT/2 if you pay with cash sometimes.

That's because they do VAT (and Corporate tax) fraud.

I've encountered this issue recently for the first time.

Usually, there is a deposit pre-authorized on the card. The additional insurance plans would lower the deposit (to a few hundred for fuel basically). I usually take the insurance plans anyway because I've had bad experiences that made me happy I had it.

Now, I was in a place where rental companies required credit cards except for the lower end models. It took me a few attempts for one to realize that I would take the additional insurance anyway.

Not really.

All financial institutions are surveilled and regulated. There's a reason Patio 11 describe the industry as an "arm of the government".

But furthermore, his argument is not about surveillance (which he accepts when he describes the central bank as the regulator) but about the competition.

It's the very idea of something being provided as a public good that is considered "anormal" and "anti-competitive" here.

It doesn't matter.

It's an issue of "this could happen to us".

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.

Because the underlying "account" is not necessarily a Bank Account.

This may be an arrangement set up in some jurisdictions and probably widely used nowadays.

The default (as in « the original setup ») is what i’ve described.

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 it can be done !

> 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.

I don't see how it's even possible to negotiate .

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.