Indirect Tax Definition
Indirect tax, also known as consumption tax, is the type of tax which are not directly borne by the person, whereas the incidence of such taxes is passed on to the end consumer of goods or services by adding such taxes in the value of those goods or services, like Excise duty, Service tax, VAT, etc.
In simple words, it is a type of tax that can be transferred to another entity or individual and begins with taxes imposed on the manufacturer who then passes it over to the customers. It is part of the supply chain. The consumers pay for the taxes indirectly by paying more for the product.
Indirect taxes in the US are charged at a subnational level. State also has the authority to impose its own taxes. Apart from state local jurisdictions also have the authority to impose sales taxes.
Types of Indirect Taxes
Below are the types of indirect taxes.
- Service Tax – This tax is collected from the individual or entities providing services like consultancy, legal and other such services. This tax is paid as soon as the service is offered
- Excise Duty – Excise duty is a tax on manufacturing, this is to be paid by the manufacturer but is often passed on to the customers. It is levied on those goods which are manufactured within the country. This tax is liable as soon as goods are manufactured
- VAT (Value Added Tax) – The VAT is applied on the sale of movable goods within the country. As the name implies Value-added services, the cost of goods is increased at every stage where the value is added. The VAT is the tax levied on final consumption and is borne by the customer at the final consumption stage
- Customs Duty – This tax is applied to the goods that are imported into the country. In some cases, it may also be applied to the goods that are exported out of your country
- Securities Transaction Tax – It is commonly known as STT. This is also a form of indirect tax and is levied when securities are sold/purchased from the exchange. Securities can be defined as stocks, bonds, mutual funds
- Stamp Duty – This tax is mainly applied while buying and selling of immovable properties
- Entertainment tax – This type of tax is levied on every transaction that is related to entertainment. For example – movies, sports, stage shows, exhibitions
Examples
Let us now take examples of indirect taxes to understand this concept.
Example #1
To understand indirect tax let us consider an example of excise duty, a form of indirect tax
Consider that the government of the USA taxes 10% of any indoor spa services. So if an individual goes to take this service and is charged $100 for each sitting, then they will have to pay $10 as excise for each sitting they take (100 X 10%). If they charge $300 for each sitting then the tax that would have to be paid is $30
Example #2
Assume you wish to buy a pack of cigarettes. In the USA, the state is charging $4 on each pack in addition to the taxes that are already included or irrespective of the original retail price. Apart from this the New York already has excise tax. So now the total of the total tax is $5.
So assume that there are different types of cigarettes and the price of one pack is $2 and the price of the second one is $4 then the total price including the total taxes will now be $6 and $8
This is a classic example of taxes applied to specific products. This is mainly done to reduce or stop citizens to buy or use harmful products. The motive is to increase taxes and reduce consumption
Advantages
- Taxes based on purchasing power – Indirect tax is charged to people who buy products and services. Hence, the poor are exempt from these taxes. This tax system is also not biased and makes every person pay taxes
- Tax burden – Taxpayers are not burdened with these taxes because one has to pay them only while making purchases
- Convenience and easy collection – Taxes are directly collected from the manufacturers or the customers this saves both time and effort. There are no deadlines and no documentation is required. This also has one more important advantage that indirect taxes prevent tax evasion.
- Equality – Taxes are based on purchasing power. So rich people pay more taxes if they are purchasing luxury goods or more goods and vice versa
- Not obvious – These taxes are included as a part of the products and are not very obvious. People don’t realize that they are actually paying taxes because it comes in small proportions. They can also be avoided by not buying the goods
- Addictive and harmful products – The government charges high taxes on addictive goods like tobacco and cigarettes. This not only charges high tax on these products but also follows social cause which curbs the use of these harmful products
Disadvantages
- Constant taxes for all – Even though taxes are high on luxury products but on the basic products, the amount of taxes is the same. And no comparison is made even if it is purchased by a rich individual or a poor individual. For example taxes on basic goods like salt, sugar
- Steady flows – Taxes which are charged on elastic goods and services are uncertain and may not generate a lot of revenues for the government
- Non-friendly – When the government charges taxes on raw materials it indirectly curbs manufacturing and makes it unfriendly. It, in turn, increases the cost of production and increases the cost of the products
Conclusion
Indirect taxes have large numbers of pros and cons. It is, however, necessary to understand it from the perspective of the business. These taxes are present in all forms of the company’s business. They have a severe impact on the raw material, costs, total cash flow, the profitability, production, volume and ultimately on the total shareholder’s value to stay ahead in the competition
Most of the countries are now moving towards convergence and adopting one tax system for all these forms of indirect taxes. Countries like India have already adopted these changes and are reaping its benefits
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