Survey: VAT Increase Would Cut Consumer Spending

As if retailers don’t have enough to worry about these days, now a proposal from Washington may impact consumer buying if it’s enacted.

According to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation by BIGresearch, “nearly two-thirds of those surveyed – 64 percent – said a federal Value Added Tax of any amount would impact their spending on everything from cars to homes, groceries and medicines. If the government imposed a VAT of 15 percent and applied it to all purchases, 92 percent said their spending would be affected.”

The new tax is under consideration as a way to reduce the federal deficit.

But, “these numbers are clear evidence of what common sense would tell even the most casual observer: if you tax spending at a time when the economy is still struggling to recover, consumers are going to spend less,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a release.

The full story on the proposed tax, its implications and the survey about it, can be found HERE.