Re: @codejunky Hmm
@codejunky
"I am not trying to defend tax avoidance, I am asking why VAT is considered such a good tax when it harms the poor and damages the economy."
[Sounds like a request for another article from Tim Worstall.]
The classic definition of a 'good' tax —from the tax collectors point of view— is that it should be easy (ie cheap) to collect, hard to avoid, and not distort behaviour. This is something of a a "pick any two" requirement. Especially as politicians and 'campaigners' rather like taxes that do anything but meet the third criterion.