Indirect tax
The term
indirect tax has more than one meaning.
In the colloquial sense, an indirect tax (such as
sales tax,
value added tax (VAT), or
goods and services tax (GST)) is a
tax collected by an intermediary (such as a retail store) from the person who bears the ultimate economic burden of the tax (such as the customer). The intermediary later files a tax return and forwards the tax proceeds to
government with the return. In this sense, the term indirect tax is contrasted with a direct tax which is collected directly by government from the persons (legal or natural) on which it is imposed.
The term indirect tax has a different meaning for U.S. constitutional law purposes. See
Direct tax; see also
Excise.
In the early years of the United States, there was strong opposition to the federal government levying direct taxes. As a result, the government resorted to tariffs, an indirect tax.
