lugoben Nov 18, 2015:

More food for thought Canada has a combination of GST and HST (harmonized sales tax) which adds to the problem highlighted above. A solution VAT regardless is a bold move. There may be many other exceptions and these would not appreciate their documents being translated otherwise,

Robert Carter Nov 18, 2015:

Not in the least, Charles, to my mind that's just good diligence (if that's not an oxymoron) on your part, as well as good sleuthing. I usually do the same with laws and statutes. I often wonder what the consensus is for those kinds of style habits, maybe a topic for discussion on the notice boards...

Charles Davis Nov 18, 2015:

For my part, I usually put IVA (VAT) nowadays, on the basis that the name of the tax is actually IVA and VAT is the EN equivalent, though I recognise that this may seem a bit fussy. So if you want it to be Australia-specific, you could put IVA (GST). In this case it might be a good idea, since internationally GST does commonly mean Sales Tax. But I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill here. Whatever.

Aussaffer (asker) Nov 18, 2015:

Thanks, Charles, yes, the translation is intended for Australia.

Robert Carter Nov 18, 2015:

Good point Charles I hadn't seen the time zone, and I somehow (osmosis clearly, not being the ace detective you are) just assumed the asker's name was German. G'night.

Charles Davis Nov 18, 2015:

Leaving aside the question of why I am up :) , GST in Australia is not General Sales Tax but Goods and Services Tax; it's simply what they call VAT there. Though I take Robert's (implicit) point that VAT is an international term which, I'm sure, would be understood down under. (I mentioned Australia simply because of the asker's time zone, though I don't know which country he/she is in or whether the translation is intended specifically for that country.)

Robert Carter Nov 18, 2015:

VAT and sales tax I usually translate it as VAT regardless. VAT and sales tax are slightly different beasts.
Here's what Wikipedia says about it:
Value-added tax avoids the cascade effect of sales tax by taxing only the value added at each stage of production. For this reason, throughout the world, VAT has been gaining favor over traditional sales taxes. In principle, VAT applies to all provisions of goods and services. VAT is assessed and collected on the value of goods or services that have been provided every time there is a transaction (sale/purchase). The seller charges VAT to the buyer, and the seller pays this VAT to the government. If, however, the purchaser is not an end user, but the goods or services purchased are costs to its business, the tax it has paid for such purchases can be deducted from the tax it charges to its customers. The government only receives the difference; in other words, it is paid tax on the gross margin of each transaction, by each participant in the sales chain.

lorenab23 Nov 18, 2015:

Agree with Charles Even though I have no idea why he is still up at this (on his side of the hemisphere) ungodly hour :-p

Charles Davis Nov 18, 2015:

Target? Questions should always mention the source country (though here it doesn't make any difference) and the target country. If this translation is for Australia, for example, the equivalent of IVA is called GST rather than VAT.