On a side note global sales tax sounds more honest than value added tax. The tax does not add real value to an item,
That is not what it means.
VAT means a tax on the value an entity adds to goods. E.g. if you pay $10 for some parts, pay someone $2 to assemble them into some novel thing, and sell it for $20 then you have added $8 of value and you'll be taxed on $8.
That may have been the initial idea behind it and sounds better than how it seems to be used.
But as you yourself describe later, you pay VAT on the difference between your inputs and your outputs. And get a refund if your outputs are worth less than your costs.
Because when I look at a bill from something I buy, I see the price without tax and the percentage of tax, which varies from 0 to 20%, at least over here in France, and the total I have to pay. In NL the max is 21% for as far as I'm up to date.
And that's pretty stupid and adds huge costs, both to dealing with different rates on different things, but also paying people to decide which rate is for which thing. e.g. basic food such as cookies is 0%, but luxury food such as chocolate is 20%. So which is biscuits coated with a layer of chocolate? Does it depend on the thickness of the layer? etc etc, on a million different goods.
Here in New Zealand everything is 15%, no variations, no exceptions. If poor people can't afford basic food, given them money directly, don't muck about with the tax rate on the food.
Some foods are taxed at lower rates, and I recently found that for anything concerning renewable energy is taxed at 5.5%
I recall somewhere in the USA there being different tax rates on a coffee drunk in the shop, and a take-out coffee from the same shop. As I recall, take-out had the higher rate. I could say I'd drink the coffee in the shop, and then actually walk out with it and THEY COULDN'T STOP ME BWAHAHAHA